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"Ever since the "Heartbleed" flaw in encryption protocol OpenSSL was made public on April 7 in the US there have been various questions about who knew what and when."

Company | Codenomicon: "Howard A. Schmidt, Chairman of the Board .. His private-sector experience includes serving as Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Security Strategist at eBay and as Chief Security Officer for Microsoft ."

Tell these guys! Highly Significant indeed

''Mr President, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke.'' --Sarah Palin http://www.smh.com.au/world/sa...

If the plane suffered a break up at cruising altitude, plenty of floating debris would have already been found. If it were a gradual failure, there would be plenty of time to make a Mayday call. Someone with malicious intent could force the crew to turn off the transponder and even force the crew to send the plane down, but the cockpit doors are locked during flight. Maybe the one with malicious intent was already in the cockpit. The copilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, seems less than professional.

You could get more effective use of just good metal detectors and a few trained dogs with handlers than all this BS that they've put us through....

I wish. Dogs are mostly useless, for that kind of work.

If the boogiemen are going to "blow stuff up," wouldn't they do it in crowded spots like sporting events, malls, public transportation, festivals, etc., instead of airplanes? You know, "attack where your enemy doesn't suspect"?

Maybe the best thing to do about explosives is not worry about them, because they are frighteningly rare.

Phone tapping national leaders 'normal', says former Indonesian spy chief

Indonesia's former top spy master has accused his own President of exaggerating the problem of phone tapping, saying attempts by intelligence agencies to snoop on national leaders were "normal".

And former spy agency chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono has also punctured claims by his Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa that Indonesia would never tap the phones of Australian politicians, insisting it was a routine part of "black intelligence". .....

Mr Hendropriyono, the head of Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN) until 2004, has been thrust into the Australian political debate because of a TV interview he gave in 2004, in which he admitted to bugging Australian politicians. .....

In an interview with Fairfax Media, the former Indonesian army general has now amplified his 2004 comments, saying of Australia's attempts to listen to the conversations of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the first lady and their confidantes: "For intelligence, it's normal."

He added that Indonesia not only had the capacity to tap the phones of Australians, but that intelligence agencies also had a responsibility to try it, "friend or foe". .....

Asked if Indonesia could listen to Mr Abbott's phone, he said: "We have the ability to tap and to counter-tap". However, he also suggested that Australian counterintelligence would prevent this happening.

Mr Hendropriyono said human intelligence — what he called "white intelligence" — was standard practice in embassies worldwide, but that phone tapping was "the most reliable" way to confirm information gathered.

"Tapping and counter-tapping is quite common in the intelligence life, because it is one of their primary jobs," he said. .....

"Intelligence is judged like in sport, two boxers fighting in the ring. They punch and they counter-punch... They attack and they defend themselves, but it is in the ring — the ring of intelligence. If the officials, in this case politicians, interfere in the case, that is wrong. That is very wrong."

Now that it is in the political arena, the politicians have overreacted, he said. ....

"I hope that both our leaders, SBY as well as Tony Abbott should not be too emotional... Please do not deteriorate [the relationship] because of a very small thing. This is a very technical thing."

Yes another US ally screwed by a Snowden leak. Can we assume at this point that we'll be hearing nothing about China, Russia, or Iran? Remember how Snowden claimed that he was an expert about Chinese activities and taught classes on them? I wonder what happened to that material?

No!! surely not? Not this Rupert - http://www.businessinsider.com...

And Gina? - http://www.smh.com.au/federal-...

Surely they wouldn't be doing back room deals with Abbott for personal interests in the media and mining sectors?

A bit more for you.

Russian and Chinese espionage in Australia - News Weekly, August 18, 2007

Chinese spies currently outnumber the Soviet intelligence presence that existed in Australia during the Cold War, it was revealed late last year. .... Last month, The Australian's Cameron Stewart revealed that the number of Russian spies in Australia had increased to near Cold War levels, "forcing ASIO to respond by training a new generation of counter-espionage officers" (The Australian, July 23 and 24, 2007).

Canada spy case rocks ASIO

> Users of Truecrypt should be extra careful of physical security of their systems to prevent investigators from gaining access to the contents of physical memory."

By investigators, do you mean government workers conducting industrial espionage?

