Author: bobmcgee

Can you trust Habib … ?

Sometimes I despair at the news.

The new racism is a reality. The way you use it is to scream racism every time you can massage the facts anywhere near enough to maybe get them somewhere close to where a one-eyed supporter of your pet cause might, at a stretch, think you a victim. Even the Liberal party will do it. What chance have we got of free speech?

Lets take an out-and-out example of racism. In the heat of the moment we let go at our footy opponent with … “You stupid black bastard!!”

We’re gone for all money. The black word gives the game away. Expect to be sitting out a few seasons. We may well point out that the word black is the only true word in the whole sentence, it will avail us nought.

Can you trust Habib? She’s a politician, right, so probably not. Especially if it’s your back against the wall, not hers. The wall, in this case, being a thinly veiled racial slur.

Her name is Habib, seems reasonable to call her that. To call her trustworthiness into account? Fine by me.

Racist? Get real.

Translator’s note.

Liberal, is the Australian word for conservative. I guess we don’t call them conservatives because they no longer believe in free speech. We don’t call them republicans because , with a few notable exceptions, they cling to the monarchy.

Full of hot air …

Peter Reith on Mrs Palmer’s little boy …

Personally, I doubt Palmer will last longer than Pauline Hanson but it’s the voters who will eventually decide his fate and their first chance is coming within weeks.

In elections in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, Palmer will be spending millions to persuade voters to vote for him even though he is not a candidate anywhere. Voters are being bombarded with the Palmer money machine with the message that a vote for Palmer will be good for voters.

He is entitled to spend his own money, he’s entitled to be ambitious, but his lack of democratic instincts and his populist policies, especially to spend billions of dollars by printing money, do not deserve support.

In Tasmania Palmer’s campaign appears to be particularly focused on stopping Will Hodgman from becoming premier. His antagonism towards Hodgman suggests if Palmer does not secure the balance of power, he wants Labor returned. If that is his game, he should say so.

He is not much more open on his proposed spending spree, starting with more ferries between Tasmania and the mainland. His claim that his ferry service will be like the ferries that cross the English Channel is odd. There is a big difference between crossing the 38-kilometre Channel and making the 392-kilometre trip across Bass Strait. On top of that, Palmer will not say where the money will come from for his ferry scheme.

Worse still, in WA Palmer has advocated more GST funds should be returned to that state, which means fewer dollars for places like Tasmania. Telling one story in one state and a different story elsewhere is too cute by far.

He has tried the same trick by advocating a breakaway new state in north Queensland but without mentioning his plans to voters in other places where people might think that the states should be abolished.

And then there is his plan to abolish higher education fees. Once again he offers no answer to the question of how he can pay for his plan. The truth is that he has no answer and he demonstrates once again that populism is his principal modus operandi. But free education is small beer for the big man.

His most irresponsible policy is that the government should be turning on the printing presses to the tune of $70 billion. The US has such a program. It intends to cut it back and its rationale was high unemployment. Australia does not have that issue and we have gross domestic product growth of nearly 3 per cent. It would be folly in the extreme to massively increase Australia’s already large deficits and debt. Our AAA rating would be at risk, our interest rates would most likely be pushed upwards and we would be more vulnerable to economic downturn.

Needless to say, this Palmer thought bubble is a guide to his unimpressive populism. At a time when economic reform and fiscal responsibility is more important than ever, Palmer is a man out of his depth and drowning in his own ego.

Is there any truth, I wonder, to the rumour that the new Tasmanian ferries will be airships created in his own image …
skywhaley1

Life without internet …

I spent the long weekend, for overseas or interstate visitors that’s Victoria’s Moomba Celebration … I might try to explain that one day, at my country estate.

Some renovations are underway. For reasons that I am totally unable to fathom, that has necessitated cutting the lead that runs from the satellite dish to the modem … in two places. Does the builder have a fear of being possessed by the internet? In any case he need have no fear now.

Albert Einstein may have summed it up …

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity … I’m not sure about the universe.” 

I can, actually, survive without internet, for short periods, but I do need some advance warning.

