What you see, is rarely what you get.

This is an oldy but a goody and worth remembering as we line up to vote:

"CHOICES........................

While walking down the street one day a "Member of Parliament" is
tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter.. 'Before you settle in, it seems
there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts,
you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the man.

'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is
have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose
where to spend eternity.'

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the MP.

'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down,
down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle
of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in
front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked
with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him,
shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while
getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and
champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who
has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good
time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator
rises....

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St.
Peter is waiting for him.

'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

So, 24 hours pass with the MP joining a group of contented souls moving
from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good
time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St.
Peter returns.

'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now
choose your eternity.'

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have
said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would
be better off in hell.'

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down
to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren
land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and
putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. 'I
don't understand,' stammers the MP. 'Yesterday I was here and there was
a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank
champagne, and danced and had a great time.. Now there's just a
wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.


What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were
campaigning... ...


Today you voted.'

Do you understand the state of Health?

If health is one of the issues that you are voting on this election then you need to listen to both of the below interviews. Regardless of what you think of Alan Jones, the content of this interview is very informative. The interview is with Dr John Graham – the head of the medical council at Sydney hospital – and Dr John McIntosh – from Mackay

Original Audio can be found here: http://www.2gb.com/index.php?option=com_podcasting&task=view&id=2&Itemid=41

Broadband

I am 26 years of age, I have been renting for 5 years, at none of the apartments (5 different places) I have rented have I ever had a land line telephone, at none of the apartments have I ever had fixed line Internet, yet I use the Internet every day and night, I also make phone calls every day and night.

The company I work for is in the construction industry, 90% of the site based staff we employ don't know how to use a computer (regardless of age), most don't have a computer in their home, most have no desire for this to change. 

Knowing my demographics and the demographics of those that work with me I believe my small sample is representative of the spread across society. I also understand the importance of high speed internet for business, as at times the restriction of speed can be an issue (but this is very rarely), obviously other industries are different. 

What I refuse to accept is the Labor party belief that we need high speed Internet connected to every household. The take up simply won't exist, it will not be used by the vast majority of the nation. It is my belief that the CBD of all major sites should have high speed Internet, areas like Chatswood and Parramatta (and the equivalents in other states) should be included in that. Regional centres like Woolongong, Newcastle, Tamworth, Bathurst etc. should be connected to the network. However the suburbs and smaller towns should be driven by demand. 

You are a fool if you believe that Western and South Western Sydney needs fibre optics to every house, you are a fool if you believe that every house in the leafy Eastern Suburbs or North Shore needs fibre optics connected to every house, you are a fool if you believe that every business needs high speed broadband to function. You are a fool if you believe that the largest Government infrastructure project ever undertaken in Australia should be implemented with out a comprehensive business plan, without a cost benefit analysis and without proper scrutiny and consultation. Senator Conroy and former Prime Minister Rudd cooked this system up, they are the geniuses that also cooked up the Internet filter which the IT industry has broadly condemned. The broadband plan was created by the kitchen cabinet that was dumped by its own party, we can't sit back and let this plan become reality without putting in through proper scrutiny.

However I think come this Saturday, the very people that will NEVER subscribe to the high speed broadband at their homes or work place are going to be the very people that will commit us to this ill conceived idea.

Dear Ms Gillard

There has been a lot of rumbling from with in the Gillard camp about media coverage of her partner, her appearance and her lack of children. Suck it up princess!

If you stand in front of a crowd of people or in front of TV cameras with the hope of maintaining the attention of those before you then you MUST have something of substance to say. You MUST treat them with respect, you MUST be clear and honest, and you MUST NOT treat them like fools. Don’t stand in front of me, hoping to gain my trust while hiding your true thoughts, don’t hide behind comments like “cabinet in confidence” when you really mean “no comment” because the truth is too embarrassing. If you can’t hold a room’s attention long enough before their minds drift off and start noticing things like your nose, your earlobes or your lack of children, then you are doing a poor job. Worried about people speaking about your appearance and your partner? Then give them something to talk about, inspire them to have faith in you, capture their imagination, don’t bore us to death and then complain when you lose us, it is like a school teacher who has an ADHD kid who keeps mucking up in class, is it the kids fault for not being engaged and challenged or the teachers?