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/nsa-busted-conducting-industrial-espionage-in-france-mexico-brazil-and-other-countries.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-04/asio-arrests-key-witness-in-east-timor-spying-scandal/5132954
http://www.globalresearch.ca/canada-spied-on-brazils-government-as-part-of-global-commercial-espionage-campaign/5353642
http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-spy-agency-helped-bhp-negotiate-trade-deals-20131106-2x1sw.html
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131111/11532125198/australia-spied-japan-to-help-companies-negotiate-trade-deals.shtml
http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/12/02/revealed-the-government-agency-stealing-ideas-from-businesses/
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000940560
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/16/gchq-intercepted-communications-g20-summits

Sometimes driverless trains derail. Somebody's insurance company pays: either the manufacturers or the rail owners or the operators.

In the case of a car it probably makes sense to have the owner of the car buy the insurance, because this will be a lot lower than the insurance for non-driverless cars, because by the time they go mainstream, they won't crash as much as a person, because they don't get fatigued, drunk or thrill-seeky.

Worth investigating: an Indian charity worked with together with Stanford and MIT D-Lab to develop <$50 above-knee prosthetics, and has been building 60,000+ per year for the last few years... Again, that's part cost, not chargable cost, but still...

Here's an article about them from 2011: http://www.smh.com.au/world/indians-work-miracles-on-a-shoestring-20110617-1g7yl.html (mirrored at http://jaipurfoot.org/media/media_reports/pdf/shoestring.pdf)

The Christian Brothers, who run this "not for profit" are desperate for the income it brings them. Their church no longer permits them to work at their profession of teaching because they were so enthusiastically involved in the pedophilia scandals, and cannot be trusted near children. They lost most of their wealth in law suits because of the abysmal performance of their leadership in addressing the claims of the abused. Now most of them are growing old and fat in an idle retirement, and the few who can still earn money are working very hard trying to support them. I could almost feel sorry for them, but no, because they were the very worst of the abusers: even running a child slave labor camp at Bundoon in Western Australia that kept orphan kids in a hard labor camp prison where many of the boys were also sexual slaves. http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-can-still-hear-the-kids-screams-20110611-1fyap.html So now they want to impose their abhorrent sexual ethics on those who they have to employ to do the work that they should be doing. If ever there was a case for retrospective abortion, it would be for these guys.

Also...
1. Forget antivirus. Just don't click unknown attachments.
2. Get a USB drive. Uploads are slow.
3. It takes 3 seconds to create a new user account for your friend. Wait until you need it so you don't forget the password.
4. "System Restore can help fix problems that might be making your computer run slowly or stop responding." Someone please inform Myers

As a Sydney (NSW, Australia) resident, I wish our electricity prices ONLY rose 33% over 3 years.
Electricity prices here have DOUBLED in the past 5 years.

"Electricity prices have more than doubled over the past five years according to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal"

          http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/power-price-revolt-20130330-2h06f.html

Bwahahahahahahaha yourself.

From this article:

Toyota is now in a fierce battle with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union over the attempt to reduce workers' conditions at the plant.

How DARE the union object to conditions being reduced! Perhaps you would also like to see the minimum wage scrapped?

Through creative accounting, large companies are very adept at crying poor to the government, while at the same time telling their shareholders that they're expecting bumper profits. You need to grow up, mate.

that's probably fast enough for most purposes

There is one major problem with this statement that I saw summed up in a comment on this article pretty well:

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/nbn-petitioners-target-turnbull-mps-20131126-hv3t1.html

GMan:
"1925: Here's our new plan for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It'll be a bit cheaper and we'll finish it sooner. And 2 lanes will be plenty..."

Going cheap on the NBN is just another case of a political party fucking things up for future generations for short term political gain (i.e. a better bottom line in their budget). Their justification being that the previous government forced their hand into doing so by economic mis-management is cop out at best.

> Criminal charges and ten years hard time for researchers who communicate with their international peers (y'know, the ones from "peer review") is hardly a non-story, friend.

Exactly, and that's why the universities hate it so much: That's the way they do research; by collaborating with peers.

