Recently Mick Keelty the AFP commissioner criticised the media over terrorism case coverage.
The Story can be found here and the Audio of Mick Keelty's comments is here.
I can see a bit of What Mr Keelty is saying people are entitled to the presumption of innocence and to be fairly tried in a court of law. Trial by media is a nasty thing and can be manipulate to easily by unscrupulous lawyers. So to this part I agree. The media should stay out of the courts and only report that there is a trial under way, report the crimes and comment on the progress of the case. They shouldn't really be bringing peoples names and emotional arguments about the consequences of the crimes to the public. In depth interviews with family friends and associated people can wait until after the trial. This can help the public find out about what happened and why.
There are several problems with Mick Keelty's comments though.
The first is that the government of the day and the Aust Federal Police were using the media first to blacken the name of the man charged under terrorism laws. This from Journalist Hedley Thomas: "But the facts are that in the Mohamed Haneef case and others, it's been the police and security agencies and the politicians using police information that have smeared the character of the suspects before they've even been charged." Mick needs to start abiding by his own rules. Once the police and others start the media circus the cannot very well expect that no-one else will be submitting information to the media. If the police want a media blackout before trials then they need to abide by them as well.
Next media mostly commented about the handling of the Haneef case and very little was about the actual charges or weather Dr. Haneef was guilty or not. The Media stories were mainly about lack of evidence and subsequent dropping of charges and extended detention before charges had been layed. I think that most Australians disagreed with the extended detention of Doctor Haneef and the way in which the case was handled.
Finally public institutions that apply the rule of law and have control over daily part of lives need to be subject to public scrutiny to keep them functioning properly. Otherwise you slowly move down the gradient of corruption until you have a Secret police that is used by those in power to control the populace. Comments like the following from Commissioner Keelty are absurd and very dangerous. Someone who makes such comments probably shouldn't be leading the AFP.
He also says criticism of the AFP and other government agencies should be limited.
A quote of Mick Keelty-
"We've just got to call a halt to criticising public institutions when it's the same public institutions that we rely upon to keep good governance,".
Media and Public scrutiny should continue, and if these comments are any indication should increase in intensity. Comments like these show that dangerous seeds have taken root in some of the countries most powerful institutions. Maybe it's time for a bit of Weeding.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Diving Activities
So Min is a diver. Diver Min she shall be known as from now on.
Seriously though we went on the live aboard trip on the weekend and we both had a great time. We left on Friday night about 8pm. True to form Min and I were packing and buying the last necessities on the way to the boat at about 5 to 8. Eventually we made it and were introduced to the crew. Ian the Trip director, Rhys the Instructor, Possum the Cook and Ron the Skipper. The crew were really friendly (not al skippers are friendly) and were easy to approach when we had problems.
The first day we were off to Wheeler reef. All of Mins dives on this reef were training dives. I mixed it up between diving with others and tagging along on the Open water course. This way I managed to get some photos of corals and animals as well as some of Mins outstanding preformance as an open water student.
So 4 dives on Wheeler Reef, including the night dive. The night dive was awesome (my first in a while) you get to concentrate more on a smaller patch of reef and see some of the things that you miss during the day as you are to busy looking around. No photos from the night dive though as the camera didn't like the low light conditions and flashes just don't represent the proper atmosphere that you get out on the reef at night.
Next we were steaming over to Davies Reef. This is the reef that AIMS has its weather station on. There were meant to be another 4 dives here but I only managed 3, well 3 and a half. I was down at 10m and waiting for the open water students to descend when I noticed a stream of bubbles coming from my 2nd stage (The Regulator bit that goes in your mouth for those that don't dive). I thought to myself "That's weird I'm not breathing out". Well I took the reg out of my mouth and looked at it as I had determined with my lightning quick brain that something may be amiss. Well I saw that it was leaking from a join in the hose, It was not a dive ending leak though as it was only a bit of a trickle. Then all hell broke loose as I placed it back in my mouth. I herd a large burst almost like a bang, then a absolute gush of air. I looked around and the only person I could see who was looking in my direction was Henrick a Dutch guy and a student on the open water course. I quickly signalled that I was going up and he nodded with large eyes looking at my regulator spewing forth air. The reg had become hard to breath from by this stage due to a lack of pressure reaching my mouthpiece so I decided too switch to my alternate air source. I slowly ascended (not exceeding 18m per minute) watching my pressure gauge slowly dial down. I lost 80 bar or over a 3rd of the air in my tank in the minute (roughly) it took to ascend. I didn't panic but I couldn't say that It wasn't worrying when I was down at 10m. Anyway drama was over then and I slowly swan back to the ship.
