Censoring criticism of government policies
On October 1st, new laws came into effect in Australia that censor government officials from criticising government policy.
Censorship push raises ire of MPS
It’s the result of the Auditor-General’s criticism of a $300 million parliamentary entitlements scheme. All government handouts now need to be cleared by the Department of Finance before being distributed. The problem is, that the Department of Finance are including the editing of material to prevent criticism of government policies.
Since most of these government handouts are used to educate people about government mismanagement, by censoring them they’re preventing Australians from becoming aware of potential issues or problems within government policy.
How do you feel about this?
Where is it likely to go? If it’s now illegal for the government to criticise government policies, how soon will it become illegal for the public to criticise government policy?
I see stupid people
We see them all around us, stupid people doing stupid things. I’ve decided to write a list of the stupid things that I’ve seen people do, and as I see more stupid people doing stupid things, I’ll update this list. If you have examples of some really stupid things that you’ve seen people do, please tell me about them in the comments. We’ll have my list, and we’ll have your list (the readers of this blog).
- I saw a man putting petrol in his car at a service station. While holding the pump with one hand, he had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and was talking to someone on his cellphone.
- A man stopped in a roundabout in front of me while driving, so that he could give way to his left (you give way to the right in Australia, not the left). He drove a Volvo.
Global economy on the brink of collapse
Just a thought I'd like to put out there…
The US government is bailing out all these major banks and financial institutions (eg. Fannie May, Freddie Mac, and Lehman Brothers) with billions of dollars. Many billions.
So these institutions are all in incredible debt and can't sustain themselves.
And the US, of course, is in more debt than these institutions they're trying to save.
So where's the money coming from?
Expect a financial collapse of the global economy soon.
They still call it news
I'm appalled at how blatant the western media has become with its propoganda. It's no longer news, it's fantasy designed to support the US government's agenda. Seriously.
I know a lot about what's been going on. I'm an avid follower of world events. This Georgia/Russia conflict began many years ago, and it's all very complicated. But basically, both Georgian and Russian forces have been peacekeeping in Sth Ossettia for a few years now, keeping the violence from the 'separatist' Sth Ossettians to a minimum. Suddenly, on the Friday 2 weeks ago, the Georgian forces turned on their Russian peacekeeping companions and mowed them all down. 15 of the Russians were killed, and about 150 were wounded. As soon as the Russians were dealt with and unable to 'keep the peace' any more, the Georgians went on a slaughter spree and killed about 1,000 Sth Ossettians before the Russians could respond – that was just within a few hours.
I’m not sorry
During the week just gone, Australia had its 'Sorry Day', where the government apologised to the Aborigines for the treatment they experienced generations ago. I can certainly understand the need for the Australian government to be seen saying sorry for something the government was responsible for generations ago, and I see it as a positive step forward for reconciliation.
However, the problem I have is apologising for something that's not the fault of the current generation. There's two forms of 'sorry'. One is 'I'm sorry you experienced something tragic. I know I can never know what it's like for you as a result of what happened.' The other is 'I'm sorry that I caused you great suffering.' The first is valid for Australia's 'sorry day', while the second is not. The current government is not responsible for the actions of its predecessors 40-50 years ago.
