We hear endlessly from retailers that times are bad, very bad, for them.
Their problems are not of their own making, naturally. Their problems are caused by everyone else - it's government policies, it's taxes, it's because we insist on buying online, it's because we're not spending...
I was wandering around our local shopping mall this morning, where most of the shops have sale signs all over them. ' Up to 70% off ' is typical.
It seems obvious to me that one very good reason why we're not spending in their shops is that almost all of it is badly designed, badly made crap.
At premium prices.
And shop after shop, every second shop seems to be selling women's clothing/shoes, is selling almost identical crap.
At premium prices.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that there's only one wholesaler in the country, who has a couple of trips a year to Chinese sweatshops, loads a few ships with cheap crap and brings it here.
Then everyone adds their huge percentage margin and it's offered to us at prices many multiples of what it's actually worth. Even after the 70% discount.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Friday, June 01, 2012
Relief from the clowns
Federal parliament is on holiday, so for a couple of weeks we'll be spared cringing with embarassment at the infantile behaviour of the self-serving hypocrites who so badly 'represent' us.
Politics is scraping the bottom of the barrel and our much-lauded democratic system isn't working any more.
The system itself, or the way we arrange it, is under question but a bigger problem is the lack of quality of the people who go into parliament.
Even the Deputy Speaker, now in charge of the House of Reps because Speaker Peter Slipper has had to stand aside, has acknowledged it:
“It’s terrible that people think we behave like juvenile delinquents and sometimes (in) question time, that’s what it looks like,” says Anna Burke.
So is the juvenile delinquent tag sometimes a fair one?
“I think so,” she says.
"It’s very intense. It’s very loud. People don’t get when they’re listening on TV or the radio, the noise, the cacophony of sound from people speaking; people yelling.”
Her toughest day in the chair?
“The Opposition brought out a full, life size cardboard cut-out of Kevin Rudd, the then Prime Minister and nobody was going to behave so we literally had to shut Parliament down.”
That was Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, who alternates between naughty schoolboy and bully, demonstrating what terrible choices we're given because he's very probably our next Treasurer.
Last week it descended further into farce, with the unedifying spectacle of would-be Prime Minister Abbot and the manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne running for the exits and banging on the doors to get out when Craig Thomson moved to vote with them.
Behaving like ten year olds in a school playground, yet they'll probably lead our next government.
Lack of quality
It's the biggest flaw in our democratic system, the lack of quality candidates.
The big plus of democracy is that we can get rid of an existing government at the next election. The big minus is that we can't replace them with anything better.
We have no say in the quality or ability, or honesty, of the candidates. We get whoever's foisted on us by a handful of party apparatchiks. And we have compulsory voting...imagine the voter turnout if we hadn't become used to that.
Flawed system
Then we have a problem with the system itself, where one or two parliamentarians elected by a handful of people in a small electorate can dictate government policy.
With the major parties tied at the last election either party could only govern by doing deals with the Independents. "You want my vote? Here's my list of what it will take to buy it."
Independent Tony Windsor was voted for by 56,415 people. Rob Oakeshott was by 40,061 voters, Bob Katter by 38,170 and Andrew Wilkie by 13,788. Demonstrating the absurdity of our system, Wilkie came only third in the election but then 'won' on preferences which gave him 33,217 and the seat.
In total, out of over 14 million voters less than 150,000 voted for the four representatives who decide whether government policies will be killed or approved.
Even worse, people not voted for are awarded a Senate seat on the basis of preferences, having done dubious preference deals with other parties. They then dictate policy.
We have that in NSW with the Shooters (and Fishers) Party having two seats in the upper house which is enough to kill or approve government policies. They said they would vote against the government's policy to sell our electricity generators unless shooters are allowed to go hunting in national parks.
To get the electricity sale through, the government, having said prior to the election that there would be no deals whatsoever with minor parties, have caved in to the Shooters' demands.
From just over 4 million of us who voted in the 2010 state election only 150,741 voted for the Shooters.
The problem is that the only people who can make the changes we need are politicians. And there's no way they're going to think of anything or anyone other than themselves.