The University of Sydney Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research warned: "Our researchers may have lost their ability to freely conduct public-good research and communicate research results ... This legislation could mean a conference speech, publication of a scientific paper or sending an email to colleagues could require a Defence permit or become a serious crime. ... It would impede top scientists in developing technologies for tomorrow's high-tech manufacturing industries, new vaccines and potential cures for cancer. The Australian government worries about a brain drain in advanced technology, but is poised to pass legislation that could force our best and brightest offshore". http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tighter-defence-ties-will-bind-academics-and-stifle-innovation-20121009-27b4n.html

But the government ignored the universities and rammed the laws through anyway; they wouldn't even accept amendments for basic research. The Commonwealth Chief Scientist dismissed the universities concerns: "Those boxing at shadows and guessing at what it (the laws) might mean to some unspecified but allegedly 'substantial' number of researchers can continue to do that if it makes them happy." http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/chubbs-defends-researchers-prospects-under-the-defence-trade-controls-bill/story-e6frgcjx-1226508483554

Charming!

Australian spooks spy for commercial gain:

"Australian spy agency helped BHP negotiate trade deals"
http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-spy-agency-helped-bhp-negotiate-trade-deals-20131106-2x1sw.html

"East Timor will launch a case in The Hague alleging the Australia Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) covertly recorded Timorese ministers and officials during oil and gas negotiations"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-03/asio-raided-lawyer-representing-east-timor-in-spying-case/5132486

They also spied on the Indonesian President's wife because, well, they could:
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/spying-on-president-susilo-bambang-yudhoyonos-wife-a-step-too-far-by-asd-20131120-2xvu5.html

Australian spooks spy for commercial gain:

"Australian spy agency helped BHP negotiate trade deals"
http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-spy-agency-helped-bhp-negotiate-trade-deals-20131106-2x1sw.html

"East Timor will launch a case in The Hague alleging the Australia Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) covertly recorded Timorese ministers and officials during oil and gas negotiations"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-03/asio-raided-lawyer-representing-east-timor-in-spying-case/5132486

They also spied on the Indonesian President's wife because, well, they could:
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/spying-on-president-susilo-bambang-yudhoyonos-wife-a-step-too-far-by-asd-20131120-2xvu5.html

This was the actual text from Clayton Utz, the law firm acting for the Australian Department of Defence: "“The reason we believe your claim will fail is because you allege that the Commonwealth owes innovators submitting products or technology for evaluation a duty of care to ensure that the evaluations are either fair, proper and accurate or that the confidential information is respected. There is no such duty of care in Australian law.”

They are very disingenuous: The DSTO publicly solicits businesses to submit inventions to Defence under the "DSTO CTD Capability and Technology Demonstrator Program", and then screw them over behind closed doors.

Here the Defence Science Minister Warren Snowdon announced a DSTO Probity Board "to protect against conflict of interest" http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/news/6648/, while here he sends a letter to an independent MP in which he falsely claims the whistleblower didn't want the thefts from other companies to be investigated(!): http://victimsofdsto.com/doc/2011-02-28%20Letter%20from%20Defence%20Science%20Minister%20with%20false%20information%20to%20Independent%20MP%20(NAMES%20BLACKED%20OUT).pdf

Australia's Federal Police force, the AFP, are systemically corrupt. They ignore public service crime http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service-keeps-fraud-cases-private-20110923-1kpdr.html and terrorise whistleblowers: http://pastebin.com/tD8Vd6Vd http://victimsofdsto.com/psc/#kessing

You can't use the civil courts: Under the Model Litigant Policy the Australian government has to keep legal costs to a minimum, must offer alternate dispute resolution, etc. But the government lawyers simply ignore it, run up huge legal bills and threaten to bankrupt you with a costs order if you dare step foot into court. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/gillard-government-lashed-for-ignoring-breaches-of-model-litigant-rules/story-e6frg97x-1226325228917 Another department did actually bankrupt a guy. Not mentioned in the article, the DSTO also stole IP from some big defence companies (including an American one).

It costs about $2M to litigate the gov. I don't know of a single company who has seen litigation through: SMEs can't afford it, and the large companies said litigating their biggest customer would lose future contracts. The only law firms capable of taking on the government pro bono in Australia are all on retainer to them! Here's a very good book "Our Corrupt Legal System" by an investigative crime journalist; Page 157- describes all the dirty tricks lawyers play: http://netk.net.au/Whitton/OCLS.pdf . play.