Everyone other than Henrick though was wondering where I had gotten to. Henrick signalled that I was OK and then proceeded to write down on the slate that I had surface and gone back to the boat. The big problem was that he wrote it down in Dutch so everyone just looked at the slate in confusion then assumed that I was an experienced diver and could look after myself. They were right but it does illustrate a point about diving. You really should develop your own skills and abilities so that you can look after yourself because buddies and groups are not always that helpful. I do still recommend diving in groups of at least 2 though as other people can and do help in many situations, there are as they say safety in numbers.
The trip was excellent in General and Min loved the diving so we could be doing a bit more of it now that we are both certified.
A concern voiced to me by Min though was that she might get sick on the yacht trip at the end of the year. So we are off to the Whitsunday's to hire a yacht sometime this year as a practice. When would be a good opportunity maybe a long weekend. Oh well details of that to follow.
Cheers L.
Seriously though we went on the live aboard trip on the weekend and we both had a great time. We left on Friday night about 8pm. True to form Min and I were packing and buying the last necessities on the way to the boat at about 5 to 8. Eventually we made it and were introduced to the crew. Ian the Trip director, Rhys the Instructor, Possum the Cook and Ron the Skipper. The crew were really friendly (not al skippers are friendly) and were easy to approach when we had problems.
The first day we were off to Wheeler reef. All of Mins dives on this reef were training dives. I mixed it up between diving with others and tagging along on the Open water course. This way I managed to get some photos of corals and animals as well as some of Mins outstanding preformance as an open water student.
So 4 dives on Wheeler Reef, including the night dive. The night dive was awesome (my first in a while) you get to concentrate more on a smaller patch of reef and see some of the things that you miss during the day as you are to busy looking around. No photos from the night dive though as the camera didn't like the low light conditions and flashes just don't represent the proper atmosphere that you get out on the reef at night.Next we were steaming over to Davies Reef. This is the reef that AIMS has its weather station on. There were meant to be another 4 dives here but I only managed 3, well 3 and a half. I was down at 10m and waiting for the open water students to descend when I noticed a stream of bubbles coming from my 2nd stage (The Regulator bit that goes in your mouth for those that don't dive). I thought to myself "That's weird I'm not breathing out". Well I took the reg out of my mouth and looked at it as I had determined with my lightning quick brain that something may be amiss. Well I saw that it was leaking from a join in the hose, It was not a dive ending leak though as it was only a bit of a trickle. Then all hell broke loose as I placed it back in my mouth. I herd a large burst almost like a bang, then a absolute gush of air. I looked around and the only person I could see who was looking in my direction was Henrick a Dutch guy and a student on the open water course. I quickly signalled that I was going up and he nodded with large eyes looking at my regulator spewing forth air. The reg had become hard to breath from by this stage due to a lack of pressure reaching my mouthpiece so I decided too switch to my alternate air source. I slowly ascended (not exceeding 18m per minute) watching my pressure gauge slowly dial down. I lost 80 bar or over a 3rd of the air in my tank in the minute (roughly) it took to ascend. I didn't panic but I couldn't say that It wasn't worrying when I was down at 10m. Anyway drama was over then and I slowly swan back to the ship.
Everyone other than Henrick though was wondering where I had gotten to. Henrick signalled that I was OK and then proceeded to write down on the slate that I had surface and gone back to the boat. The big problem was that he wrote it down in Dutch so everyone just looked at the slate in confusion then assumed that I was an experienced diver and could look after myself. They were right but it does illustrate a point about diving. You really should develop your own skills and abilities so that you can look after yourself because buddies and groups are not always that helpful. I do still recommend diving in groups of at least 2 though as other people can and do help in many situations, there are as they say safety in numbers.
