After Australia's demolition of the South Africans in the semi-final of the World cup cricket, it looks like they will be the Champions of Cricket in the one-day of the version of the game.
This is what i think it will take for the Sri Lankans, who have been playing wht a lot of passion, falir and cameraderie, to beat the aussies in the final:
1. The Lankans will have to play "out of their skin" for 100 overs to win
2. The Lankans will have to pray the aussies have a bad day too at the same time
3. The lankans will have to pray that the aussiess don't make that flight
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The truth behind John Howards Interest Rate Promise
John Howard promised in the 2004 election to “keep interest rates at record lows”, but they have risen four times since then, and seven consecutive times in all. And its just not me saying. I did some research just to get to the real truth. Since he became PM, these are the following interest rate rises:
Month Interbank Cash rate
Jul-2003 4.75
Aug-2003 4.75
Sep-2003 4.75
Oct-2003 4.75
Nov-2003 4.98
Dec-2003 5.23
Jan-2004 5.25
Feb-2004 5.25
Mar-2004 5.25
Apr-2004 5.25
May-2004 5.25
Jun-2004 5.25
Jul-2004 5.25
Aug-2004 5.25
Sep-2004 5.25
Oct-2004 5.25
Nov-2004 5.25
Dec-2004 5.25
Jan-2005 5.25
Feb-2005 5.25
Mar-2005 5.49
Apr-2005 5.50
May-2005 5.50
Jun-2005 5.50
Jul-2005 5.50
Aug-2005 5.50
Sep-2005 5.50
Oct-2005 5.50
Nov-2005 5.50
Dec-2005 5.50
Jan-2006 5.50
Feb-2006 5.50
Mar-2006 5.50
Apr-2006 5.50
May-2006 5.73
Jun-2006 5.75
Jul-2006 5.75
Aug-2006 5.99
Sep-2006 6.00
Oct-2006 6.00
Nov-2006 6.19
Dec-2006 6.25
Jan-2007 6.25
Feb-2007 6.25
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia
A Macquarie Bank economist, Rory Robertson, quipped that “the economy has done more for the government than the government has done for the economy”.
Month Interbank Cash rate
Jul-2003 4.75
Aug-2003 4.75
Sep-2003 4.75
Oct-2003 4.75
Nov-2003 4.98
Dec-2003 5.23
Jan-2004 5.25
Feb-2004 5.25
Mar-2004 5.25
Apr-2004 5.25
May-2004 5.25
Jun-2004 5.25
Jul-2004 5.25
Aug-2004 5.25
Sep-2004 5.25
Oct-2004 5.25
Nov-2004 5.25
Dec-2004 5.25
Jan-2005 5.25
Feb-2005 5.25
Mar-2005 5.49
Apr-2005 5.50
May-2005 5.50
Jun-2005 5.50
Jul-2005 5.50
Aug-2005 5.50
Sep-2005 5.50
Oct-2005 5.50
Nov-2005 5.50
Dec-2005 5.50
Jan-2006 5.50
Feb-2006 5.50
Mar-2006 5.50
Apr-2006 5.50
May-2006 5.73
Jun-2006 5.75
Jul-2006 5.75
Aug-2006 5.99
Sep-2006 6.00
Oct-2006 6.00
Nov-2006 6.19
Dec-2006 6.25
Jan-2007 6.25
Feb-2007 6.25
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia
A Macquarie Bank economist, Rory Robertson, quipped that “the economy has done more for the government than the government has done for the economy”.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Climate Change
The phrase on everyone’s mind these days is “Climate Change” and how will it impact me. But before we even go there, it is essential to understand and define what we mean by “Climate Change”.
Definition of Climate Change:
Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) or, more recently, human activities.
In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term "climate change" often refers only to changes in modern climate, including the rise in average surface temperature known as global warming
Source Wikipedia
Global climate change is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. The global concentration of these gases is increasing, mainly due to human activities, such as the combustion of fossil fuels (which release carbon dioxide) and deforestation (because forests remove carbon from the atmosphere). The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, has increased by 30 percent since preindustrial times.
Source: Encyclopaedia of Public Health
The news media is agog these days of news on climate changes and its impact on the planet we live (the potential impact on the economy, jobs, animal, plant, bird and fish species). Climate change has become a “global issue” with impacts to be felt on our daily lives for years to come. Some of which we today understand and some of which we shall learn in the future.
This coverage has been wide and diverse and covers topics from melting glaciers, devastating cyclones to droughts and rising temperatures across the globe. In a way that is creating a confusion in the average citizens mind as to what it all means for them and how they can make a difference. Added to this debate, are different political stances on the subject and how they would address the problem (Liberal, Labour, Green).
So what does this all mean? And how are we Australians going to address this problem without getting blinded by the political spectrum we find ourselves in.
To start this debate for those people who want to better understand what it all means and the hard facts or statistics around it, I have posted a “Summary for Policymakers” taken from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) obtained from the IPCC website.
So any ideas on how to approach this problem in Australia would be great. A discussion forum on the subject would enable us to provide input on policy and decisions thereof.
Definition of Climate Change:
Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) or, more recently, human activities.
In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term "climate change" often refers only to changes in modern climate, including the rise in average surface temperature known as global warming
Source Wikipedia
Global climate change is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. The global concentration of these gases is increasing, mainly due to human activities, such as the combustion of fossil fuels (which release carbon dioxide) and deforestation (because forests remove carbon from the atmosphere). The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, has increased by 30 percent since preindustrial times.