The NSA would be very interested in all Australia emerging mil tech issues.
"Bezaley tells of US code crack"
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/we-cracked-us-code-beazley/2007/09/20/1189881668071.html
e.g. US mil says "No" to Australia on some mil sales and upgrades - what does Australia do? Try and lobby around the US restrictions and then just work around US mil export grade equipment.. sharing with outside firms and brands..until the work is done to Australian needs.
The US also knows Australia has diverse staff with different counties of origin and faiths. 100% loyal to Australia and that other country/faith would keep the US very interested in Australians with top clearances.
The US would also be very aware that Australia has some different ideas on protected mil/industrial security systems. Its outsourced to contractors and sub contractors with "best effort" Australian security while chasing lower costs and balancing the need to bring in very advanced skills.
Australia cannot afford to "create" mil tech so it shops around the world and uses 'trusted' diverse international brands to fix up US export systems.

The funny thing is that everybody seems to want to roll out an oyster card system, but many places want to roll out their own oyster card system, and that leads to cost blowouts because (it seems) many organisations can't manage to do an IT project without falling on their face.
e.g. Auckland Transport with their AT HOP card.
myki in Melbourne, Australia which blew out by about $1 billion (on an original ~$0.5 billion cost). To quote from a report discussed in this article: ''Keane [who won the contract to make the card system] had no corporate experience in developing, implementing and operating a ticketing system Keane has barely demonstrated adequate capacity.''

Actually, the best question is in that same article:
"Another question is why, given the ambitions for the project, the company was chosen over smartcard specialists, including Cubic, which created many US systems and worked on Oyster, and the group behind Hong Kong's Octopus smartcard."
And why does everyone make this same mistake.

Indeed: 20 jobs where women earn more than men

To say nothing of remunerating females MORE than males for the same job and WITH the blessing of the government-appointed Sex Discrimination Commissioner.

Indonesian hackers deface Australian websites over spying
Hacking group claims to have infiltrated Australian websites

Even if you think what Snowden did was praiseworthy, if you are intellectually honest you must admit that there is at the least controversy and some "complexity" in accessing his actions. There are many who consider his leaks showing surveillance of the American people to be excusable, but not the leaks about American intelligence operations overseas. There is a precedent for acknowledging that sort complexity. If he is to have any memorials, they should be informed by the handling of another similarly "complex" figure.. Personally I think the other "complex" man was more of a genuine American hero than Snowden since he at least helped America to win some victories. Snowden, on the other hand, has brought naught but damage to America and its allies, and may have handed the keys to future victories to adversaries of America and the West. At least the Russians are getting something useful from him. Perhaps they'll give him a plaque as they gave another hero in Russia.

It's also clarifying to see who cheers for Snowden, the Kim Philby for our age. Enjoy Russia Mr. Snowden, and the new surveillance they are implementing based on your leaks that you will now be living under!

Snowden seeks to set himself above the law. His actions have said all that needs to be said on his behalf outside of court. The massive document theft and leak he engaged in isn't going to be considered "dissent." He should have gone to Congress instead of fleeing. He would likely still be a free man in the US had he done so, and Congress would still be alerted to his concerns, and have an opportunity to debate them. But so far it looks like Congress still backs the intelligence agencies overall even if there may be some new restrictions in the future.

What must be worse for him is that his actions are coming back to bite him on multiple levels. Like a twilight zone episode, he managed to create in his new home what he supposedly fled from and warned about. Now it will spread.

Implementing The Snowden Open Source Intelligence Agency Architecture Toolkit

"Practically all the attention to Snowden's leaks via the Guardian have focused on the leaks through either the lens of transparency and accountability, or the lens of betrayal and danger. But there is another way to view the leaks, and that is as an Open Source milestone. Snowden's leaks have revealed the product of uncounted millions of dollars of experience and research by the governments of the US and UK into effective intelligence agency architecture, infrastructure, and methods. Now that the documents describing them are publicly available, those documents form an intelligence agency architecture toolkit that can be used to analyze and improve the intelligence operations of any group or nation that wants to use them. So far there has been at least one public announcement of a country implementing elements of the Snowden Open Source Intelligence Agency Architecture Toolkit (Snowden OSIAAT): Russia. The Russian Communications Ministry and FSB security service have paired up to produce a regulation to begin upgrading the existing SORM internal electronic intelligence system to the Snowden style standard revealed in the leaks. Previously both Germany and Finland expressed interest in upgrading and expanding their internet surveillance capabilities. Snowden OSIAAT is likely to become a widely used means to increase the power and efficiency of intelligence services world wide. By the usual measures, Snowden OSIAAT appears to be another success story in the making for open source use in government."

