And it's not even a particularly witty use of strong language with that kind of run-up. If he'd spoken with his grown-up words, perhaps the story of the day would have been the point he was speaking to rather than him using the term shit-eating grin while having some issue about Gillard not scowling throughout question time.

I don't think Abbott's particularly bright. I think he's a wannabe dirty little dictator who would enforce a Catholic version of Sharia law on everyone if it was up to him. Do we know why he left the seminary and didn't go on to be come a priest? Apart from the fucking around we know he was doing at the time, I mean. Maybe he just couldn't handle having to change over to young boys once he was ordained.

Nursing a grudge
THERE'S never any money for nurses, but there's always extra money for teachers. Considering their performance in the classroom is appalling, why are they always in line for more money?

Teachers are entitled to four weeks' annual leave, so why do they take another eight weeks' annual leave, as well as curriculum days?

They should have all their student-free days on the holidays, as well as run catch-up classes for underachieving students, without being paid any extra money. I think taxpayers, parents and students are being ripped off.

For a change, wouldn't it be nice if the hardworking nurses in this country were given some credit in the form of money, not the pat on the back that the Government believes will pay our bills. We, along with doctors, do many hours of unpaid overtime to prop up an ailing health system, yet our wages and working conditions have been going backwards for years.

Not one government has ever considered rewarding nurses, but they will bend over backwards for teachers.
Ann Lowe, Malvern East

Listen honey, going the biff on teachers isn't going to redirect the money to you poor nurses. It might be a little hard to understand but that's just not the way things work.

You can't state as fact, "their performance in the classroom is appalling". While some from the right do like to get out and go teacher bashing, the great majority of people know that this is simply hyperbole and lies.

If you weren't aware, teachers and nurses are very much in the same basket when it comes to funding from governments. Teachers have been just as screwed over as you nurses in recent times. The unfortunate thing for nurses, as you've pointed out, is that you are basically emotionally blackmailed into working more for no money because the health system isn't properly funded. If you really wanted to be heard and maybe effect some change, try a work to rule campaign or refusing overtime. If everyone does it, you'll shortly have some attention.

Maybe you're just a bit jealous that the federal government has been focusing on teachers, with Julie Bishop and John Howard talking about bonus pay for exceptional teachers so as to provide incentive for teachers to better themselves. This isn't actually because they want to give more money to the better teachers. While they suggest they will give with one hand, what it actually does is take away more power for the federal government with the other hand, by attaching requirements such as what history curriculum is taught to high school students. (It's actually just a big ploy to stop people thinking for themselves and learning about some of the disgraceful events in this nation's history but Shhhh, don't tell anyone.)

If your letter is really an indication of where you're coming from, I'm surprised you got into nursing. You didn't really do it for the money did you? Where did you get the impression you were going to be raking it in? I hope that's not how the tertiary institutions are selling it. And I hope not too many other people are falling for it.

Tell you what, it's not too late to salvage this. Just quickly find yourself a nice bloke - ooh, you could probably snare yourself a rich doctor! - put your legs up and start counting the bonus coming to you in 9 months time. That way you'll be able to just stay at home living a life of leisure on handouts and not have to put up with any more of that crap from your patients.

Forest friendly
THE article by Tracee Hutchison "They don't get it" (Opinion, 12/5) and subsequent letters by Don Stokes and Karina Kanepe (14/5) display a disturbing ignorance about forests, wood and climate change.

Deforestation in Indonesia is disastrous because it permanently removes forest cover. But this is vastly different from Australian (and Tasmanian) forestry practices under which harvested areas are regenerated with replacement trees. Where this is sustainable — the annually harvested wood volume equals the rate of growth over the whole forest — there should be no net loss of carbon.

Using wood is one of the most positive things we can do to combat climate change. It is natural and renewable whereas substitutes such as concrete involve large emissions of greenhouse gases in their manufacture.

Similarly, using firewood from a sustainable source is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of home heating if it reduces electricity use.
Mark Poynter, Victorian spokesman, the Institute of Foresters of Australia

If logging practices in Australia are so sustainable why is there a need to increase the area logged into water catchments where the amount of water in our reservoirs is greatly affected by logging?

I'm not sure how happy Tasmania will be to find that they're not a part of Australia but maybe they're used to it. As for Mark's claim that 'there should be no net loss of carbon', does he realise that trees aren't made of carbon? That the carbon is released when the wood is burned? Or maybe he's talking about the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment process by the trees.

