Category: Politics

Left Wing rants, Andrew Wilkie for Bennelong, Down with Dubbya.

Help!

Some idiot (that would be me) started using a news aggregator (NetNewsWire Lite), and didn’t keep a backup list of all the blogs I read.

Considering that lots of the blogs I read are recommendations from other blogs, or blogs belonging to people that comment on my blog, this list is not only a very groovy and precious part of my life, it’s irreplaceable.

And apparently, Rhubarb (the laptop) had a wee brain fart, and lost all my feeds.

So as well as asking everyone to make an intelligent vote in the senate (and if you live in NSW, vote for Kerry, she rocks!), I am also asking you to send me your favourite blogs – knitting and non knitting!

A Wonderful Start to the Election Campaign

Thank goodness for the federal election campaign – always something new to keep me entertained in the lead up to labour day (if I get that far, the recalcitrant one is still refusing to perform to other peoples expectations).

Thanks to The Other Andrew for this link to an article about the member of a prospective member for Reid (our new electorate).

Which reminds me – I must update my resume to add EX UNION BOSS to my list of job experiences. I was the shop delegate for the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union (the SDA) when I was 17 and in high school. But Ex Union Boss sounds so much more impressive.

In Inigo news, we’re scheduled for another ultrasound tomorrow week, and then for a “chat” with the hospital obstetrician afterwards. If the passenger still hasn’t “assumed the position”, I get to find out what my options are. Apparently he is currently a “footling transverse oblique” lie. I am still relatively comfortable, and am taking advantage by throwing a dinner party tonight for the parents and parents in law. It’s quite likely to be my last dinner party for quite some time, so I am planning a 3-4 course extravaganza. And tomorrow, the built in wardrobe should be installed!

All in all, preparations for the big arrival are on schedule – and once the wardrobe is done, all I have to do is pack a hospital bag. Perhaps I should do that sooner rather than later – if I go into labour now, I have to race to the nearest hospital (because of Inigo’s position). So having my bag packed is probably a good idea!

Stay tuned for the continued adventures of Daisy, the long suffering feline…

Wednesday Deadline

You’d have to be dead not to realise that the election has been called, and we have until wednesday to make sure you are on the electoral roll.

There are a whole lot of reasons to vote, and no valid ones not to – so get thee to a polling booth on election day (if you’re not giving birth), and do your bit for democracy.

Don’t for get Wed is the deadline for enrolling to vote or changing your details.

The election will be held on November 24, but unless you act quickly you may find that you are ineligible to vote. You must enrol now to make sure you have your say about Australia’s future.

You have until 8pm Wednesday October 17 to fill out, sign and return your enrolment form to the Australian Electoral Commission.

If you are already enrolled but have moved house and changed addresses, you have until Tuesday October 23 to update your details.

The instructions below are a definitive guide to enrolling, so please forward them to your friends and family to make sure they can have their say this election.

Enrolling for the first time or updating your enrolment

1. Download your state’s form:
http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/Update_enrolment.htm

2. Fill it out. You will need to provide ID or find someone to vouch for you. The instructions are on the form.

3. Send in the form immediately.

How to send in your form

FAX: Enter your postcode and it will tell you your nearest Divisional Office, fax it there.
http://apps.aec.gov.au/eSearch/divisiondetails.aspx, or

SCAN AND EMAIL: Scanned and email the completed and signed forms as an attachment to info@aec.gov.au, or

POST: Mail your form to your nearest Divisional Office of the AEC. Reply paid envelopes are provided at Australia Post shops/offices).

Checking your enrolment is still current

* Check you are enrolled at your current address by filling out your details in this form: https://oevf.aec.gov.au/

* If your name and address details are still current – you are enrolled. If not, you need to update by October 23, by following the instructions above.

The Australian Electoral Commission is in charge of looking after enrolments. If you require further information please telephone 13 23 26 or go to http://www.aec.gov.au.

Not quite a perfect day…

First, Bronwyn Bishop hands down a report recommending that children of drug addicted parents should be adopted out.

No counselling, harm minimisation, or even foster care. No. ADOPTION.

Moron.

And of course, this doesn’t cover alcoholics, because even though many more children are affected by alcohol, alcohol is LEGAL.

And that is pretty bad, because our current government is likely to follow the recommendations of the report. IF we re-elect the bastards, and don’t take control of the senate away from them.

But even worse.

Morris Iemma wants to kick you out of public housing if you break the law.

Great – imagine you don’t open your mail, don’t pay a parking fine, have your licence suspended, and get caught driving without a licence. Not only do you have to go to court, YOU LOSE YOUR HOME.

