iServ - The One!
iServ is Australia's eminent source of news, politics and commentary. iServ is your trusted Centre-Right resource for accuracy and the good old Aussie fair go!
The Forum
As per usual, Kevin Rudd has his priorities wrong
Yesterday Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, called for Australians to learn either Chinese or Japanese and help Australia reach out to Asia in a speech he made in Singapore yesterday.
Such a call would never have come from former Prime Minister, John Howard, who during his 11 years in office placed things like economic prosperity, infrastructure development and learning the English language at the top of the priority list.
These was good reason for this too. Not only is Australia a western nation but too many people out there are yet to make a satisfactory grasp of English. It would be wrong to cast aside the opportunity to learn English whilst learning the languages of other countries.
English has become the world's common language over the last 30 - 40 years. Most European countries require their school students to learn English alongside their native language and the same is starting to happen in some Asian countries. The Internet is largely built around using English to communicate. A majority of websites and chat networks around the world require users to speak English.
It is not because other languages are bad but because over time there has been a natural progression towards adopting English. Why is it that Labor keeps trying to confront this trend instead of embracing it?
I'd like to ask Mr Rudd what learning Chinese or Japanese would do for my life? Where would it take me? Assuming I could speak both languages as fluently as a Chinaman or Japanese, what could I do in my career path any better than I do now? I can't honestly think of one possible scenario.
English is also used in the main financial hubs of Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Add London, Sydney, Tokyo and New York and you have a ring of cities around the world relying on English to carry out their business.
Mr Rudd has also made a call for an Asia Pacific Community, something that Asian nations have rejected in the past and something that the Federal Opposition isn't too keen on either. I am also not fond of the idea. Labor simply cannot comprehend the fact that it is possible to be friendly with other countries without sucking up to them and surrendering sovereignty. The last thing we need is Beijing giving us orders.
Why is it that the previous Government was quite able to help this country prosper with massive export programmes without the need to set up a club that will force Australia to forego its sovereignty and therefore its ability to drive its own destiny but the Labor Party can't?
At the same time, Australia's economy is about to be flushed down the toilet by Labor's inability to manage it. Unemployment will rise as of next month due to a lack of confidence sparking planned mass-retrenchments by many companies. Interest rates are almost as high as when Labor last got thrown out of office. No-one is buying anything because they have to save every cent they have to fund their home loans and extortionate rents. In many cases children are starving because of interest rates and petrol pricing but all Mr Rudd gives a stuff about is whether they can beg for food in Chinese or not.
Written at 08:59 on 13 August 2008 by Lord Watchdog.
Posted in the Politics section. Comments: 1|Chat Live
Kevin Rudd's new order is now on notice, officially
Labor has suffered a smashing 9% swing against it at general elections held in the Northern Territory yesterday. Whilst Labor looks to hang on it will be with a one seat majority at best, otherwise a hung Parliament with the Member for Nelson, Mr Gerry Wood, holding the balance of power.
Labor's introduction of speed limits on Territory highways, their opposition to the Northern Territory Intervention and a very lacklustre performance by the Labor Government in Canberra are seen as the main reasons for Labor's shellacking yesterday.
Quick facts about the Northern Territory:
The Northern Territory Parliament consists of a Legislative Assembly. There is no Legislative Council. There are twenty five members elected under the preferential voting system. The Party with the highest number of members-elect is invited to form a government by the Territory's Administrator.
With only 217,000 people sharing a landmass of 1.4 million km2, the Northern Territory is one of the most sparsely populated jurisdictions in the world.
Written at 09:15 on 10 August 2008 by Lord Watchdog.
Posted in the Politics section. Comments: 0|Chat Live
CPI now accompanied by new indicator - the KPI
Today it has been announced that the Commonwealth will increase a number of excises it levies on certain goods including alcohol and cigarettes.
This comes after an era where taxes generally fell, not increased and comes at a time when people are laughing their heads off at a new unofficial financial indicator to accompany the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Kevin Price Index (KPI).
The official cost of living, the CPI, now stands at 4.5% which amounts to an economy boiling over because of the Government's failure to manage inflation, the price of oil and hold the big four banks accountable for their unilateral increases in interest rates on top of numerous increases by the Reserve Bank.
The KPI, or cost of living indicator showing how much more of a burden we are under since the election of Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, stands at a whopping 40%. Is it any wonder people are losing their homes and any wonder that it will soon be cheaper to register a motor vehicle than to fill it with petrol.
Kevin Rudd is bloody useless. He is not the right man to be the Prime Minister of Australia. Labor is not the right party to govern Australia. Every time we have a Liberal/National Government we see massive improvements to the quality of life we live. The young ones embark on change for change sake and we are again stuck with Labor who are hell-bent on destroying all the good done by their predecessors.
Mr Rudd's only major accomplishment, and I use that term with the usual sarcasm that I apply to all my discussions about Labor, was the disastrous Australia 2020 Summit, co-chaired by Cate Blanchett, which brought up the usual diversionary bullshit about republicanism and more Commonwealth handouts to the bludgers in society.
Kevin 07 + Cate 08 = Recession 09.
The question remains about how long Australia's economy can tolerate the 40% increase in the cost of living that we now experience. The longer the economy resists the threat, the better it will prove that the previous government were excellent economic managers and there is nothing that Kevin 07 can do or say that will alter that fact.
Written at 15:24 on 25 July 2008 by Lord Watchdog.
Posted in the Politics section. Comments: 0|Chat Live
World Youth Day - Sydney 2008
This week has been a big one for Sydney with hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world in town for World Youth Day, a day that really lasts a week with the number of events that have been organised.
I am privy to some fairly good vantage points for photos in and around North Sydney because I work there and I did manage to sneak one in about 10 metres away from the Pope as he departed from Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney.
For those who are unaware, Mary MacKillop founded the Order of St Joseph which is based in North Sydney. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II some years ago after a miracle was successfully traced back to her. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, has received news of a second miracle and once this successfully goes through formal channels in the Vatican, Mary MacKillop will become Australia's first Saint.
Some photos are below, courtesy of a brand new camera I purchased last week and they show everything from media presence, security presence as well as the all important spiritual presence - the reason the people have come to Sydney.
The Pope will end his week-long tour of Sydney with a huge mass at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Sunday in the expected presence of around 300,000 followers.
Written at 19:30 on 17 July 2008 by Lord Watchdog.
Posted in the Society section. Comments: 0|Chat Live
Naughty Kev Oh Sev..
It looks like the Stylemaster's clean cut academic image has been well and truly smashed forever.
It turns out that Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, swears like a shearer when the cameras aren't rolling, so much so that he'd probably make Gordon Ramsey sound like an alter boy.
Relevant link: http://www.news.com.au/story/...,00.html.
Written at 10:07 on 13 July 2008 by Lord Watchdog.
Posted in the Politics section. Comments: 0|Chat Live