As for wood being 'one of the most environmentally friendly forms of home heating', is he insane? Slow combustion wood burners are incredibly polluting with the amount of smoke that is released. If all home heating was powered by wood burners, the skies would be permanently hazy and asthmatics and others with respiratory problems would be dropping all over the place.

This is a naive or deliberately deceptive missive from an industry that should face environmental realities and start to think about getting some new skills. And stop wasting everyone's time by trying to convince us you're all touchy-feelie warriors for the environment.

While nations push for the total destruction of Israel, I find it hard to have much sympathy for them when they get bitten back. As Ron points out below, Israel have made concessions to work towards peace and all they get in return is attacks and threats.

I don't want to get into a point-by-point dissection of anyone's letter but do want to point out that Lebanese TV is obviously not going to give a balanced account of what's going on; that the Muslim world doesn't actually believe that an Arab life is equal to an Israeli or Caucasian life but, in fact, preaches that Israelis and westerners are infidels and worth much less; and, if Lebanon has no means or permission to defend herself then where did the rocket that killed or maimed 38 people in an Israeli railway repair shed come from?

What I think is really going on is that the Arab world is spoiling for a war and has carefully coordinated these kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, calculated to provoke Israel to attack so they can send footage to the rest of the world of all the casualties and make a case for how monstrous Israel is and gain some sort of justification to go to war. The dead Lebanese and Palestinians are simply unwitting martyrs for the cause of the destruction of Israel and acceptable casualties to the religious leaders of the Arab world. But I don't expect I'll be reading any letters from Alissar Helena El-murr denouncing the war waged on Israel when that happens.

[REDACTED]

It's more than a game
THE explosion of violence now shaking the Middle East may soon die down, but there will be no true peace until the fear, antagonism, resentment and misery are recognised and action taken to cope with their root causes. This will not happen as long as we - people of the rest of the world - take sides like barracking football fans.

The fear of the people of Israel, feeling that they are surrounded by hostility, is understandable, especially with their historical background of repression and atrocity at the hands of non-Jews, mostly Christians. Likewise, thousands of Palestinians have suffered for half a century after the forced establishment of Israel by Western powers with little regard for the people who had lived there for scores of generations. The US, Britain and others must accept substantial responsibility.

A lasting, wholesome peace will never be reached by military action or intimidation. However difficult it may be - and current events are making it more so - we must all aim at fairness to all those involved and seek compromise and agreement between the currently opposed peoples. They are all human beings who would prefer a calm and assured life for their families.
Robert Corcoran, Edithvale

The missing Mandela
NEARLY everybody in the world reveres Nelson Mandela for the way he brought peace to South Africa. He did this through suffering, forbearance and forgiveness. George Bush, Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and their successors, have brought suffering to the Middle East through their anger, arrogance and hubris.

If only these men would learn a lesson from Nelson Mandela, how much better the world would be. And so would their reputations.
Chris Burgess, St Kilda

Time to get tough
It is time to call a spade a spade, and haul Israel into the UN Security Council and make it accountable for this outrage in Lebanon.

No one begrudges Israel the right to pursue legitimate terrorist targets when provoked, but bombing a country's international airport and infrastructure, based on a tenuous view at best, that it supports terrorism, threatens to undermine the fragile democracy in Lebanon. This only encourages extremism and makes Lebanon vulnerable to political implosion that would catapult it back into the dark days of civil war.

The US and Britain also need to forgo, for once, their thinly disguised bias towards Israel and show some robust diplomatic backbone and use their clout to bring Israel to account. This they would do without hesitation with other nations such as Iran or Syria if they committed such a disproportionate military act.
Tim Hamilton, Coburg

Overkill
IF POLICE officers responded to a dangerous criminal gang holed up in a house by blowing up the entire street block, including numerous civilians who lived in the area, the police would, quite rightly, end up on homicide charges. When the Israeli Government reacts in a comparable way to attacks by some members of Hamas and Hezbollah, there should be no doubt about how wrong its conduct is.
Brent Howard, Rydalmere, NSW

The price of weakness
ISRAEL is unfortunately now paying the price for its past displays of weakness. It retreated from Lebanon six years ago and from Gaza last year. Rather than using these opportunities to build self sustaining societies, Israel's neighbours view these concessions as displays of weakness. They have therefore used the land handed back to them as bases to continue fighting.

As Amin Saikal rightly points out (Opinion, 14/7), Israel's neighbours view themselves as the victims. Even when land is conceded to them, they still view themselves as the victim.

