Thursday 8 March 2018

J'accuse...!

NASA Jupiter
J'accuse…!
I accuse.
You. 
Of Murder. 
"They specialise in heart attacks," he said, loud enough to be heard. 
They talked now of Safe Havens. Of happy hunting grounds.
Canada. 
There were remote parts of Canada. Remote parts of Australia. New Zealand was in vogue. 
Remote parts of your own soul.
International Women's Day came and went. Wall to wall coverage on the ABC. Female only presenters for the entire day.
The coverage was so purely feminist these days it was hard to tell the difference. 
"Men don't have issues," he grumbled. 
Grotesquely overpaid women moaned about respect in the workplace. 
Try being a member of the working class for a day.
On and on and on it went. 
Not a battle worth having. 
At the Canberra Press Club women journalists booed male journalists.
The country has gone to the dogs.  
But gender equality must mean women and men working side-by-side, in respectful and constructive ways. Feminism is not hatred of men.
So how could it be that a male journalist was treated so discourteously by the Press Club crowd — overwhelmingly female, by the way — when he posed a political question to Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Tanya Plibersek?
To be sure, the question was not about women’s issues. By the way, if I had been there, I wouldn’t have asked her about a question about women’s issues. The answer would have been predictable and high-level.
It was too good an opportunity for journalists to seek out the views of a senior politician on an important and current political issue — in this case, Labor’s wavering support for the Adani coal mine.

Let me just put it out there: I think everyone has lost the plot. To be sure, some women are treated shabbily in the workplace. But some men are too. Women and men should unite to ensure that workplaces are civil and positive places rather than women waging a dubious us-versus-them campaign...
Everyone has lost the plot, Judith Sloan, The Australian, 7 March, 2018.
The non-stop anti-male propaganda grew worse with every passing year. 
Those blundering, abusive, patriarchal beasts. "You're a man..." one ABC commentator almost spat before soliciting his view.
As if anyone could disagree in the midst of that self-righteous tsunami.
It was all out of control. 
No debate. No point of conflict. Gender politics was a one party state. Apart from the universal agreement to agree on everything, 
Women on screens emoted at each other as they nodded their heads in approval at each others courage and conviction, and like so many others, Old Alex just gave up. 
There was bland out wherever you looked. At least in terms of the media. No wonder everybody had switched off.  
In a vicious circle. 
Alarm bells went off. 
Another Russian had been killed. 
London (CNN) Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent, UK police say, significantly increasing the likelihood that a foreign state was behind the attack.Mark Rowley, head of the counter-terrorism division of London's Metropolitan Police, told reporters that Sunday's incident was being treated as attempted murder. He revealed that one of the first police officers on the scene had fallen sick and was seriously ill in hospital.The developments mean that the British government must confront the suspicion that elements linked to the Kremlin carried out a brazen attack with a deadly agent in the middle of a rural English city, two weeks before President Vladimir Putin seeks re-election for a new six-year term. 
"I think the Australian government also eliminates people they don't like," Old Alex said. "You just don't hear about it."
They whispered their contempt. There would be no compensation for years of harassment. 
He bided his time. 
The Prime Minister was wounded. The country was wounded. 
Like an apple eaten out from within.

THE BIGGER STORY: 

Australia has once again slipped in a global corruption index, suggesting Federal Government measures to crack down on bribery and the diversion of public funds are failing.
In a corruption perceptions study of 180 countries conducted by Transparency International, Australia ranked as the 13th least-corrupt nation, ahead of Hong Kong, while New Zealand won top ranking as the cleanest.
But in a disturbing trend, the index showed Australia's corruption score had slipped eight points over the past six years, a trend which was described as a "notable decrease".
Australia scored 85 out of 100 in 2012, and 77 out of 100 in 2017.
The lower the score, the higher the perception of corruption.
Transparency International Australia chief executive Serena Lillywhite said developed countries — including Australia — appeared to be lagging in their efforts to combat corruption in the public sector.
Ms Lillywhite cited a range of perception issues currently in the political and public sector spotlight in Australia that are damaging the nation's push to be seen as a democracy where corruption is targeted and weeded out.
"The misuse of travel allowances, inadequate regulation of foreign political donations, conflicts of interest in planning approvals, revolving doors and a culture of mateship, inappropriate industry lobbying in large-scale projects such as mining, and the misuse of power by leading politicians have no doubt had an impact," Ms Lillywhite said.

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