Hypocrisy of the world media

The global media is obsessed with Israel. In a negative way. Here is overwhelming proof. For the first time I can recall, I came across a photo via Yahoo News, of the huge concrete wall Egypt built along its border with Gaza to keep out Palestinians. Unlike Israel, who also have a defensive wall on their border with Gaza, the Egyptians are their beloved Arab brethren, who have never ever carried out or planned acts of terrorism against Egyptian civilians.

Now that I think about it, Saudi Arabia also have plans to build a 900km fence along its border with Iraq. Saudi Arabia already have a fence along their border with Yemen too !

In recent years, Israel has also constructed a security barrier along its border with the West Bank. 90% of it is chain-link fence with only 10% of it being concrete barriers. Now which wall do you think receives more criticism ? Which wall is demonised as the racist, imperialist apartheid wall ?

Try googling the words Apartheid Wall and see which tiny little democracy with maniacal Palestinian terrorists as neighbours gets mentioned every time.

Palestinians (L) are blocked by Egyptian police after Palestinian militants exploded a part of the border wall in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Palestinian militants have blown a hole in the Palestinian border wall between the Gaza

Hurricane Katrina - 2 disasters in one

When a natural disaster occurs, there is often nothing that can be done to avoid the disaster. Tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, flash floods, bushfires and violent weather can wipe out towns, villages and cities and spread disease. Natural disasters can't be stopped, but sometimes they can be anticipated and prepared for.

Meteorological services sometimes give a few days notice for winds and storms. Historical records show regions that are prone to earthquakes. Sometimes information comes out that can be used to avoid massive loss of life and property.

But who are the people who need to act on that information ? Clearly, its the owners of life and property in the threatened areas who need to take measures, be it barricading the home, buying food and water, filling the car with petrol, stormproofing the house, or simply packing up and making a run for it.

And then the storm hits. And in the aftermath, with the media scurrying to show the destruction and damage, people in the rest of the nation feel compelled to "do something to help", usually in the form of private charity and relief efforts. And often people learn from the experience and take future precautions. If an area is extremely prone to flooding like New Orleans, perhaps half the population will abandon the city altogether:

The 2000 U.S. census put New Orleans's population at 484,674, but Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused the city's evacuation. Population estimates as of June 2006 range from 192,000[6] to 230,000.[7]

But political parties like to score political points and look like they are "managing" the situation. The US congress approved massive spending on relief and aid, and rebuilding. Even though the individual people are smart enough to get the hell out of there, government decides to waste huge efforts to restoring the city. But one year later, the NY Times has a brilliant and devastating summary of how wasteful government has been in this affair.

WASHINGTON, June 26 — Among the many superlatives associated with Hurricane Katrina can now be added this one: it produced one of the most extraordinary displays of scams, schemes and stupefying bureaucratic bungles in modern history, costing taxpayers up to $2 billion.

Gregory D. Kutz, a G.A.O. official, testified before a House panel about fraud and held up one of the $2,000 debit cards given out by FEMA.

A hotel owner in Sugar Land, Tex., has been charged with submitting $232,000 in bills for phantom victims. And roughly 1,100 prison inmates across the Gulf Coast apparently collected more than $10 million in rental and disaster-relief assistance.

There are the bureaucrats who ordered nearly half a billion dollars worth of mobile homes that are still empty, and renovations for a shelter at a former Alabama Army base that cost about $416,000 per evacuee.
...
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The estimate of up to $2 billion in fraud and waste represents nearly 11 percent of the $19 billion spent by FEMA on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as of mid-June, or about 6 percent of total money that has been obligated.
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The $7.9 million spent to renovate the former Fort McClellan Army base in Anniston, Ala., included fixing up a welcome center, clinic and gymnasium, scrubbing away mold and installing a protective fence between the site and a nearby firing range. But when the doors finally opened, only about 10 people showed up each night, leading FEMA to shut down the shelter within one month.
The mobile homes, costing $34,500 each, were supposed to provide temporary housing to hurricane victims. But after Louisiana officials balked at installing them inland, FEMA had no use for them. Nearly half, or about 10,000, of the $860 million worth of units now sit at an airfield in Arkansas, where FEMA is paying $250,000 a month to store them.

WOW.. what a waste of money. Money that was stolen, taxes taken by force with the threat of imprisonment, from working Americans. Money that *could* have even been given to private charities who are accountable to their donors and have to show that they are spending the money wisely on important priorities, or else they risk not receiving future donations.

March for BMW owner's rights !!

Yeah, get angry. Get out there marching. Its a national day of protest ! Show John Howard that he can't step on our rights !