I despair for Israel. How is it supposed to deal with a neighbour that does not understand compromise and prefers victimhood and hence retaliation to building constructive societies?
Ron Holzer, East St Kilda

Stop upsetting a hero's wife and kids

IN RESPONSE to comments made by Karla McKinlay (Letters, 3/5) about Private Jacob Kovco, I would like to say: Back off and wait for the outcome of the investigation into his death. People like you are distressing his widow Shelly and the two kids. Jake is a hero: he died doing a job for his country. Also, he is a hero because Tyrie, his son, said so. I say so and so do all his mates in 3 RAR. If anyone wishes to dispute it, I'm sure his mates would discuss it with them. So would I.

When this is over, I hope that all the knockers will apologise. If you really want to do something, help the kids by making a donation and lobbying the politicians so this does not happen again and our soldiers are treated with dignity when they die. Why do I care? Well, I am Shelly's father, and am proud of her and Jake — because he is a hero.
David Small, Sale

Y'know, the federal government just keeps making this case worse. If they hadn't lied in the first instance about what had happened and then if they hadn't fucked up the transport of the body back to Australia, this would all be fading quickly in the memory of Australians. But because they did both those things, answers are now sought and the minister for defence states that the official enquiry will take six months to complete. That's six months for speculation and theories of what actually happened to fester. Surely, the minister hopes that everyone will have forgotten by that time and they'll be able to dump the findings on a busy Friday coming up to the AFL grand final or something.

What has been ascertained is that there are strict procedures for the removal of ordinance from weapons before military personnel enter barracks that would prevent a loaded weapon casually laying around, waiting to be knocked and go off. Something else of note is that if a member of the military commits suicide, the  widow is not eligible for payment of a pension.

So if the case is that Jake Kovco committed suicide, this is bad press for the govt, given that it's an indication that our military personnel are in such a bad state that they are driven to suicide by Howard's decision to lead this country into a spurious war. And, if the widow and young child are left without any financial support from the govt because of standing  regulations, Howard is seen as heartless in the face of a tragic situation. Maybe that's what they figure is going to be the result of the enquiry and so they're trying to pre-empt the discontent about the situation later by giving the full military funeral this week.

But back to David Small's letter:
Sure, Jake Kovco is a hero because, these days, the word really doesn't have any value. Howard tells us that Don Bradman was a hero - no he wasn't. He had a particular talent for aiming a bit of wood at a bit of cork wrapped in leather and running quickly in 22 yard bursts. He calls the casualties of the Bali bombing heroes. No they weren't, they were victims. Possibly victims who wouldn't have been attacked if this country hadn't been led into an illegal military action by John Howard. I could go on but I shan't.

Jake Kovco wasn't a hero. Even if he didn't die at his own hand. He chose to play the percentages on joining the army - he may have seen it as a good chance that he wouldn't be sent to Iraq. He may have expected there was a good chance he wouldn't see any real action. He may have expected there was a good chance he wouldn't be injured or killed - and, unfortunately for him, landed on the wrong side of the percentages. But that's the gamble you take when you sign up. For years, the Australian army wasn't involved in any serious conflicts and being a career soldier was a pretty good wicket.

Sure, David is going to be emotional at this point. He's been closely involved with the man they just buried. He can say anything he wants about Jake to try to quell the pain. But I'm not sure that it's constructive for anyone to be making veiled threats. "If
anyone wishes to dispute it, I'm sure his mates would discuss it
with them. So would I.", seems to have the same tone to it as, "I'll see you behind the shelter shed after school with my burly gang of mates... You're SO dead."

MP raises Islamisation fear in RU486 debate

You must be fucking kidding!

Translation: "It seems that our scaremongering about the explosion in abortions that will ensue as soon as these irresponsible godless bitches can get their greedy little hands on the magic pill. Holy FUCK! Maybe they'll believe that we're going to have a nation of terrorists if we pass the bill. Yeah! That'll work. We'll just leave it to the racist redneck fucks to get public opinion back on our side and we'll be able to beat that evil bill."

Actually!

MP raises Islamisation fear in RU486 debate

Technorati Tags: Islamisation, RU486, Danna Vale, abortion , drug , Therapeutic Goods Administration, imam , Lakemba , Muslim ,

RU486: good news for women's health

The Senate voting to overturn the restrictive legislation banning RU486 is good news for democracy and good news for women's health. This reflects the broad community attitudes that politicians are not medical experts and these complex medical decisions must be referred to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, as it is for all other drugs. Now it depends on the House of Representatives to get it right this week and transfer the responsibility for importing this drug into Australia.