Welcome to Australia, when installing your equipment, please make sure you watch out for the Redback spiders and Brown snakes. And the sharks if you are. Oh, and the Stone fish and the Blue ringed octopus if you doing the undersea cables. Actually the Funnel web spiders are a bit nasty too, along with all the other spiders. I've also hear there is a native plant that thinks fibre cables are tree roots and tried to tap into them, like you do, so watch out for that happening on your cables.

Oh and we have trained the red belly black snakes to protect our pits so watch out for them. http://images.smh.com.au/2011/01/13/2131885/telstrapitmain-420x0.jpg

  Just don't steal our beer. Cheers.

I assume then that you've never heard of Chechnya, Georgia, or Pussy Riot? Russia is a much better country than the Soviet Union was, so far. But Putin has them working back towards the Soviet model. If you think that Russia is a better friend toward Europe than the US, you are greatly mistaken. There is probably more than one thing you don't know.

The problem is that you don't get to pick when what you view as a "credible" enemy shows up. If you compromise security ahead of time, its too late when it does show up.

The problem with Snowden wasn't just that the security check he had was badly done, but that he deliberately lied and took advantage of the situation to steal as much as he could - apparently. Based on history that sort of betrayal isn't that common.

There also seems to be evidence that the Russians didn't know everything since they are makings some adjustments based on Snowden's revelations. If they knew it all before, they would have done it before. Snowden provided them a blueprint they could access, as well as the operational methods. And they won't have the constraints of the US Constitution to inhibit them.

The security needs of the US and UK require signals intelligence of one sort or another. If you abolish the current agencies, they'll be replaced by another performing the same function. It would be quite remarkable to actually dissolve a major government agency - it so rarely happens at all, let alone without replacement.

It's an example of how 95% of cyclists in my city and many others ride.

ANECDOTES ARE NOT EVIDENCE. You used it to support your claim that all cyclists are law-breaking, reckless, and cause their own injuries.

Cyclists are not reckless compared to anyone else using the road, and their behavior is substantially less reckless given that when they commit the same traffic infractions, they only endanger themselves. NYC counts cyclist-on-ped injuries and they account for less than 1% of total pedestrian injuries; the other 99% are motor vehicles.

Further, your claim that this reckless behavior equates to causes of injuries and deaths, is also bullshit. There are numerous studies and reviews that disprove this myth.

Again: just like women who blame rape victims for getting raped (she was drunk, she was dressed inappropriately, she shouldn't have been on that street, she shouldn't have been alone, etc) you're constructing a myth to convince yourself that you're better, and won't get injured or killed because you're better. You're doing it again, sanctimoniously talking about sport/recreational riders now (what does their clothing have to do with it?) Some day, a driver is going to do something illegal, you're not going to be able to avoid it despite how amazingly awesome a perfect bike rider you are in your non-spandex shorts. Then you'll get to witness first-hand the victim-blaming crap I've experienced.

Here's some real facts and studies:

Australian helmet cam study: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/study-blames-drivers-for-bike-crashes-20101122-18330.html

London study: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/drivers-to-blame-for-twothirds-of-bicycle-collisions-in-westminster-8602166.html

UK-wide study: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study

Toronto study which found cyclists at fault in TEN PERCENT of crashes: http://www.examiner.com/article/study-claims-cyclists-at-fault-only-10-percent-of-crashes

I have an older version, but effectively the injury/death rate is mostly effected by poor decisions by the cyclist, not the car.

First off, "the car" doesn't do anything. The driver does. You're attributing behavior to an inanimate object, something I see people do constantly.

Second: several decades of research proves your claim wrong. Most collisions are due to the driver doing something illegal, sometimes simply failing to yield because they think they have right-of-way over someone on a bicycle.