Source: Encyclopaedia of Public Health
The news media is agog these days of news on climate changes and its impact on the planet we live (the potential impact on the economy, jobs, animal, plant, bird and fish species). Climate change has become a “global issue” with impacts to be felt on our daily lives for years to come. Some of which we today understand and some of which we shall learn in the future.
This coverage has been wide and diverse and covers topics from melting glaciers, devastating cyclones to droughts and rising temperatures across the globe. In a way that is creating a confusion in the average citizens mind as to what it all means for them and how they can make a difference. Added to this debate, are different political stances on the subject and how they would address the problem (Liberal, Labour, Green).
So what does this all mean? And how are we Australians going to address this problem without getting blinded by the political spectrum we find ourselves in.
To start this debate for those people who want to better understand what it all means and the hard facts or statistics around it, I have posted a “Summary for Policymakers” taken from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) obtained from the IPCC website.
So any ideas on how to approach this problem in Australia would be great. A discussion forum on the subject would enable us to provide input on policy and decisions thereof.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Spiders - Those creepy crawlies
Those amazing creepy crawlies - who said they can't be awesome ?
Pics - Thanks to "Third Eye"
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The David Hicks Saga
There was never any doubt about David Hicks going to Pakistan and subsequently to Afghanistan to join Al-Qaeeda. After all he was actually caught there red-handed when the Americans launched their war in Afghanistan to oust terrorists. Whatever his motives or reasons were to join Al-Qaeeda – we today don’t know.
The point was never about his guilt. I won’t be wrong in saying that nearly all Aussies do not support him. But Aussies do care about “Justice”, “Giving a fair go” and “innocent until proven guilty” – Values that this country holds dear and values that many Australian soldiers have fought for on battlefields all over the world. But what Australians do not like is being lied to and mislead by their Government (read trio: John Howard, Alexander Downer, Philip Ruddock), but worse they do not like being treated as idiots when it comes to understanding about the rights of every Australian Citizen.
In this case,
1. The Australian Govt was the only Western Govt that thought the US Military Commissions were a fair and just legal system, even when faced with the facts that the US Supreme Court, The Australian Law Society and every Western Govt thought it was inherently unjust and wrong
2. No US Citizen could be put through the same process; every govt ranging from countries like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan to the UK and Germany got their citizens out of Gitmo and would not allow them to be tried under that illegal and unfair system
3. The Trio making statements during the last 5 years that they could not intervene in the American Justice System (which it was not – terrorist suspects were being held illegally in gitmo without formal charges against them and tortured to obtain confessions like the ones we just saw against KSM) and that their hands were tied when nearly every govt managed to get their citizens out of that place
4. Justifying torture and confessions obtained under torture as acknowledgement of guilt rather than finding evidence to prove guilt
It took them (the Americans) 5 years to come with one charge. In fact the Trio had so painted themselves into a corner on “the hicks is guilty policy” that for them to get Hicks back without being proven guilty was a disaster they could not afford before another election.
But the sad reality of all this, is that the Trio think, that Australians have a short memory and
that these and other transgressions will be forgotten in the months leading up to the next election. Subverting justice and due process by a govt that is hungry for power is a dangerous precedence. Power needs to be brought back into the hands of the people and checks and balances and other oversight mechanisms introduced so that govt power and machinations of govt are never misused again to abrogate the rights of every Australian citizen either for political gain or expedience.
If people have other comments and insights as to how this could be addressed in the future please post your comments
The point was never about his guilt. I won’t be wrong in saying that nearly all Aussies do not support him. But Aussies do care about “Justice”, “Giving a fair go” and “innocent until proven guilty” – Values that this country holds dear and values that many Australian soldiers have fought for on battlefields all over the world. But what Australians do not like is being lied to and mislead by their Government (read trio: John Howard, Alexander Downer, Philip Ruddock), but worse they do not like being treated as idiots when it comes to understanding about the rights of every Australian Citizen.
In this case,
1. The Australian Govt was the only Western Govt that thought the US Military Commissions were a fair and just legal system, even when faced with the facts that the US Supreme Court, The Australian Law Society and every Western Govt thought it was inherently unjust and wrong
2. No US Citizen could be put through the same process; every govt ranging from countries like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan to the UK and Germany got their citizens out of Gitmo and would not allow them to be tried under that illegal and unfair system
3. The Trio making statements during the last 5 years that they could not intervene in the American Justice System (which it was not – terrorist suspects were being held illegally in gitmo without formal charges against them and tortured to obtain confessions like the ones we just saw against KSM) and that their hands were tied when nearly every govt managed to get their citizens out of that place
4. Justifying torture and confessions obtained under torture as acknowledgement of guilt rather than finding evidence to prove guilt
It took them (the Americans) 5 years to come with one charge. In fact the Trio had so painted themselves into a corner on “the hicks is guilty policy” that for them to get Hicks back without being proven guilty was a disaster they could not afford before another election.
But the sad reality of all this, is that the Trio think, that Australians have a short memory and
that these and other transgressions will be forgotten in the months leading up to the next election. Subverting justice and due process by a govt that is hungry for power is a dangerous precedence. Power needs to be brought back into the hands of the people and checks and balances and other oversight mechanisms introduced so that govt power and machinations of govt are never misused again to abrogate the rights of every Australian citizen either for political gain or expedience.
If people have other comments and insights as to how this could be addressed in the future please post your comments
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