And let’s face it – a lot of people in public housing aren’t there because they like the luxury – more likely they aren’t living a life of luxury, privilege, and high end coping skills.

Chances are, if you don’t cope well with life, you might end up needing public housing. You might even try an illicit substance. And if you’ve got kids, you’ll be out of a house and out of a family – all because you’re the sort of person that Bronwyn Bishop doesn’t want to sit next to on the bus.

I suppose I should be glad I am breeding, so there is one more sane person to fight the good fight.

I couldn’t really put it any better

Post about the latest update in the Haneef case by “Reasons You Will Hate Me“.

And in Lara news..

I’m going to have a whinge. Just because I’m feeling a bit down. I will get over it, but putting it out there seems to help a little – at least it helps me put things in perspective.

Today is Shane’s birthday. After being one of my best friends for over a decade, she stopped talking to me just after Mark and I got married. No explanation, and I don’t know why – she just stopped taking my calls, stopped returning my emails. Nothing.

Shane is the parent I most admire – I saw her go from surprise unwanted pregnancy to brilliant single mother of one, then two children. She parented in a totally natural, spontaneous, consistent and inspired way – and I never thought I’d have a child without her in my life.

For the last year or so, after I realised that she really had cut me off, I’ve been torturing myself, wracking my brains trying to think of what I had done to cause the rift, and what I could do to heal it. And ultimately, every thing I have come up with has lead me to think – why should I have to out myself through this for someone who would treat me like this.

For all my faults, laziness, selfishness, obtuseness, I know that I would NEVER treat a friend the way that Shane has treated me, and I have to ask why I would want someone who would act like that in my life.

And I don’t have a good answer, I just feel the loss of this friendship more keenly than I could have imagined, and even after three years, it still hurts just as bad. And having Ampersand has just thrown the loss of Shane into sharp relief.

This last week has brought a lot of physical changes. A few weeks ago, I still wasn’t really looking pregnant, and now there is no hiding it. My waist has completely disappeared, and my centre of gravity has shifted forward. I’m also suffering from sciatica (thanks for giving me a name for it Sandra!), which has made it difficult for me to walk more than a few steps without my leg collapsing out from under me.

The nausea has been a constant friend, but I haven’t thrown up for a few weeks, which makes it a bit easier to cope with the other physical changes. But the physical changes have made me feel a bit wussy, which leaves me a a little more exposed to the emotional stuff.

One thing that really helps with depression is physical activity – and since my massive paperwork day on monday, I haven’t had any important stuff to do yesterday and today, leaving me with the temptation to stay in bed and feel sorry for myself.

Tomorrow I have to pick up the Survey from Baulkham Hills and take it to the credit union, and this afternoon I have to get the cheque directions from the vendors solicitor. But apart from that, I am free to wallow.

I sent Shane a text message. I got a phone call back – it’s no longer her number.

So I’m going out to hang with a friend that does love me.

Again, we look like assholes to the rest of the world…

A BBC article about Dr Haneef.

I haven’t said anything about this case on the blog, as anyone who knows me in the slightest would assume that I am very cross that this poor man has been locked up, interrogated, lost his job, lost his privacy, had his home trashed, been accused of some idiotic charge, and been denied access to his family.

The Australian Federal Police Commissioner admitted that the police had stuffed up badly, and yet STILL REFUSED TO APOLOGISE saying, “We did a good job on the investigation”. Makes about as much sense as the rest of the bullshit that has been said about Dr Haneef.

Now, let’s talk about character. Apparently, you can fail a “character test”, and lose your immigration status in this country. Let’s take a good hard look at our mighty leader….

Life comes to bite me on the arse

The car still hasn’t been diagnosed. I dropped it in on monday afternoon, and it’s now wednesday night, and all I know that it has something to do with the power steering system. Could be expensive, could be just a hose.

We got a letter from the credit union – apparently we need to provide a shipload more documents for settlement, including a recent surveyors certificate (we need to pay a surveyor to do that – and we need to do it YESTERDAY – settlement is friday week, seven working days!), we also need certified copies of both our birth certificates for the first home buyers grant (which we were told the credit union would deal with), and also another certificate from some department or other. I feel like a ton of bricks has just landed on me, after feeling that everything was going a little too smoothly earlier.

Add to that the fact that the bloody real estate agency has decided to show our house this saturday (to try to get new tennants), so we have to make sure the place looks respectable while we’re in the middle of moving. They asked us to mow the lawns too, but I declined. There is only so much stress I am prepared to deal with in one week.

It’s a good thing I have such a large arse. I can still turn the other cheek.

And to prove that I’m coping, not drowning – waving, here is a really cool video that I have been searching for for about ten years.

And more great news – Mohammed Haneef‘s case will be reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. About bloody time.