Nannystate - Home

Wolves in wolves clothing...

2010-07-17T02:51:00Z

17th July 2010. This comment echoes one of two years ago. I guess we now have a new crop of the naive,stupid, or just plain greedy . As the Global Financial Crisis shakes out the shonks, crooks and smarties into the courts, most of whom who have taken off for fields afar with investors money, it behoves us all to realize that compulsory super has simply managed to corral the sheep together, so that the financial wolves dont have to run as far, and that anyone giving a third party control over their money had best be very cautious.

‘Just because he wears a suit doesn’t mean he’s a professional’

Et Tu......

2010-07-05T19:31:00Z

5th July 2010. Our recently politically assassinated Prime Minister was a decent and honourable man who was a bit harsh at times. Gave us the best economy after the global crash, tried to make long overdue structural changes too hard for procrastinating predecessors. Wow! Call out the guard! Man the barricades!, getting us into unwinnable wars, making the wealthy even wealthier, were not his doing. No. Lots of people didn’t “like” him.

......... BRUTE

Sent Packing...

2010-06-19T21:56:00Z

20th June 2010. Think its time the paper, packaging and kindred industries had a fizzer put through them. Chronic users of natural resources, primarily water, power and timber – there appears to be little attempt in this country at regulation, self or otherwise. The double and triple packaging of items carried home in the ubiquitous plastic bag leads to a massive recycling burden. It seems that this is an industry that needs to be made accountable for some of the massive ecological problems facing us.

‘Don’t blow it – good planets are hard to find’

Lost word...

2010-06-10T17:14:00Z

11th June 2010. I have searched for it in Newsagents while standing behind queues of pensioners filling out Lotto, in online gambling sites, at racecourses, in clubs and pubs with poker machines. Seems to be expunged from the language in these venues, “Lose”

“The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing”

No roosters.....

2010-06-10T08:08:00Z

10th June 2010. In years gone by, the sounds of a Sydney morning were roosters crowing in hundreds of backyards. Seems like now you wake up to a Boeing 747 over the top at 6 am, unsilenced vehicles and motorbikes, jet skiis, barking dogs, building excavation,pavement blowers or last nights party,but sadly.. no roosters allowed.

‘Silence and reserve will give anyone a reputation for wisdom’

And in case you don't know....

2010-06-03T21:51:00Z

4th June 2010. Recent reports of being unable to smile whilst getting a drivers licence in NSW are related to the fact that these photographs are to be used by facial recognition software and placed in a database to be shared with other government agencies including police, and will eventually be used in surveillance cameras. This gross invasion of individual privacy and freedoms has apparently been introduced with little or no public debate. What sort of warped society are we allowing governments to create.

‘It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you’

Give me a sign....

2010-06-02T20:47:00Z

3rd June 2010. And whilst we are talking about road safety. Recently as a passenger in a fit of boredom I counted the signs associated with the control of about a 40 kilometer section of a Sydney ring road. Including all the clearway and do not park signs on about every telegraph pole – there were over 2000 signs and their respective poles, screws and supports. Now between looking at the signs, checking watches to avoid multiple school zones, keeping an eye out for speed radar in case of inadvertent overspeed, and being distracted by multiple advertising banners – massive case of sensory overload, the driver is expected to maintain control of the vehicle .

‘Advertising is about making whole lies out of half truths’

Unsafe at....

2010-05-30T03:27:00Z

30th May 2010. Just reading about the safety features on a lot of new european cars – try multiple air bags – rear view cameras – lane excursion warning – intelligent suspension – abs brakes – cruise control with auto stop – self dimming lights- inability to select drive without seatbelt on – visual and aural parking assist , etc. Our federal government in all its dotage , by prohibitive import taxes and luxury car taxes have put such safety features out of the range of the average punter. Road safety – I guess thats only for the well off.

‘Anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac’

1984 - a good year....

2010-05-21T02:08:00Z

21st May 2010. I normally only make a comment about once a week – but various governments are keeping me busy. Now as well as being viewed by thousands of surveillance cameras on a frequent basis- net monitored and controlled – being forced to be politically correct for fear of litigation – complying with over the top standards of health and safety – my movie viewing censored, the thought and morals police now require me to tick a box on the immigration card if I am carrying pornography. George Orwell – 1984 was such a good year.

‘You can cage the singer, but not the song’

Down the mine....

2010-05-20T21:52:00Z

21st May 2010. Appears to be great angst from the mining community and a degree of misreporting about a proposed new tax impost on mining production. What is not told is that although miners pay the increased tax in the production phase, they get that same rate as a tax benefit in the exploration stage. Our proposed tax rate is in the 40 % range, in Norway, a very robust economy with a massive sovereign fund, it is in the 70% range and has been for some time.

‘Never cancel a subscription due to misreporting – if you do you will soon have nothing to read’

Sometimes....

2010-05-18T08:24:00Z

19th May 2010. Sometimes you read something that pretty well encapsulates ideas you have tried to express yourself but does it in a more succinct and direct way. I am enclosing a link to an excellent article by Helen Womack – a cutting social comment on todays Western Society and our inexorable loss of freedom

Back in the USSR

Why do'nt they....

2010-05-17T23:06:00Z

18th May 2010. We have all said it, implying a request for more government control, alternatively we also complain about too much government control ie the nannystate; criticism in both directions. Perhaps we should heed this statement from Steve Jobs of Apple to a critical questioner “By the way, what have you done that’s so great? Do you create anything, or just criticise others’ work and belittle their motivations”. A salutory reminder to any current affairs commentator, that there is a vast army of hard working bureaucrats and politicians that create and maintain an extremely good lifestyle for us in this country. Having said that on a recent visit to Queensland I am gobsmacked about the pace of infrastructure in Brisbane, new roads, bridges, and tunnels as compared to the gridlock of Sydney.

‘The shortest distance between two points is under construction’

Tale of a curlew....

2010-05-15T08:54:00Z

15th May 2010. The Curlew is a magnificent bird, it stands about half a metre high with enormous black hypnotic eyes used for night feeding. There is a curlew at the bowling club near here that stands by the external floor to ceiling window all day. Its mate was run over by a speeding or drunk driver , she mates for life, she thinks the reflection in the window is her mate – she will possibly die there but certainly will never produce any more curlews – we will be the worse off for it.

’ Thirst is the end of drinking and sorrow is the end of drunkenness’