The trip was excellent in General and Min loved the diving so we could be doing a bit more of it now that we are both certified.
A concern voiced to me by Min though was that she might get sick on the yacht trip at the end of the year. So we are off to the Whitsunday's to hire a yacht sometime this year as a practice. When would be a good opportunity maybe a long weekend. Oh well details of that to follow.
Cheers L.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
First Event for 2008
The first event for 2008 is going to happen this weekend, and it's probably not what you think it might be.
Min is finishing her dive course this weekend. She did the classroom and pool sessions last weekend and she is off out into the wild blue for her first open water dives this weekend. It's a three night and three day live aboard trip to Wheeler Reef, Davies Reef and the Wreck of the Yongala. It should be an awesome trip, we are going out with Pro-dive the company that Ollie and Anika went out with when they were up here. Oh yes I suppose that I forgot to state that I will be tagging along for the ride.
This will be my first non-work dives in a long time. It will be good to get out and just relax look at things and not take the dive to seriously. My camera is not back from the shop yet (more on that later) grrrrr. So I will be borrowing a camera from someone at work. Hopefully a post on that soon with pickies.
Cheers L.
Min is finishing her dive course this weekend. She did the classroom and pool sessions last weekend and she is off out into the wild blue for her first open water dives this weekend. It's a three night and three day live aboard trip to Wheeler Reef, Davies Reef and the Wreck of the Yongala. It should be an awesome trip, we are going out with Pro-dive the company that Ollie and Anika went out with when they were up here. Oh yes I suppose that I forgot to state that I will be tagging along for the ride.
This will be my first non-work dives in a long time. It will be good to get out and just relax look at things and not take the dive to seriously. My camera is not back from the shop yet (more on that later) grrrrr. So I will be borrowing a camera from someone at work. Hopefully a post on that soon with pickies.
Cheers L.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
2007 a Year in Review
One of the interesting things that a blog gives you is a look into your year that has gone. It show easily what has happened and how you felt at the time. In a couple of years time I'll even be able to do a look at the decade that was.
2007 has been a fun year but a busy year. This is evidenced not in the abundance of posts this year but in the dearth of posts to come from me. Well I'll try to rectify that this year but it's already not looking good as I have just started working on another website over at Wordpress. It is the Maggie Island Outriggers Website. We'll see how the posting goes though.
I also didn't get around to participating in rogaines much this year. I did how ever venture out into the bush twice this past year and on one of those occasions I introduced a new person to the sport (Karina for those who are not regular readers). I had a more relaxed time though while rogaining and I never even really went out to push myself, Just get out there get a respectable total and see some of the amazing bush that you get to see with these events.
So you ask if I wasn't posting much here and I didn't participate extensively in Rogaines what was I doing all year that made it such a busy year. There is a twofold answer to this question and that is paddling and working. Work has been pretty full on this year with the centre increasing in size and the admin staff not changing in number. This means that my job has has about the same amount of research work but an increasing load of administrative work. I still enjoy working here and I have gotten to go to some very cool place in this last year but it is getting busier. Speaking of amazing new places and work, my work took me to Papua New Guinea last year and also to Heron Island. These were both fantastic trips and well worth the trip. It would be really interesting to spend more time in PNG but alas I am once again chained to the desk trying to help with the production of another Annual report.
Paddling well what can I say about that. I was more involved in the club in 2007 than I was in 2006. I became part of the committee and I managed to get the club some Marques through a government grant. I also trained harder than in 2006 and managed to get close to the Medal positions (we finished fourth in the last couple of regattas of the season). I'm set to be more involved again as I've put my hand up to be the club Secretary. The club is at a bit of a low point as there are fewer members in the club now than there has been at any time in the last 10 years. On the bright side though we have an enthusiastic committee and we have set up some things that could rapidly grow the club and also help it actually earn some money to be financially viable. More news on this later.