Incidentally, I wonder how many people are aware that RU486 does not cause the abortion of pregnancies; it simply reduces the natural progesterone and makes the uterus respond to the second medication, prostaglandin (which is an approved drug!). All this hysteria about RU486 is not relevant. But why let that get in the way of a good media story!
Dr Pieter Mourik (obstetrician and gynaecologist), Wodonga

Abortion, anyone?

In the RU486 Senate debate, those describing themselves as pro-choice repeatedly said the debate was not about abortion, only the process for the approval of RU486. However, all who described themselves as pro-choice voted to give responsibility for RU486 to the Therapeutics Goods Administration. On the other hand, all senators who declared themselves pro-life or anti-abortion voted to keep the control of RU486 with the Minister for Health. The Senate simply voted along lines for or against abortion.

Please, pro-choicers, be honest! Admit the RU486 debate is about abortion. Then please finish your sentences. Please tell us you are for the choice of a woman to end her baby's life.
Reverend Eugene H. Ahern, Saint Francis Xavier parish, Frankston

So let's debate it

There is no doubt in my mind that the only reason that the pro-choice people want the responsibility for RU486 taken away from the Health Minister is to make its introduction easier. Any talk about administrative rights is just noise to hide the true purpose of the debate, which is really about abortion itself.

Australians have never had a proper debate to consider the question of abortion, nor do I expect there to be one in the near future. Instead, the laws on abortion followed the extreme examples of life-threatening illness or mental illness to justify what as claimed to be only a few cases per year. No one could ever imagine that this would lead to 90,000 per year.

Flicking responsibility of this 90,000 to the states raises the question of why federal funding is used for the procedures. Approval of money cannot be separated from how it is to be used. Approval of a drug cannot be separated from its purpose.
Damian Murphy, Westmeadows

Beyond Abbott

If politicians of an anti-abortion persuasion have the numbers, they will be successful in having approval for the use of RU486 pill determined by Health Minister Tony Abbott. However, a future health minister may not share Mr Abbott's doctrinal values and could permit its use. Will those now arguing that this should be a matter for ministerial determination accept that decision?
Roy Arnott, Reservoir

RU486 is a drug that facilitates pregnancy termination. Surgical pregnancy termination does the same thing. Anti-abortionists are attempting to completely hijack the private member's bill on who approves the drug by using it to generate a debate about abortion - which is going to continue regardless of whether or not RU486 is available. The Reverend Eugene, for example. Do these people think if they say it enough times that it will miraculously become true? Do you think that's the miracle they're praying for each night before they go to bed?

Even if the bill is defeated, abortion isn't going to be stopped. But if RU486 isn't available it will simply be a small victory for the vindictiveness of the anti-abortion lobby and their disregard for the welfare of women who have an abortion. Spiteful little cunts.

Added to that, the way that they use the emotional hyperbole is disgraceful. Fuck you, Eugene, and your guilt inducing accusation that women are killing their babies. Get off your high-moral superiority-horse and get a bit of compassion about you, fuckwit. They're not babies and your lies don't help anyone at such a point of stress in a woman's life.

As for the abortion debate in general, you might want to have a look at a new documentary, screening its world premiere at ACMI as part of the Real Life on Film documentary festival - abortion, corruption & cops: the bertram wainer story - set in times before abortion was legal, when backyard abortions were the second greatest killer of women in Australia. But then, I guess the anti-abortion lobby hasn't baulked at the challenge of murdering medical practitioners who carry out abortion procedures so why should I be surprised that they would want to take this country back to the days when the deaths of a few godless bitches wasn't such a bad thing.

And how curious that all these men see it as their place to determine what women can do with their own bodies.

Letters - Opinion

Technorati Tags: ru486, abortion, pro-choice, real, life, on, film, acmi, backyard, abortions, mortality, medical, practitioners, documentary, godless, australia, vindictiveness, anti-abortion, abbott, termination

Why we need a 'biased' ABC

The ABC has survived despite the appointments of several inadequate general managers — and despite Government bias against it. The organisation can still hold its own in terms of its brilliant current affairs and good news services even though it is underfunded and criticised.

It's a wonder that with a Liberal-biased board of directors that it has the latitude to report freely at all.

Governments continually condemn the ABC's left-wing bias and yet without the ABC there would be little account for the Government's decisions.

It is necessary and essential for the ABC to always be left of centre — whichever Government is in power. To be completely "unbiased" and not be opinionated is to be weak in my terms.