Deputy Speaker's admission.
The Abbot Pyne dash
Shonky Shooters deal
Politics is scraping the bottom of the barrel and our much-lauded democratic system isn't working any more.
The system itself, or the way we arrange it, is under question but a bigger problem is the lack of quality of the people who go into parliament.
Even the Deputy Speaker, now in charge of the House of Reps because Speaker Peter Slipper has had to stand aside, has acknowledged it:
“It’s terrible that people think we behave like juvenile delinquents and sometimes (in) question time, that’s what it looks like,” says Anna Burke.
So is the juvenile delinquent tag sometimes a fair one?
“I think so,” she says.
"It’s very intense. It’s very loud. People don’t get when they’re listening on TV or the radio, the noise, the cacophony of sound from people speaking; people yelling.”
Her toughest day in the chair?
“The Opposition brought out a full, life size cardboard cut-out of Kevin Rudd, the then Prime Minister and nobody was going to behave so we literally had to shut Parliament down.”
That was Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, who alternates between naughty schoolboy and bully, demonstrating what terrible choices we're given because he's very probably our next Treasurer.
Last week it descended further into farce, with the unedifying spectacle of would-be Prime Minister Abbot and the manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne running for the exits and banging on the doors to get out when Craig Thomson moved to vote with them.
Behaving like ten year olds in a school playground, yet they'll probably lead our next government.
Lack of quality
It's the biggest flaw in our democratic system, the lack of quality candidates.
The big plus of democracy is that we can get rid of an existing government at the next election. The big minus is that we can't replace them with anything better.
We have no say in the quality or ability, or honesty, of the candidates. We get whoever's foisted on us by a handful of party apparatchiks. And we have compulsory voting...imagine the voter turnout if we hadn't become used to that.
Flawed system
Then we have a problem with the system itself, where one or two parliamentarians elected by a handful of people in a small electorate can dictate government policy.
With the major parties tied at the last election either party could only govern by doing deals with the Independents. "You want my vote? Here's my list of what it will take to buy it."
Independent Tony Windsor was voted for by 56,415 people. Rob Oakeshott was by 40,061 voters, Bob Katter by 38,170 and Andrew Wilkie by 13,788. Demonstrating the absurdity of our system, Wilkie came only third in the election but then 'won' on preferences which gave him 33,217 and the seat.
In total, out of over 14 million voters less than 150,000 voted for the four representatives who decide whether government policies will be killed or approved.
We have that in NSW with the Shooters (and Fishers) Party having two seats in the upper house which is enough to kill or approve government policies. They said they would vote against the government's policy to sell our electricity generators unless shooters are allowed to go hunting in national parks.
To get the electricity sale through, the government, having said prior to the election that there would be no deals whatsoever with minor parties, have caved in to the Shooters' demands.
From just over 4 million of us who voted in the 2010 state election only 150,741 voted for the Shooters.
The problem is that the only people who can make the changes we need are politicians. And there's no way they're going to think of anything or anyone other than themselves.
Deputy Speaker's admission.
The Abbot Pyne dash
Shonky Shooters deal
Friday, May 25, 2012
Far too lenient
A court report on the ABC website:
...William Ngati crashed into the Sassine family car at Ingleburn, in Sydney's south-west, while he was being chased by police after committing a string of armed robberies...
...Ngati, who showed no remorse in court today, previously pleaded guilty to Skye's manslaughter as well as larceny and armed robbery offences...
...The Judge said that during the chase Ngati, who was unlicensed, reached speeds of up to 160km per hour in a 70kmph zone and crossed to the wrong side of the road more than once, causing other drivers to take evasive action....
...He said traffic was heavy, Ngati ran red lights, drove on median strips and was drug-affected and talking on a mobile phone...
...The judge said Ngati was "driving with a callous disregard for anyone who got in his way"...
...He was sentenced to a minimum of eight-and-a-half years for the toddler's death and will serve a total minimum sentence of 14 years, with a maximum of 19 years.
Ngati will be eligible for parole in 2024.