Anyway to 2008 what do I want to achieve this year. Well I have decided to loose a bit of weight. Well I'll probably put it on but I need to loose the fat around the mid section. I think that about 5kg of fat could go to bring me down to a nice healthy shape. My total weight has been changing continuously over the past two years and always in the same direction and that's up. I now weigh in at over 122 kg but I have acttually lost some of the fat on my body. Well I've decided that it's time that I loose the last of the fat. I think I need an aim to help me achieve this so I'm going to get fit and ready for the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic at the end of the year. Now I just need a paddling partner (Hey Glen didn't you say that you'd do it with me), oh yes and an OC2 to do it in, and a support crew (any volunteers). These are just minor details though to be sorted out later.
Lastly I hope everyones 2008 is a great an healthy year.
Cheers Lewis
2007 has been a fun year but a busy year. This is evidenced not in the abundance of posts this year but in the dearth of posts to come from me. Well I'll try to rectify that this year but it's already not looking good as I have just started working on another website over at Wordpress. It is the Maggie Island Outriggers Website. We'll see how the posting goes though.
I also didn't get around to participating in rogaines much this year. I did how ever venture out into the bush twice this past year and on one of those occasions I introduced a new person to the sport (Karina for those who are not regular readers). I had a more relaxed time though while rogaining and I never even really went out to push myself, Just get out there get a respectable total and see some of the amazing bush that you get to see with these events.
So you ask if I wasn't posting much here and I didn't participate extensively in Rogaines what was I doing all year that made it such a busy year. There is a twofold answer to this question and that is paddling and working. Work has been pretty full on this year with the centre increasing in size and the admin staff not changing in number. This means that my job has has about the same amount of research work but an increasing load of administrative work. I still enjoy working here and I have gotten to go to some very cool place in this last year but it is getting busier. Speaking of amazing new places and work, my work took me to Papua New Guinea last year and also to Heron Island. These were both fantastic trips and well worth the trip. It would be really interesting to spend more time in PNG but alas I am once again chained to the desk trying to help with the production of another Annual report.
Paddling well what can I say about that. I was more involved in the club in 2007 than I was in 2006. I became part of the committee and I managed to get the club some Marques through a government grant. I also trained harder than in 2006 and managed to get close to the Medal positions (we finished fourth in the last couple of regattas of the season). I'm set to be more involved again as I've put my hand up to be the club Secretary. The club is at a bit of a low point as there are fewer members in the club now than there has been at any time in the last 10 years. On the bright side though we have an enthusiastic committee and we have set up some things that could rapidly grow the club and also help it actually earn some money to be financially viable. More news on this later.
Anyway to 2008 what do I want to achieve this year. Well I have decided to loose a bit of weight. Well I'll probably put it on but I need to loose the fat around the mid section. I think that about 5kg of fat could go to bring me down to a nice healthy shape. My total weight has been changing continuously over the past two years and always in the same direction and that's up. I now weigh in at over 122 kg but I have acttually lost some of the fat on my body. Well I've decided that it's time that I loose the last of the fat. I think I need an aim to help me achieve this so I'm going to get fit and ready for the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic at the end of the year. Now I just need a paddling partner (Hey Glen didn't you say that you'd do it with me), oh yes and an OC2 to do it in, and a support crew (any volunteers). These are just minor details though to be sorted out later.
Lastly I hope everyones 2008 is a great an healthy year.
Cheers Lewis
Friday, November 23, 2007
Heron Island
So this is a Aerial shot of one of the more famous Island on the
You can see the rather small
Anyway why am I showing you all this little piece of heaven you might ask? Well I’ve been on
Hmmmmm diving I think I remember what that is it’s that activity where you go underwater and (in my case) work hard. I say this because I was the boat driver for the trip which means that I spent hours sitting on the boat waiting for my divers to come up from their dive. I did get to dive once and test out my regulators that I haven’t used since going to PNG. The gear worked well and I got to see some awesome patches of reef. There was a resident grouper called gus that was about 2m long and about 400 kilos. Also lots of Lion and Parrot fish. I will put some photo’s up on Picassa soon.