Less clear than I thought …

As the world stood on the very brink of thinking less of President Putin …

President Obama made clear that Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would negatively impact Russia’s standing in the international community.

… one certainty in my firmament was when I should use less and when I should use fewer. As a rule less beer and fewer cigarettes …

but all is not so clear. Find out why <HERE>.

On a roll …

According to The Australian …

A MAN has died after a vehicle drove off a Perth road, entered bushland and rolled over.

Police were notified of the single vehicle rollover off the Great Northern Highway about 30-kilometres south of Wyndham at 10.30am (WST) on Saturday.

It appears the vehicle left the road at or near a bend, entered bushland and rolled over.

From Perth to Wyndham is a roll of 3,215 km … no wonder the poor bastard was dead.

National Curriculum …

Fairly recently Australia developed a national curriculum. It hasn’t been introduced as yet so we can’t blame it for the slide in Australian achievement levels in literacy, maths and science.

Since the development of the curriculum there has been a change of government. The coalition wants a review. According to The Age educators are baffled by this. The deputy dean of Monash University’s education faculty, Deborah Corrigan, who was a senior adviser for the national senior science curriculum, said the move appeared to be motivated by politics.

And indeed it is. She is not so baffled after all.

The new curriculum enshrines three priorities. Matters so important that they must be given a place in every subject. Your mind is no doubt racing ahead and thinking of matters like …

  • Comprehension
  • Clear thinking
  • Clear expression

The sorts of things that help you do well in any exam. Read the question carefully, think about your answer, get your answer down clearly and neatly. You’d be wrong of course. Think in terms of more lofty ideals. No doubt you are now considering the cornerstones of our civilisation …

  • Liberty
  • The rule of law
  • Democracy

Well wrong again, in the view of our guiding educators the three things so important that you must absorb them in every subject, such immutable priorities that without them your education for life as an Australian citizen would be utterly deficient, so weighty that no maths or science syllabus could be good enough  are …

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
  • Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
  • Sustainability.

This is how the first priority will intersect the maths syllabus …

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. It provides opportunities for students to appreciate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies have sophisticated applications of mathematical concepts.

Students will explore connections between representations of number and pattern and how they relate to aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. They will investigate time, place, relationships and measurement concepts in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts. Students will deepen their understanding of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples through the application and evaluation of statistical data.

I particularly like “It provides opportunities for students to appreciate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies have sophisticated applications of mathematical concepts.” Of course they do … they go to school and thanks to the National Curriculum they learn exactly the same maths as, as well, er … the rest of us.

There is nothing new about social engineering in schools. The Jesuits have been saying “Give me the boy and I’ll give you the man,” for five hundred years or so. German Nazism, Russian Communism, British Imperialism have all had a go at it. Now our trendy lefty educators are determined to bring you a generation that  know …

  • OI3 … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have unique belief systems and are spiritually connected to the land, sea, sky and waterways.
  • OI7 … The broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies encompass a diversity of nations across Australia.
  • OI9 … Australia acknowledges the significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people locally and globally.
  • OI2 … Interrelationships between humans and the diverse environments in Asia shape the region and have global implications.
  • OI9 … Sustainable futures result from actions designed to preserve and/or restore the quality and uniqueness of environments.

The Australian student will also learn …

Mathematicians from Asia continue to contribute to the ongoing development of Mathematics.

The question is will mathematicians from Australia also be making a contribution. To do so what they must learn in mathematics is mathematics not that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are spiritually connected to the land, sea, sky and waterways, or World views that recognise the dependence of living things on healthy ecosystems, and value diversity and social justice are essential for achieving sustainability.

What I would like to see in a future Australia is a clever populus who can manage maths and science well, contribute academically on the world stage and sustain or improve their standard of living. They would be held safe by the constitution and the courts without regard to their colour or creed and free to speak their minds. It’s another old idea, derived from a culture that has enriched us immeasurably. The lady with the sword and scales is usually blindfolded.

The review of the Australian Curriculum is under way. If you wish to make a suggestion you may do so <HERE>. Our educators seem determined to create ” … a diversity of nations across Australia“, I think it would be better if their three priorities were consigned to the garbage.