Career criminals like this demonstrate consistently that they have no place in society. They forfeit that right by their persistent contempt for and crimes against society.
To be eligible to come back to endanger the rest of us so soon is an outrage.
The ABC's full report is here.
A driver who caused a high-speed police chase that led to the death of Sydney toddler Skye Sassine has been jailed for at least 14 years...
...Ngati, who showed no remorse in court today, previously pleaded guilty to Skye's manslaughter as well as larceny and armed robbery offences...
...The Judge said that during the chase Ngati, who was unlicensed, reached speeds of up to 160km per hour in a 70kmph zone and crossed to the wrong side of the road more than once, causing other drivers to take evasive action....
...He said traffic was heavy, Ngati ran red lights, drove on median strips and was drug-affected and talking on a mobile phone...
...The judge said Ngati was "driving with a callous disregard for anyone who got in his way"...
...He was sentenced to a minimum of eight-and-a-half years for the toddler's death and will serve a total minimum sentence of 14 years, with a maximum of 19 years.
Ngati will be eligible for parole in 2024.
Career criminals like this demonstrate consistently that they have no place in society. They forfeit that right by their persistent contempt for and crimes against society.
To be eligible to come back to endanger the rest of us so soon is an outrage.
The ABC's full report is here.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Building standards
For people like us who spend time in Dubai - and own an apartment there - a report in Sydney Morning Herald will have raised a wry smile.
Since the incredible real estate development that began in Dubai in 2002 there have been endless sniggering remarks made there by western expats about the standard of building work.
There are always rumours that buildings are leaning or sinking, that they're full of defects.
Much of it has an unpleasant racist undertone. It's all down, they say, to the mickey-mouse contractors & builders and their largely sub-continental workers.
It's bullshit of course.
So to the Herald story:
...85 per cent of new apartments in NSW are plagued by defects...Seven out of 10 owners reported building defects in their properties, with water leaks and internal and external cracks the most common.
Newer apartments were the worst, with 85 per cent of owners surveyed in buildings constructed since 2000 reporting defects.
That's one hell of a lot worse than with the many hundreds of strata properties built in Dubai in the same period.
The Herald story in full is here.
Since the incredible real estate development that began in Dubai in 2002 there have been endless sniggering remarks made there by western expats about the standard of building work.
There are always rumours that buildings are leaning or sinking, that they're full of defects.
Much of it has an unpleasant racist undertone. It's all down, they say, to the mickey-mouse contractors & builders and their largely sub-continental workers.
It's bullshit of course.
So to the Herald story:
...85 per cent of new apartments in NSW are plagued by defects...Seven out of 10 owners reported building defects in their properties, with water leaks and internal and external cracks the most common.
Newer apartments were the worst, with 85 per cent of owners surveyed in buildings constructed since 2000 reporting defects.
That's one hell of a lot worse than with the many hundreds of strata properties built in Dubai in the same period.
The Herald story in full is here.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Continuing animal cruelty
Back in February I posted about Australian abattoirs being guilty of animal cruelty, a revelation that was no surprise at all and which followed outrage at the way animals were treated in Indonesian abattoirs.
The abattoir involved in that exposure faced a penalty of up to $110,000 fine or two years jail. It's now been revealed they were fined a laughable $5,200.
Now a government review of practices in the industry has found all ten red meat abattoirs in the state are guilty of animal welfare breaches. All ten.
The NSW Food Authority has issued improvement notices and the government has announced that animal welfare officers will be installed in all NSW abattoirs from the beginning of 2013. There will also be mandatory retraining for all slaughtering staff.
You have to wonder how it was allowed to happen. And you have to wonder if the ABC Lateline team hadn't exposed the Indonesian situation whether anyone would have bothered to check what our abattoirs were up to.
I have to agree with the Greens and Animals Australia, who say the new measures are not enough and that mandatory CCTV should be installed in all NSW abattoirs.
Animals Australia, the Greens and the RSPCA were also critical that ritual (religious) slaughter was not included in the reforms. Again I have to agree. These two thousand year old practices are completely out of place in the 21st Century.