Australian helmet cam study: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/study-blames-drivers-for-bike-crashes-20101122-18330.html

London study: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/drivers-to-blame-for-twothirds-of-bicycle-collisions-in-westminster-8602166.html

UK-wide study: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study

Toronto study which found cyclists at fault in TEN PERCENT of crashes: http://www.examiner.com/article/study-claims-cyclists-at-fault-only-10-percent-of-crashes

The list goes on. Keep in mind that studies which are based off police reports that aren't carefully analyzed are typically faulty because police very often incorrectly side with motorists, don't interview cyclists, witness statements are wrong, etc. It's common to review a report, see obvious signs that the motorist did something illegal, and police do not cite them, and often cite the cyclist.

This guy was hit and two witnesses and the driver claimed he ran a red light; police tried to give him a ticket for running the light. He knew he hadn't. He found video from a traffic camera showing very clearly that he was cut off by the driver - what we call a "left cross": http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/19284/it-must-have-been-your-fault-cmon-you-are-a-biker/

It should make you stop and think to consider that many cyclists ride with helmet cameras. There's a reason - drivers lie, police don't believe us (or very often we're incapacitated or otherwise unable to defend ourselves), and witnesses are discriminatory towards cyclists or simply don't understand traffic laws or think they saw what they didn't.

For everyone that thinks we will have so much free time, or so many unemployed people. It may very well be that we will invent new jobs. Don't forget that we have already seen a huge boost in productivity in the last century. However we are not working less, if anything we are working more. Instead of one bread winner, we usually have two these days. For an interesting analyses that everyone who read this article should read, see this link: http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/the-modern-phenomenon-of-nonsense-jobs-20130831-2sy3j.html

New Zealand and Australia may soon be getting the keys to the net encryption too.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/whistleblower-reveals-australias-spy-agency-has-access-to-internet-codes-20130906-2tand.html

The "power" may soon be in the hands of Australia and New Zealand too: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/whistleblower-reveals-australias-spy-agency-has-access-to-internet-codes-20130906-2tand.html

"Who" is paying for the stream of pics of such quality and via a "very high speed fiber optic network"
eg. If you are counting wildlife, ask the gov/state for more hardware.
Cash might be very tight but gov data storage options should be usable.
Is it OCR on cars? Changes in activity around buildings?
If the "facility" has the need and cash to pay for images to be taken, optical and your work - ask for more cheap, fast storage.
As for the "cloud" and the nature of your work be aware that the US and a few other govs can have a look anytime.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/whistleblower-reveals-australias-spy-agency-has-access-to-internet-codes-20130906-2tand.html Best to air gap the 'results' part of your work from the bulk input and keep it all internal.

They also elected the KANGAROO POO YUM YUM Motorists Enthusiasts party: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/likely-senator-dodges-questions-about-kangaroo-poo-fight-video-20130909-2tf8j.html

A shame in South Australia where Nick Xenophon has been reelected as an excellent Senator beloved by his constituents and the Interwebs http://www.news.com.au/national-news/independent-senator-nick-xenophon-overwhelmed-by-record-voter-support/story-fncynjr2-1226714814451

but Xenophon couldn't get his #2 elected because the Greens cut a deal with the major parties. HA! That will come back to haunt them BECAUSE THEY JUST HELPED ELECT THEIR ARCH RIVALS THE ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE FAMILY FIRST PARTY. That will really come back to haunt the Greens now. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/election-2013/micro-parties-harvest-three-seats-in-senate/story-fn9qr68y-1226714827198

One of the "motoring enthusiasts" who is now in a row over footage of him in a kangaroo poo fight is also a 9/11 truther, apparently:

''Media is reporting that the person who ordfered [sic] the 911 terror attacks is dead what a load of shit, george bush is still alive!''

