You are currently viewing the archive for October 2004.
A survey (pdf) by the Victorian Trades Hall Council shows that one-third of OH&S representatives are bullied by their bosses. When the Government controls the Senate, a lot of them will probably be sacked by unaccountable small businesses.
The Coalition can’t explain why it broke the law by sending phone spam to silent numbers. You can bet that when they finally submit a response, they’ll argue that they’re exempt from the relevant code of conduct.
“This is the day I just don’t give a shit. Not. A. Shit. … I barely gave a shit about anything yesterday. Tomorrow I have no idea. I do not trade in shit futures. Any coupon borne by you that you seek to redeem for shit tomorrow will most likely not be honored. Today, please see above. Ixnay on the Itshay.”
Paul Krugman says “Gallup’s sample of supposedly likely voters contains a much smaller proportion of both minority and young voters than the actual proportions of these voters in the 2000 election.” Cynical Neale Talbot suggests “Gallup is accurately predicting just how successful Republican efforts will be at denying these people the vote, and therefore adjusting their predictions to suit.”
Okay people. Cross your fingers, pray, rub Buddha’s tummy, wear your favourite underpants, break out the ouija board, and follow every lucky superstition you can think of. We need all the help we can get:
[T]he Coalition’s strong expectation of controlling the Senate was looking suddenly shaky last night. Latest counting showed the lead of the crucial Queensland National Party candidate, Barnaby Joyce, had all but evaporated — from 5000 votes to a few hundred.
[...]
The National Party’s calculations of the expected flow of preference votes suggest it maintains a razor-thin margin over One Nation. But if One Nation gets ahead, preference flows should ensure the Greens beat both of them for the sixth Queensland seat. This would probably leave the Coalition with 38 Senate seats, one short of a majority.
Please let One Nation beat the Nationals.
I can’t believe I just said that.
Yeesh! A stuff-up like this could lead to big damages.
In the proud tradition of Bands for Bam and Cargo for Congo comes Sounds for Sudan:
UWA amnesty have organised a fundraising concert to raise
money for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. The details are as follows….Sounds for Sudan
Saturday October 30
at The Flying Scotsman/Velvet Lounge
entry $8/$10
8pm-lateAt the Scotsman…
At the Velvet Lounge….
- Dan tha Man
- Micadelic
- Pavel
- Chrism and Fenris
… and many more.
All the proceeds will be split evenly between Amnesty and the Red Crescent/Cross.
The Red Crescent/Cross deal with the provision of aid and services whereas Amnesty have been involved with working on changes in the judical system and human rights abuses.
Be there, or be complicit.
(Background on the Sudan genocide here; up-to-date coverage here.)
Adam Gregory to the sacked Danna Vale: “Stay Brave and True™”
You’ve probably heard that Australia’s Customs officers are on strike today. They’re after more staff (there are less customs staff in airports now than before 11 September 2001) and better pay, to compensate for their higher workload due to recently-introduced stricter screening processes.
The CPSU’s Evan Hall told the ABC:
Unbelievably they now have less staff than what they had a few years ago while the pressure and workload and security standards have just gone up dramatically.
Most of the international airports across the country are understaffed by about 30 per cent on just about every shift and just recently they tried to recruit 30 people in Sydney, for example, and could only get 13 people to fill the vacant positions.
The union estimates that three quarters of customs staff joined the strike, including 300 in WA. The news is reporting that there have been no major disruptions to air passengers, but that might be because, like Qantas, Customs is allowing its scabs to cut corners. The main influx of passengers is also yet to occur.
Other services, like shipping and international cargo, are unlikely to run smoothly — if they run at all. When I stopped in at Customs House in Fremantle to pass on my best wishes, there were two staff on duty, both contractors. One was on a lunch break, and the other was answering the phone and explaining that due to industrial action he couldn’t help you. And no, he wasn’t going to do someone else’s job: it’s wrong to take over when your mate is on strike.
Good on him.
Thanks to Daniel.
Went to the Perth blog meetup this evening, where Richard Giles demonstrated Flickr’s moblogging capabilities with this photo of Anthony Georgeff. There was also much iPod discussion. When I got home, I discovered that all my bookmarks had been eaten — including a couple of dozen I collected for an assignment I’m writing. Grrr.
There’s a potential upside to Labor’s bickering over portfolio assigments: “Senator Mark Bishop from Western Australia could lose his position.” His contribution to the campaign was newsworthy for all the wrong reasons. As his factional colleague, Graham Edwards, put it, “I think ability ought to stand for something, rather than just being a factional heavy.”
Qantas has run into problems with its army of King Gee scabs. According to the airline’s emergency instructor, they’re untrainable — to the extent that the “wheels are about to fall off” the training program. Qantas apparently dealt with the problem by crossing Bomb Action Plan training off the list, and pretending it wasn’t a legal requirement. Oops.
Alexander Downer says he is not surprised that SBS journalist John Martinkus was kidnapped, because he “went to a part of Baghdad that he was advised not to go to, but he went there anyway”. Martinkus says “that’s ridiculous, because I was … directly across the road from the Australian Embassy.” But maybe it’s not ridiculous. Maybe Downer and his mates are stupid enough to put the Australian Embassy in a zone that Australians aren’t supposed to visit. Maybe that’s why they’ve now decided to move it.