The media is tired of the circles you are speaking in, they are tired of the drivel you force them to sit through. How about you stop treating those forced to report on you like fools, stop trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, start being honest about what you truly believe and deliver rhetoric with substance, then possibly people would focus more on what you have to say... and not your ever reddening hair.

Is Nuclear power the answer?

Recently I attended a breakfast which posed the question "Is Nuclear power the answer?" Martin Thomas AM FTSE Hon FIEAust FAIE, a member of the 2006 Taskforce on Nuclear Energy (UMPNER) and Chairman of Dulhunty Power Ltd addressed the gathering. His notes can be found here:

http://www.gabrielleupton.com.au/is-nuclear-power-the-answer/

The UMPNER report can be found here:
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/66043

It is way past time that everyone becomes properly informed on the debate. For far too long misinformation and scare campaigns have been dominating the debate, very few people know any of the facts while maintaining strong opinions on nuclear energy. Please read what is contained in the two links above, and watch the TED debate I have also posted.

Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy? | Video on TED.com

Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy? Video on TED.com

They have got to be kidding!

I am in utter disbelief at the pathetic low Kristina Keneally, Barry O’Farrell and that other one who comes from a party that should stop pretending they are a serious home for a protest vote, Lee Rhiannon from the Greens, have stooped.

In the lead up to a by-election which has been brought on by the corruption of a NSW state Labor politician (Karyn Paluzzano), Lee Rhiannon acted on a brain explosion and challenged Mrs Keneally and Mr O’Farell to a debate on Twitter. In an attempt to look young, cool and relevant they accepted. This is the first time  that Twitter has been used for this purpose in Australia. I have a desire for an increase in debate in our society, a desire to see an increase in accountability of those who represent us, a desire that those who represent us actually represent their electorate’s views or at the very least act in the best interests of those that elect them. However a Twitter debate uses the cover of promoting democracy through debate to actually erode further the strong foundation that is crucial to all democracies; the belief in the system by the citizens.

I don’t understand why the “debate” or question and answer session or whatever it was, was the leaders of those three parties. If it was a debate for the by-election then why wasn’t the debate by the candidates standing for election in the by-election? Or is it a case of the candidate is irrelevant, it is only the leader of the Party that counts and the local representative is just there for show? But if it was a debate by the leaders of the major political parties in our state, why weren’t the Nationals included? Or even the Shooters party? On a brief count of the members of the NSW Parliament there are:

• 
  
  Independent                   7
• 
  
  Greens                           4
• 
  
  Nationals                       18
• 
  
  Labor                            69
• 
  
  Liberal                          32
• 
  
  Shooters                        2
• 
  
  Family First                   1
• 
  
  CDP                              1

So if it is a leaders debate the Greens have no more right to be included than the Shooters Party, Family First or the CDP if we are going to include the one member parties then all the independents should have been included. So it must have been a debate for the by-election which takes us to the question, who is actually standing in this election on Saturday? I doubt the majority of those being asked to vote will have a clue.

I said in a recent update that I was tired of the constant self promotion of those who are elected to represent us. I am sure that if each of us were running a business and we had employees who each time they communicated with us they spent the majority of the time saying how good of a job they are doing and how poor of a job the others are doing, while being incompetent, we would fire them pretty quick. Twitter has its use and its places as a communication/social network medium, yet I don’t think any great insight, of any depth can come from a political debate held on Twitter. Rhetoric without substance should be the domain of taxi drivers, not decision makers.

http://www.tallyroom.com.au/penrithdebate has a transcript of the debate.