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/detours-ahead-as-minor-parties-claim-senate-balance-20130908-2te36.html

So-called "Fair Work Australia" the Australian Labor government's workplace commission declare that using your employer's facilities during work hours to distribute pornography to fellow employees is not a sackable offence.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/sending-porn-emails-at-work-no-longer-a-sackable-offence-fair-work-commission-rules/story-fni0fit3-1226710444957
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-04/porn-emails-at-work-not-automatic-sacking-offence/4933426
http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/porn-not-an-automatic-sacking-offence-tribunal-20130903-2t3ki.html

Three Victorian postal workers were dismissed after using the Australia Post email system to distribute sexually explicit material in their Dandenong workplace. They appealed, and the full bench of the Fair Work Commission - in a non-unanimous judgement - found the terminations were harsh and the workers could be reinstated. Two of the three commissioners said in a statement: "There is an emerging trend... regarding the accessing, sending or receiving and storing pornography by an employee as a form of serious misconduct that invariably merits termination of employment."

Obama's (and the neocon's) response: bomb a civil war in the Middle East...

Just to be clear, are you advocating leaving the Syrian government in peace to use nerve gas on the population at will.... like Saddam was doing to the Kurds? Another Hama is OK? Just asking.

Because Syria launching chemical weapons makes about as much sense as Obama nuking Texas.

Do you have any "insightful" comments about Saddam's gassing of the Kurds? Interesting fact - Iraq was, and Syria is, ruled by the Ba'ath Party, and both have been bloodthirsty.

By the way, the Syrian government has gassed people before: Hama 1982 – The Syrian massacre you never heard about

Well that's your fault if you live in a screwed-up country that allows that to occur.

In Australia, we take pride in having a much more ethical police force.
Err, scrap that last statement.

In recent years, people living in the city of Sydney have had: (in order of "seniority")

1. A female mayor (Clover Moore)
2. A female premier (Kristina Keneally)
3. A female prime minister (Julia Gillard)
4. A female governor general (Quentin Bryce)
5. A female queen (Libby)

And yet we still have our testicles busted.

Not all women whinge, but there are a few man-haters who like to perpetuate the notion that women are persecuted, as this secures sympathy and allows them to get extra attention from policy makers.

We therefore have the situation where:

1. More money is spent on female-specific health issues, despite women living longer than men
In Australia, we have national breast cancer & cervical cancer screening programmes, but nothing for men. (Yet prostate cancer affects more men than breast cancer affects women???) The hysteria is such that even our men's sports teams continually raise money for breast cancer, even though most of those guys will go impotent (or die) from prostate cancer a few years down the track.

Worse yet, our Federal Government has set aside $20 million to vaccinate school boys against cervical cancer
Even though all school girls are already vaccinated, there's a CHANCE a girl may not be, and she MAY have sex with a boy who MAY have the HPV virus, which means she MAY develop cervical cancer. Somebody do the stats on how many Aussie girls will get cervical cancer if we don't vaccinate school boys.

Then you read that 750 young Australian men will get testicular cancer this year. Only a few dozen will die, but those who survive will lose at least 1 testicle. Imagine what those $20 million could do if directed towards young men. In suicide prevention. (The biggest killer of young males.)

2. We have a Sex Discrimination Commissioner who endorses sex discrimination in remuneration
Win for women in bid to hike super pay
Feminists complain that men retire with more money than women. For years Australian men got the aged pension at 65, while women could get it at 60. Now we're equal. How about raising the retirement age for women by 5 years, since they live 5 years longer?

3. Our government-owned rail network recently required that male railway workers cleanly shave, or go home
RailCorp shaves staff for being ungroomed
Imagine the same requirements imposed on women ... shave your legs or go home!
The policy was also changed to forbid male staff from wearing shorts; they must now wear trousers. In a country that has 44 C (111 F) summers! The original policy required women wear trousers as well, but they complained and so the policy was amended to allow females to choose between trousers and skirts.

The list goes on ...

In recent years, people living in the city of Sydney have had: (in order of "seniority")

1. A female mayor (Clover Moore)
2. A female premier (Kristina Keneally)
3. A female prime minister (Julia Gillard)
4. A female governor general (Quentin Bryce)
5. A female queen (Libby)

And yet we still have our testicles busted.

Not all women whinge, but there are a few man-haters who like to perpetuate the notion that women are persecuted, as this secures sympathy and allows them to get extra attention from policy makers.