Every BMW owner should get out there to fight for their rights. Like the right to get a sunroof installed at no extra cost. Or get the leather upholstery or sports kit at cheaper prices. Government should get in there and stand up for Australians. BMW owners unite


(okay okay, I'm being completely sarcastic)

Well, the way I see it, workers "rights" are not really rights at all, any more than they would be BMW owner's "rights" or cinema-goers "rights" or ice-cream eaters "rights".

What those angry unions and public sector workers are protesting isn't really for "rights" at all. Because at the moment, Australians mostly have the *FREEDOM* to form voluntary employment agreements with each other. (I say mostly because there is still too much regulation in the labour market).

If I offer to employ someone to wash my car for the wage of either a home-cooked meal, back massage or $5 cash, what business does the government have in determining whether I can make that offer or not. People who value freedom will conclude that so long as the car-washer VOLUNTARILY ACCEPTS my offer, then the transaction should go ahead.

There are thousands of households, individuals, small and big businesses out there who are all employers. At the moment, they are regulated heavily. They are forced to pay a minimum wage. They are forced to contribute 9% superannuation if I am a permanent employee. They are forced to give me 1 month notice and provide a strong reason to terminate my employment (or else be sued for unfair dismissal). They are forced to give maternity leave to pregnant women which costs them an arm and a leg. They are forced to provide 4 weeks annual leave and some sick leave too.

If an employer does not offer all of these conditions, government says they cannot offer any employment at all.. the offer is illegal. We don't even get to see if there are workers in the market out there who would accept the terms and conditions that the employer offered.

Sometimes, there are workers who are more than happy to work for the conditions that would have been offered. I would gladly work for an extra 30% or even 25% salary if I didn't receive annual leave and super. In fact, my employer would be able to save a fortune if they didn't have to provide those benefits. Sometimes workers, especially those approaching retirement, put a high value on job security. So we sympathise when government legislates that their employer give them 1 month notice and cannot wrongfully dismiss them. But if a worker values something, shouldn't they be the ones to negotiate for it with their employer? Why does every job in Australia need 1 month notice and all the leave and entitlements ?

The free market will solve all these concerns. Even if I worked for an employer who dismisses workers unfairly and without notice, and has no concern for employees happiness, then I wouldn't be fooled into being complacent and having a false sense of job security. I would be on my toes looking for a job elsewhere, where workers are happier and employers try to establish some goodwill to motivate their workers and keep them happy and productive.

On a side note, isn't it funny how the socialists out marching call themselves "workers" when its a Wednesday and they aren't at work like the rest of us ?

Milton Friedman video

Here is a fantastic 28 minute video of Milton Friedman filmed during the late 60s. I urge all of you to take the time to watch it and listen to his arguments carefully.

I think its absolutely brilliant. Its not just the fact that he echoes the same arguments that I believe. Its especially brilliant because he is attacking socialist and welfarist economic fallacies that are still prevalent today. His discussion is as relevant today as ever.

Stupid lefty rant of the day

A female PhD student at Melbourne University called Karmen was asked about studying at the University of Auckland. Her short response is one of the most idiotic and deluded responses imaginable. I paraphrase:

Well with the current climate here in Australia under Howard for the past 10 years, I think the situation in New Zealand is much better. And New Zealanders have much better relations with their indigenous population.

Urrrhhh.. ... MORON !

Thats fine Karmen, go over to the Peoples Republic of Helen-Grad , you won't be missed. I'll stay back here with the rest of the population living under the hypnotic control of Howard. How is it that he manages to stay in power for 10 years and survive 4 elections ? Oh well, shes never met me but she already knows I have bad relations with the indigenous people. Karmen must be psychic.

The UN: "Very, very, very, very " serious

This line from Kofi Annan reminds me of Team America, where Hans Blix threatens to write Kim Jong Il a "very, very serious letter":

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany have offered Iran incentivAes, including access to advanced civilian nuclear technology, but say Tehran must first suspend enrichment before any discussions can start. “They are considering the package very, very seriously,” Annan told a news conference in Geneva after a nearly hour-long meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Other instances of the UN being very, very stern and serious are here, courtesy of the real Hans Blix:

And if the North Koreans move on, well the risks are very, very great. If the North Koreans were to test a weapon, yes, it would be very, very serious.

And when interviewed by the ABC's Four Corners:

Well I think it's a very considerable danger, if they move on I think that they might create incentives for the countries in the region, I think then in particular of course of South Korea and Japan, maybe Taiwan as well, and this is an explosive thing so the working on North Korea to do away with this in my view has very very high priority and I think that the first line of action should be on the field of political and security policies.