Sydney Morning Herald reports:
Only one abattoir in NSW is authorised to slaughter cattle without prior stunning for kosher purposes. All halal slaughter is pre-stunned in NSW. But that abattoir - Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors in Wilberforce - is the same one that was exposed for animal cruelty in February.
Animals must be stunned before slaughter - except in the name of religion?
Oh, by the way, two Australian live cattle exporters have been found guilty of breaking new animal welfare rules in Indonesia, less than a year after the regulations were put in place.
Live animal exports are something else that needs to be stopped.
The Sydney Morning Herald report is here
The abattoir involved in that exposure faced a penalty of up to $110,000 fine or two years jail. It's now been revealed they were fined a laughable $5,200.
Now a government review of practices in the industry has found all ten red meat abattoirs in the state are guilty of animal welfare breaches. All ten.
The NSW Food Authority has issued improvement notices and the government has announced that animal welfare officers will be installed in all NSW abattoirs from the beginning of 2013. There will also be mandatory retraining for all slaughtering staff.
You have to wonder how it was allowed to happen. And you have to wonder if the ABC Lateline team hadn't exposed the Indonesian situation whether anyone would have bothered to check what our abattoirs were up to.
I have to agree with the Greens and Animals Australia, who say the new measures are not enough and that mandatory CCTV should be installed in all NSW abattoirs.
Animals Australia, the Greens and the RSPCA were also critical that ritual (religious) slaughter was not included in the reforms. Again I have to agree. These two thousand year old practices are completely out of place in the 21st Century.
Sydney Morning Herald reports:
Only one abattoir in NSW is authorised to slaughter cattle without prior stunning for kosher purposes. All halal slaughter is pre-stunned in NSW. But that abattoir - Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors in Wilberforce - is the same one that was exposed for animal cruelty in February.
Animals must be stunned before slaughter - except in the name of religion?
Oh, by the way, two Australian live cattle exporters have been found guilty of breaking new animal welfare rules in Indonesia, less than a year after the regulations were put in place.
Live animal exports are something else that needs to be stopped.
The Sydney Morning Herald report is here
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Doncha just love it
James Ashby is the staffer who made accusations of fraud and sexual harassment against House Speaker Peter Slipper, creating a huge ongoing news story.
Ashby has now instructed his lawyer to to lodge a formal complaint of victimisation against Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Senator Barnaby Joyce, complaining that he has been subject to public attacks on his reputation, integrity and credibility.
Erm, isn't that exactly what he did to Slipper?
If you dish it out you should also be prepared to take it.
Ashby has now instructed his lawyer to to lodge a formal complaint of victimisation against Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Senator Barnaby Joyce, complaining that he has been subject to public attacks on his reputation, integrity and credibility.
Erm, isn't that exactly what he did to Slipper?
If you dish it out you should also be prepared to take it.
At last!
At last a charge that reflects the crime.
It's taken a while because it was back in January when a B-double truck careered across the dual-carriage Hume Highway and crushed a car, killing all three people in it. Charges of manslaughter have now been laid against the truck driver, Vincent Samuel George, who was allegedly under the influence of methadone at the time.
The three manslaughter charges are in addition to the three 'dangerous driving causing death' charges brought against him in February.
Not being legally trained I don't know how difficult it is to lay a charge of manslaughter in the case of a driving death, but I'd like to see it much more often. Speeding, jumping red lights, under the influence of alcohol or drugs...they're all deliberate and if they end in a death the charge should reflect that.
It's taken a while because it was back in January when a B-double truck careered across the dual-carriage Hume Highway and crushed a car, killing all three people in it. Charges of manslaughter have now been laid against the truck driver, Vincent Samuel George, who was allegedly under the influence of methadone at the time.
The three manslaughter charges are in addition to the three 'dangerous driving causing death' charges brought against him in February.
Not being legally trained I don't know how difficult it is to lay a charge of manslaughter in the case of a driving death, but I'd like to see it much more often. Speeding, jumping red lights, under the influence of alcohol or drugs...they're all deliberate and if they end in a death the charge should reflect that.
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