Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Knee-jerk analysis from the ABC

A controversial call for fiscal restraint from corporate interests:
The Business Council says cuts to disability services and foreign aid should be considered as alternatives to the flood levy.
Enlightened Lefty Jeremy Sear is aghast that life-long government handouts to both the genuinely disabled and to substance abusers, who are unemployable by choice, might be reviewed:
I’m surprised the BCA isn’t just straight out bashing the unemployed – surely it realises that picking on the disabled is likely to be torn to pieces – but, either way, what a repulsively typical approach.
Not surprisingly, Sue Cato, a guest on the ABC's The Drum, toes the Lefty line by saying that the BCA suggestion is "unlikely to get a lot of support". The Daily Telegraph's Joe Hildebrand jumps on the anti-business bandwagon as does Antony Loewenstein, who says that the proposal doesn't deserve the support of anyone.

Well, surprise, surprise:
The Australian Human Rights Commission's disability discrimination commissioner has backed calls to get people off the disability pension and back into work.
So, the BCA's call for a review of disability pension entitlements isn't at all outrageous. And many working Australians might seriously doubt that drug users and alcoholics should have perpetual entitlement to disability pensions.

Update The Drum also considers the impact on Private Bradley Manning of Julain Assange's decision to continue releasing confidential cables apparently provided by Manning. It is pointed out that Wikileaks and Assange have virtually ignored Manning, concentrating instead on Assange's claim that he is a victim of a political vendetta – click the link and pick up the discussion at 29:45. Antony Loewenstein attempts to discuss the issues but has no clue.

Update II Four Corners investigates Manning's plight:
While WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange has been cast as a heroic champion of free speech, his ongoing expose of US foreign policy would not have been possible without the work of Private Bradley Manning. It was Manning who allegedly stole the classified documents published by WikiLeaks. It is Manning who now languishes in a US military prison.

Now reporter Quentin McDermott tells the inside story of Bradley Manning and his daring intelligence heist.
Extended interviews of Assange, Daniel Domscheit-Berg and others are available here.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Bh said...

Twenty years ago, I was heavily involved in the deaf community. Back then, everybody had a job, Today, many of these people are on some kind of welfare benefits, even though they are nowhere near retirement age. Sad.

5:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Leftards like Jeremy think that life-long welfarism is in the best interests of people who find it hard to get work.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jobs provide people with more money, a social environment and a feeling that they are worthy and contributing members of society.

Those who can work should work. Unfortunately morons like Sear can only see things in terms of class warfare, ie rich verus poor.

What a wanker.

5:50 PM  
Anonymous Dan Lewis said...

Uh oh. Marilyn Shepherd may have to spend eight hours a day in front of a computer at work, rather than fifteen hours in front of her computer on the dole...

6:40 PM  
Anonymous ar said...

Four Corners showed some Fox News RWDBs calling for the death penalty for Assange/Manning. They failed to identify them - just as well because one was Bob Beckel, a Democratic Bruce Hawker.

8:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Also appearing on The Drum today:

"As the funeral was taking place the Minister for Immigration Chris Bowen called an earlier account of issues presented on the eve of the funeral inaccurate. This added insult to injury as the parties were suffering the consequence of issues presented. These issues are reviewed again below in the context of the actual funeral ceremony experienced by the family."

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/44174.html

Does anyone actually *edit* that site, or are these stream-of-consciousness rants simply published in their unadulterated form?

4:40 PM  

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