Over WMD intelligence:

But he questioned their ability to spot "fakes", such as a report Iraq had imported tonnes of raw uranium.
"Is it not disturbing that the intelligence agencies that should have all the technical means at their disposal did not discover that this was falsified?" he said. "I think that's very, very disturbing. Who falsifies this?"

Kofi Annan, discussing Iranian nuclear technology:

KOFI ANNAN: Yes. I think that -- let me say that the Iranians, in my judgment, hyped up their achievement quite considerably, because what they have achieved is the very, very beginning.

Ok, so I'm starting to see a pattern emerging here. The UN, for all its largesse and splendour, can do nothing more than issue statements. In order to give itself an authority and appearance greater than what it actually performs, they hype up the importance of their statements and use the words "very, very" and "seriously" far too often. Meanwhile, the rogue states are giving it the finger, and all the UN spokesliars can do is be very very concerned.

Aussie Aussie Aussie !!

The Aussies have just drawn with Croatia 2:2, making it through to the final 16. Next Monday, its Italy. Everyone is going absolutely nuts here, and this guy in the crowd sure has balls !



My condolences go out to Japan, who didn't really stand a chance against Brazil. The Japanese fans look like they were having a ball, but next time, you better bring bigger inflatable toys, perhaps Hello Kitty and some anime characters will help !

Coalition backbenchers fight government for freedom

It looks like John Howard and his government are emerging as strong social conservatives, after trying to bring through legislation that will ban gay marriages and civil unions and that oppose stem cell research.

Mr Howard told the meeting of Coalition MPs last night that cabinet had resolved on Monday to reject the recommendations of the Lockhart inquiry into stem cell laws and retain the status quo.

The battle over stem cell research has split cabinet, with conservatives including Health Minister Tony Abbott and Finance Minister Nick Minchin lining up against Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane and Education Minister Julie Bishop.

Why the ban on stem cell research, since when is it the role of government to restrict what research should be carried out by scientists ? Who knows what kind of breakthroughs in medicine stem cell research can bring about, obviously there are many experts who are putting resources and efforts into this area, but there are also many religious authorities condemning it outright as immoral.

Whats really shocking is that for the first time I can remember, Steve Bracks is fighting *ON* the side of freedom:

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has threatened to break ranks and explore state options to allow limited stem cell research if bans remain in place against therapeutic cloning.

Under existing laws governing embryo research and the prohibition of cloning, scientists can use only spare IVF embryos for stem cell research.

However the Howard government is considering relaxing its fairly tough asylum seeker detention laws:

The Coalition partyroom was last night formally briefed on asylum concessions, including offering community housing for women and children, 90-day time limits for the processing of claims and a watchdog role for the Ombudsman.

Immigration laws are usually contentious issues. If we lived in a free country, then I would support much more open immigration, as immigration wouldn't affect me. However our socialist democracy has created a troublesome situation where everybody pays exorbitant amounts of tax and the only way to recover some of that is to be a citizen and consumer social goods (i.e roads, public hospitals, public schools, subsidised tertiary education). So because of our socialist utopia, it actually DOES harm me and all taxpayers if more people arrive and consume the fruits of our labour, because we are compelled to spend on public services and every taxpayer suddenly has an interest in whether additional immigrants arrive.

If this country had minimal taxes and very few people depended on the state for goods and services, then I would rely on libertarian principles. Unfortunately these don't give a clear cut case. On one hand, there are security issues to consider, and most moderate libertarians support the state having a monopoly on violence through , so from a security perspective, I can sympathise with the need to control immigration. But this is balanced against the libertarian instinct for freedom of human movement.

Outrage of the month

I am gobsmacked by this piece of news. I expect to see flying pigs outside my window any second now. Here it is (courtesy of LGF):

JEDDAH, 20 June 2006 — The Ministry of Higher Education and the General Authority of Civil Aviation are offering scholarships to Saudi men and women to study various majors related to civil aviation in the United States.

The forms are available online at the ministry’s website until July 12 for both bachelor’s and post-graduate studies. Nominations will be announced on July 31. Interviews will take place in August and final scholarship winners will be announced on Sept. 2.

The scholarships are available in majors such as communications, electrical and computer engineering, computer science, systems analysis, air traffic control, flight safety, and other majors related to the airline transport industry.

Applicants for the bachelor’s program must have a minimum score of 85 percent in the science section and 90 percent in other sections, such as Qur’an memorizing, administrative and commercial sciences.