WEEK 8 TUTE

MAN SO MUCH TO DO IN SO LITTLE TIME.

• Sign an e-petition

+http://www.nswrightsatwork.com.au/nomoreworkplacedeaths/index.php
+ e-petition to send Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd and NSW Minister Joe Tripodi a clear message: 'No More Workplace Deaths'.
> i attempted to sign an e-petition about something in QLD, but because i still have my NSW license, i wasnt sure that i could sign it due to not technically being a QLD resident.

• Respond to a professional blogger at a major news site.

+ okay so i dont think it was a professional blogger, but it was on a major news site:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/10/letterman-the-law-sexual-harrasment.html
+ well considering the two of them are co-workers. there was bound to be some controversy. but in relation to it being "wrong," sure it was unprofessional, but who are we to interfere with "celebrities" personal lives.i dont really care what goes on in the life of the rich and famous - so really... whats it to any of us?

• What is Barak Obama up to today?

+ 23/09/09: President Obama’s Address to U.N. General Assembly...
President Obama spoke before the 64th session of the United Nations General assembly about the previous skepticism and distrust by the American people towards U.S policies, unilateral action or misperceptions and misinformation. In response, “This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for collective inaction,” he said.

"We have reached a pivotal moment. The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation -- one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations. And so, with confidence in our cause, and with a commitment to our values, we call on all nations to join us in building the future that our people so richly deserve."

• Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are.

+ LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE (SOUTHPORT): Peter Lawlor
> http://www.peterlawlor.com.au/

+ STATE REPRESENTATIVE (QUEENSLAND): Anna Bligh
> http://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/

+ FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE (AUSTRALIA): Kevin Rudd
> http://www.alp.org.au/
> http://www.kevinpm.com.au/



These are so totally wrong, but i thought having something would be better than having nothing. Ive found so many different sites saying all these different things about a number of different people and parliamentary figures, and i didnt know which one to choose.
So i settled for the main figures which everyone knows about - well at least everyone should know about them.

• Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in parliament.

+ The last time Peter Lawlor spoke in parliament was on the 22nd of September. It was in relation to how the Queensland tourism industry is suffering from the current economic climate. This speech was based around a tactic by Public Relations staff, to promote holidays in Queensland to help boost the economy of the state. Basically it could be seen as a way to promote the Labor Government in a positive way.
+ http://www.peterlawlor.com.au/southport/pages/posts/ministerial-statement-tourism-industry4923.php

• Let your local member know what you think about their last speech.

I pretty much let him know that i agree with how the Queensland Government has gone about promoting tourism in Queensland - mainly because as he said many people rely on the tourism industry for their livelihood, also tourism flows into other industries, which is vital for the economy.

My only concern would be how the Government plan on spending the money gained from the 5 week unreal deals campaign.

• Read the lecture and the readings, pursue a couple of the topics that you find most interesting and then post your blog with your well-considered thoughts about the theory and practice of politics.

Refer to the lecture blog post for elaborated notes. :)

What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")???
+ The Government plans to introduce a two-tiered censorship system of filtering from the ISPs' end. The first tier would be compulsory for all Australians and would block all "illegal material", as determined by a blacklist of 10,000 sites administered by ACMA.
+ The second tier, which is optional, would filter out content deemed inappropriate for children, such as pornography. Experts say this second tier will have the most marked effect on network performance because every piece of traffic handled by the ISP will need to be analysed for "inappropriate" content.
+ I disagree with their plans to do this because:
> copious amounts of money ($44 million) has already been spent trying to implement this plan, with no guarantee it will actually go ahead.
> it will slow down internet speeds. (down 30%)
> and who says what should be prohibited and what is deemed appropriate? (granted there are things that a general consensus will agree should be banned, but ideas will always differ)
- Censoring the internet would go against the ideals of representative democracy.

What place does censorship have in a democracy?
+ According to Mark Mercer (The Ottawa Citizen) censorship is deemed impossible. He says that "In a democracy marked by the rule of law, evidence against a person in a court or facing a board or tribunal must be available for public inspection. Within that fact lies the fundamental incoherence of censorship in a democracy marked by the rule of law."
+ The example he used was from a hypothetical court case: "The evidence before the censor includes the words or images themselves that are at issue. But as that evidence must be available to the public, those words or images can be reproduced by whoever wishes to reproduce them. And so the words or images stay inbounds, even should the censor rule them out of bounds."
- my interpretation of this passage is that, no matter what is censored and how it is censored, a number of people will have already seen it and something will always slip through the cracks. What will happen when more and more starts to slip through? Then millions of dollars will have been wasted on something which only worked for a short period of time.
Mercer, M, 2009, The Ottawa Citizen: Why Censorship is Impossible in a Democracy, http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/censorship+impossible+democracy/1696194/story.html