We therefore have the situation where:

1. More money is spent on female-specific health issues, despite women living longer than men
In Australia, we have national breast cancer & cervical cancer screening programmes, but nothing for men. (Yet prostate cancer affects more men than breast cancer affects women???) The hysteria is such that even our men's sports teams continually raise money for breast cancer, even though most of those guys will go impotent (or die) from prostate cancer a few years down the track.

Worse yet, our Federal Government has set aside $20 million to vaccinate school boys against cervical cancer
Even though all school girls are already vaccinated, there's a CHANCE a girl may not be, and she MAY have sex with a boy who MAY have the HPV virus, which means she MAY develop cervical cancer. Somebody do the stats on how many Aussie girls will get cervical cancer if we don't vaccinate school boys.

Then you read that 750 young Australian men will get testicular cancer this year. Only a few dozen will die, but those who survive will lose at least 1 testicle. Imagine what those $20 million could do if directed towards young men. In suicide prevention. (The biggest killer of young males.)

2. We have a Sex Discrimination Commissioner who endorses sex discrimination in remuneration
Win for women in bid to hike super pay
Feminists complain that men retire with more money than women. For years Australian men got the aged pension at 65, while women could get it at 60. Now we're equal. How about raising the retirement age for women by 5 years, since they live 5 years longer?

3. Our government-owned rail network recently required that male railway workers cleanly shave, or go home
RailCorp shaves staff for being ungroomed
Imagine the same requirements imposed on women ... shave your legs or go home!
The policy was also changed to forbid male staff from wearing shorts; they must now wear trousers. In a country that has 44 C (111 F) summers! The original policy required women wear trousers as well, but they complained and so the policy was amended to allow females to choose between trousers and skirts.

The list goes on ...

How many white men would change places with a black woman, for example?

In what context?

I think many people wouldn't mind a pay rise. Same job, same work, different pay because one is female.

Just because you have a penis or vagina shouldn't affect your pay rate. Feminism is the art of preaching superiority under the guise of egalitarianism.

Because it is not cut and dried. You can't just search for "SkyDrive" and then be safe. "Sky" claims it owns anything that starts with "Sky" in the same way that Microsoft claimed "Windows," and Apple claimed the letter "i"! (though they lost in the end... uh, at least in Australia?)

Yeah, but the only alternative is the "Liberal Party".

What?. Mate, the ballot paper looks like an Asian grocery shelf and you complain about the lack of choice?

Plastic magnifying sheets will be installed in voting booths to help Victorians navigate their way through what could be the biggest ever Senate ballot paper.

Victorians could be faced with a 1.02 metre Senate ballot paper at the 2013 federal election, the maximum size it can be printed, with the font size reduced to 6 point to fit all the candidates' names.

The number of registered political parties has almost doubled since the 2010 election from 25 to 46, and another 11 parties are waiting to be processed.

We should have H1B Visas for lawyers and politicians. It would be amazing how quickly the program would be shut down then.

I doubt you could do anything about politicians. The legal profession is heading for trouble. It is getting harder and harder for lawyers for find a good job coming out of law school (with that massive debt), law school enrollments are dropping, law schools are laying off faculty. There are a lot of things feeding into that, including over selling of law degrees, computer and web based legal services, and off-shore legal work. Off shore accounting work is also increasing with the usual implications for accountants.

Law firms send case work overseas to boost efficiency - September 25, 2005

Guess which jobs are going abroad - February 25, 2004

If a tax preparer gets you an unexpected refund this year, you may have an accountant in India to thank. That's because accounting firms are joining the outsourcing trend established years ago by cost-conscious American manufacturers. In fact, companies in a number of unexpected industries are now sending work overseas. From scientific lab analysis to medical billing, the service-sector workforce has gone global. CPA firms are just one example. In the 2002 tax year, accounting firms sent some 25,000 tax returns to be completed by accountants in India. This year, that number is expected to quadruple. -- more

Australia is seeing a similar trend.

Get used to it: sending jobs overseas is the way of the future

40 years ago? You think it was stopped then?

You would have to go for an air gap.
With trade deals US cloud providers start to whine and put pressure on the US gov.
The result is demands from the US gov like this:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/trade-war-up-in-the-clouds-20120529-1zhpg.html
"‘Concerns that laws such as the Patriot Act offer the US government carte blanche to obtain private data from US providers are misplaced"
We should have listened to our own experts and air gapped much more :)