The people of Australia need the ABC and all its multi-functions, and it is a sad reflection that perhaps the ABC is not getting the general managers it deserves. For all his "calming" influence, Russell Balding was not the right man for the job. He is an accountant, a numbers man, and accountants should not be at the head of an expansive, free-thinking organisation. We need men of vision as managing directors, inspired leaders with a grand vision of where the ABC ought to stand in our society.

These days, in particular, when the Liberal Party has a free hand to make terrible blunders, we need an unshackled ABC with enough funds to keep us freely informed.
Gordon Bick (former ABC Four Corners producer), Rosebud

Alert and alarmed

Past defender of the ABC against political attacks Russell Balding has resigned at a crucial time — during a Government review to determine future funding for Auntie. It's time to set up a 24/7 "citizens watch" for any sign of a Jonathan Shier look-alike lurking in the wings.
Lesley Cowie, Blackburn

Not only does the ABC need to be allowed to run without government interferance but it should be properly funded to do so as well. Since when did politicians become such gutless turds that they have to destroy all organs that provide a level of accountability? Oh, that's right, since they could because the people can't be stuffed making a ruckuss about anything.

I used to like the ALP. Hell, I even used to be a member. But that was before they completely sold out and became a spineless mass that couldn't make a decision without checking in with the pollsters to see what Jane A. Citizen living in Waverley thought about it and then go along with that view.

Hear hear, Lesly Cowie, it's beyond time we had a citizens watch to look out for the ABC. I'm with you - who else is coming?

Can we start by pressuring 3LO to stop installing vapid, tedious afternoon announcers that wouldn't know how to be controversial if their lives depended on it?

Technorati Tags: abc, bias, alp, liberal, russell balding, citizens watch, accountability, pollsters, funding

Get back on the horse

PREMIER Geoff Gallop's resignation sends the wrong message regarding depression. How many people have the luxury of retiring on a government pension the moment they become ill?

As a GP who has successfully treated hundreds of patients with depression, my first advice is to always get back on the horse as soon as possible after falling off. By all means take some sick leave, reassess the priorities, rediscover the importance of family and take responsibility for your own health. With modern medicine and supportive counselling, depression is an eminently treatable disease.

If Dr Gallop was sick of politics he should have taken a leaf out of Mark Latham's book and said so!
Dr Colin Hughes, Glen Forrest, WA

Not funny

DEPRESSION is a major clinical illness with large personal and social costs, as articulated in the opinion piece by beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett (Opinion, 18/1). But not for cartoonist Michael Leunig who, to have a go at John Howard, on the same day conflates the word "depressing" with the much more serious mental health descriptor "depression". Not only is his cartoon politically inaccurate in that Howard is preferred as PM by a majority of Australians, but the crass insensitivity of the would-be jocular play on words belies Leunig's recent maundering self-professed concerns for humanity
Thomas Hogg, East Melbourne

Depression in Australia has been gaining prominence in the past few years, especially with the publicity of the Beyond Blue organisation - driven primarily by former Victorian premier, Jeff Kennett, as its public face - and the recent retirement from politics of the premier of WA, Geoff Gallop. I wonder if the incidence of depression is growing or just being diagnosed more often because of the growth of public awareness.

If one thinks of the Australian electorate as a person (forget about the politicians for a moment), would it be fair to describe that person as depressed? It would make sense, wouldn't it? It would explain the last federal election result. The hopelessness of the situation that the country is in with: the Australian involvement in Iraq; the entrenched apathy about the wellbeing of asylum seekers in this country with refugees fleeing tyranny or mortal peril being locked in cages out in the desert and being driven slowly insane; Tampa; kids overboard; ... the list goes on. There's surely a national guilt about what has been done in our name so when it came to election time and the agenda was shifted to 'the economy' and what was in it for each individual, financially, and no one was being held to account on these travesties, the electorate glibly nodded along with Howard, figured they'd get something in return for the loss of international karma points and gave the 1 vote to the Libs.

Maybe.

I have to hold out some hope that Australians aren't all money-grubbing, heartless fuckers that stand by the atrocities resulting from the actions of the Howard government. It'd be to depressing to believe otherwise.

I reckon Leunig is completely spot on with his cartoon. And it was funny in the aftershock of Gallop's resignation. If only it were true.

Technorati Tags: depression, beyond blue, jeff kennett, john howard, tampa, children overboard, australian electorate, geoff gallop, leunig