Links, minor news, political snarling
Jun. 30th, 2015 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heliopausaSome links...
For those who recall the galah tea-cosy - proof that there's acres of textile creativity in australia!
more about birds -in this case, the suggestion of a bird language.
In minor news- they did find matching tiles. :) So the kitchen floor is restored, with only those subterranean changes already spoken of. :)
and the political snarling... oh dear. Our... government. (Yes, I was lost for an adjective there.) recently came up with a plan to strip citizens of their citizenship for associations with terrorism at the Minister's discretion. at the Minster's discretion. This is the government currently under scrutiny for caving in to Mafia lobbying and political donations to allow a known criminal - Mafia boss's brother - to enter and stay in thecountry - a Minister from that government (or any government, to be fair) to be trusted with the power to single-handedly strip citizens of citizenship?
No, and no and no again - and blessedly six honest members of that government stood up for the rule of law - for any such drastic action to be a judicial action, not a political one, undertaken by transparent process, by an independent judiciary - and thank you, Burghers of Cal... I mean, Canberra.
So, in the attempt to muddy the waters, the government declared a sudden survey of public opinion, answers to be submitted today. and I swear the thing was devised to minimise public response! a great big long thing,like the benefits form to end all benefits forms, or an exam designed to weed out weak candidates, full of guff like: "What do you believe should be the responsibilities of citizenship?" and on and on for pages, until the second last set of questions
"Should the powers of revocation apply to citizens when the Minister has reasonable
grounds to believe that the person is able to become a national of another country or territory under their laws and where it would not leave that person stateless?"
What limitations and safeguards should apply to laws enabling the revocation of the citizenship of Australians engaged in terrorism?"
(Note that they have framed the whole thing in terms of the Minister - leaving the courts right out of the picture.)
and I responded, of course - appropriately, but probably not effectively, and am very very cynical tonight. as I said,I think it was designed to minimise response, the better to allow for skewing responses, and then claiming some kind of extra-electoral mandate... pah!
Oh, I don't want to leave it there. Surely I can find something positive to end on... give me five minutes...
***
oh, of course! this! I've been watching Venus and Jupiter for a few days, and tonight sounds like it's when Saturn joins the party - and a fullmoon too! Oh, yes, despite morally bankrupt pollies, beauty remains!
For those who recall the galah tea-cosy - proof that there's acres of textile creativity in australia!
more about birds -in this case, the suggestion of a bird language.
In minor news- they did find matching tiles. :) So the kitchen floor is restored, with only those subterranean changes already spoken of. :)
and the political snarling... oh dear. Our... government. (Yes, I was lost for an adjective there.) recently came up with a plan to strip citizens of their citizenship for associations with terrorism at the Minister's discretion. at the Minster's discretion. This is the government currently under scrutiny for caving in to Mafia lobbying and political donations to allow a known criminal - Mafia boss's brother - to enter and stay in thecountry - a Minister from that government (or any government, to be fair) to be trusted with the power to single-handedly strip citizens of citizenship?
No, and no and no again - and blessedly six honest members of that government stood up for the rule of law - for any such drastic action to be a judicial action, not a political one, undertaken by transparent process, by an independent judiciary - and thank you, Burghers of Cal... I mean, Canberra.
So, in the attempt to muddy the waters, the government declared a sudden survey of public opinion, answers to be submitted today. and I swear the thing was devised to minimise public response! a great big long thing,like the benefits form to end all benefits forms, or an exam designed to weed out weak candidates, full of guff like: "What do you believe should be the responsibilities of citizenship?" and on and on for pages, until the second last set of questions
"Should the powers of revocation apply to citizens when the Minister has reasonable
grounds to believe that the person is able to become a national of another country or territory under their laws and where it would not leave that person stateless?"
What limitations and safeguards should apply to laws enabling the revocation of the citizenship of Australians engaged in terrorism?"
(Note that they have framed the whole thing in terms of the Minister - leaving the courts right out of the picture.)
and I responded, of course - appropriately, but probably not effectively, and am very very cynical tonight. as I said,I think it was designed to minimise response, the better to allow for skewing responses, and then claiming some kind of extra-electoral mandate... pah!
Oh, I don't want to leave it there. Surely I can find something positive to end on... give me five minutes...
***
oh, of course! this! I've been watching Venus and Jupiter for a few days, and tonight sounds like it's when Saturn joins the party - and a fullmoon too! Oh, yes, despite morally bankrupt pollies, beauty remains!
