Year: 2010

The Two Faces of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

liligans So you think you're cultured?, totally absurd

I am astounded by the declaration this morning that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is proud of the actions of activist Peter Bethune. In fact, they will give him a hero’s welcome back home when he returns from Japan.

How can one believe anything that this organisation says when in June this is what they said?

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has cut its links with anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune after he carried a bow and arrows during confrontations with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

Below is what they wrote on the Society’s website, according to the ABC report on June 9 of this year

The bow and arrows revealed to be on the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil, and in the possession of Captain Bethune on that ship, are absolutely not in line with Sea Shepherd’s policy,” the statement reads.

This morning on the ABC the spokesman for the Society revealed his forked tongue, when he admitted that the above statements were a ploy to get Bethune off. I can’t quite understand how that would work but they obviously are still trying to pretend that they are a peaceful organisation. What a bunch of hypocrites!

Suddenly they are proud to align themselves with a man who behaved like a pirate and threatened the crew of a boat he boarded illegally.

What sort of friends are these activists who are ready to distance themselves from one of their heroes when he’s in trouble? And yet when he gets off with a very lenient judgement, a suspended sentence, they pretend that they support him totally?

All better now?

I don’t think so. This organisation has blotted its reputation by admitting to lying.

It is thanks to the Japanese that Bethune is not in jail. No thanks to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, though, for abandoning him.

My losing battle with technology

liligans totally absurd, What Pisses me off

I am proud to announce that recently I got rid of my electric toothbrush. Now that may not signify as one of the world’s greatest protests, but for me, it meant a lot.

I got sick of charging the blasted thing. I got sick of having another gadget to be plugged in. I got sick of the brush telling me how long I have to brush my teeth and allotting to me the requisite two minutes which the gadget manufacturer said I have to do.

It made me feel as if I wasn’t in charge at all. Let’s face it, if you’re at the mercy of an electric toothbrush how autonomous are you?

There are people out there who bid their gadgets goodnight and then charge them ready for the next day’s onslaught.

All this dependency on electric gadgets has been getting on my nerves.

Which brings me to why my web site was down over the weekend. I use a web host as do a few other people and apparently a very selfish or ignorant company which monopolised all the available space on the host’s internet. This company was told not to do this again and I have been assured that said company will not be so greedy in future.

I wish I could believe it, but all sorts of things get screwed up on the internet. If it’s not the internet provider then it’s the connection somewhere on the line. Or else it’s because the rotten schoolkids are on holiday and they sit at their computers all day shooting demons or whatever or taking photos of their private parts and putting them on Youtube to impress the world.

Then there’s the twits or the twats and Facebook. I’m uncomfortable with all that and do not take part.

Nowadays, even the politicians twitter away, just to be with it. Do we really need more soundbites from the politicians? Still, even Julia Gillard has somebody twittering away for her. Some junior member of her staff with the gelled ridge of hair is doing the deed so that she can appear trendy.

I seriously doubt that her busy schedule allows her the time to twit. Not should it.

I would rather she concentrate on policies and leave the silly bits to some nerd who is already afflicted with a sore and arthritic thumb at the venerable age of 20.

You may well argue that I too have joined the ranks of internet afficionado since I have a web site. That’s not quite true, though. It’s a love/hate relationship that I have with my computer. I like the word processing part and I enjoy surfing the net for information.

But I am well aware of the dangers of the World Wide Web as a disseminator of falsehoods, a tool for propaganda more invasive than any newspaper by its speed and unaccountability.

I must confess I fear it.

On the other hand, I can’t think of anything in this world that is totally good. And so I endure the frustration of technology when I have to, while feebly protesting against it when it doesn’t really matter, as in the case of the electric toothbrush. T’is but a rather lukewarm attempt at aligning myself with the Luddites.

So there! I showed them, all right. lol

My web site was down

liligans So you think you're cultured?

Last Friday afternoon my web site was down and I felt very frustrated that nobody could do anything to help me until Monday. It is now Sunday evening and the site is up again. Very strange…

I have no idea why this happened and why it mysteriously came back. Am looking forward to finding out why tomorrow morning.

Anyhow, Happy Fourth of July to my American reader!!!!

The anti-semitic bigots have come out of the woodwork to accuse Gillard

liligans Politics

It didn’t take long before the usual bigots brought up the subject of Israel after Julia Gillard’s defeat of Kevin Rudd. So what is the gripe this time? A former ambassador to Israel, Mr Ross Burns, has written a letter to The Age newspaper accusing Gillard of being soft on Israel. This opinion was repeated by another reviled former ambassador to Israel, a Mr Rodgers who is notorious for being anti-Israel.

What these two bigots are really saying is that unless you are vehemently anti-Israel then you are soft on Israel.

Prime Minister Gillard has denied this accusation. All this happened because Gillard’s partner, Tim Mathieson, works in real estate for an Israel supporter. Apparently, that’s a crime according to Burns and Rodgers.

Which brings me to the topic of our former Prime Minister. I first met Kevin Rudd a few years ago in Queensland. He attended a Jewish function, praised the Jewish community and generally sucked up to everyone there assuring the Jewish community of his true and genuine admiration and loyalty.

When he became Prime Minister, however, Rudd revealed his true colours. He took hasty actions against a member of the Israeli embassy long before other nations in the alleged passport affair. He also directed his representative at the United Nations to vote against Israel.

He did this because he was sucking up to the Arabs in the U.N. Rudd’s ambition is so rapacious that he would be prepared to court anyone who can support his aim of becoming a bigshot at the U.N. And that is why he joined the enemies of Israel.

But then Rudd’s popularity polls went south and he suddenly remembered that he had betrayed an ally and that he had wounded the Jewish community in Australia. So just a few short weeks ago he tried to win over the Jewish community once again by meeting with some leaders and assuring them that he was “a friend of Israel.”

We all know the saying “With friends like these who needs…”

Why Kevin Rudd should not be Australia’s new Foreign Minister

liligans Politics, So you think you're cultured?

The position of Foreign Minister should be given to someone who has the respect of other nations. Rudd, with his grandstanding on the world stage and embarrassing demeanour, should not be representing us in such an important position.

Moreover, Rudd is now regarded by Australia and the rest of the world (that’s if anyone else really cares about Australia) as a loser and so has no credibility in that representative role.

How can one introduce him as Foreign Minister after he has been kicked out of the Prime Minister’s office?

Julia Gillard is now in a bind because she has, no doubt, promised Rudd something so that he would leave without a fuss.

She could make him our ambassador to the U.N so that he can pal up with his friends there. The U.N is a circus with no credibility so it would suit Rudd perfectly, in my opinion.

Sorry to see Lindsay Tanner depart

liligans Politics

Sometimes good news and bad news come together. I cheered when Kevin Rudd was ousted as Prime Minister. His farewell speech was quite impressive and welcome although he failed to thank the troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Julia Gillard, on the other hand, remembered to thank the troops and did a fine job of explaining why she challenged Rudd. She also did a clever thing by acknowledging the contribution made by John Howard, something that Rudd never did. He should have done so. Why not give credit where credit’s due?

Rudd has only himself to blame for his downfall. He was a one-man band and a poor listener. I’m sure that nobody except his young minions and Ms Rein could give him any advice. He certainly did not listen to his party and now he has paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. I would be sorry to see him appointed as Foreign Minister, so fingers crossed that Gillard has not promised him that sweetener.

The bad news is that Lindsay Tanner will be leaving and that is disappointing. He always answered questions and stuck to the subject during interviews. I would have preferred him to be Federal Treasurer instead of our current one. Never mind, it has been a happy and exciting day and now we will see if Gillard can do any better.