I’d never been to Heron (http://www.cms.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=54940) and it was an excellent opportunity to see the place and experience another (I think the last I haven’t been to on the GBR) research station. The station was huge but on this particular visit it was down to about 30% capacity. There was a fire a few months ago and the place is still in the process of recovering from that ordeal. (http://www.cms.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=68420). A lot of research and lab equipment went in the fire as well as all of the Laboratory and aquarium facilities. One weird thing though is that the Resort on Heron operates on daylight savings time all year round while the Research station operates on
The Reefs around heron look to be in very good condition though. The prevalence of disease was at about 1 in 1000 colonies having an instance of some disease. No real bleaching to speak of and the water temperature hasn’t risen as sharply as it has in some of the more northerly reefs. Apparently there has been some instances of bleaching in areas such as
What did happen on heron though is that it got windy. for about 6 of the 12 days I was there, there was 20-30 knot winds with seas to 3m. Nasty conditions for a 6m fibreglass dingy. The time we did get out though were amazing. Blue water gentle breeze and a slight rocking from some gentle waves. Almost heaven.
Not bad work this if you can get it.
Cheers L
Monday, September 17, 2007
OC1 Regatta
I want to Thank Greg and Reece Tudehope for organising a great day. Also Thanks to Karen Bruce for time keeping all day and helping with the set-up. And probably the biggest thanks go to the two people who aren't even part of any paddling club but came along to help out on the day to make sure friends and family could race so thanks Viki and Melinda.
I think that most people had a good day and the racing was good natured and fun. Thanks to all the competitors and I hope to see you on the water again soon.
Now for some results I only went in one race due to me having some crazy type of sleeping sickness. I managed to come third though.
oc1 250m Course
Open Men
Pos Name Club Time
1st Reece Tudehope Mag-Is 1.11.73
2nd Andrew Mitchell Coral Sea 1.25.44
3rd Lewis Anderson Mag-Is 1.27.97
Oops did I forget to mention that there were only 3 people in my race. Still since it is my first ever OC1 race and only like my tenth time on an OC1 I did alright. And 1 minute and 27 seconds seems like ages when you have the flu.
Cheers
I think that most people had a good day and the racing was good natured and fun. Thanks to all the competitors and I hope to see you on the water again soon.
Now for some results I only went in one race due to me having some crazy type of sleeping sickness. I managed to come third though.
oc1 250m Course
Open Men
Pos Name Club Time
1st Reece Tudehope Mag-Is 1.11.73
2nd Andrew Mitchell Coral Sea 1.25.44
3rd Lewis Anderson Mag-Is 1.27.97
Oops did I forget to mention that there were only 3 people in my race. Still since it is my first ever OC1 race and only like my tenth time on an OC1 I did alright. And 1 minute and 27 seconds seems like ages when you have the flu.
Cheers
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Three Sheets to the Wind
I was curious as to the origins of this saying. It seems to have started out being "Three sheets in the Wind". I found this explanation to be one of the best out there. All explanations had a similar story except a few who referred to Windmills which seems less likely than a nautical explanation.
From Mark Treadwell on .NET Hobbyist Programmer Forum
I guess it would be good to be precise here. Using a square-rigged sailing ship as a reference, a sheet is the line that is attached to the clew (the lower corners of each sail). The sails would be trimmed (adjusted) using the sheets to ensure they remained in the optimal position for the relative wind to generate the best ship's speed. The sheets attached to the courses (lowest and largest sails) had the most adjustment since the sheets (and hence the clews) of the upper sails would be attached to the yardarms below them. Each sail has two sheets. Sometimes the upper topsails and upper topgallant sails don't have sheets; their clews can be permanently fastened to the yardarms of the lower topsail/topgallant yards. For a relatively simple description of most of these terms with some pictures, see http://www.infa.abo.fi/~fredrik/sships/square-rigging.html.
With this as a basis, if a sailing ship's sheets have come loose, the affected course is likely to luff or flap loosely in the wind. The appearance of a ship with luffing sails is one of disarray. The slower a ship goes, the less control you have with the rudder. If you cannot control the ship, you are then at the mercy of the waves. In the worst case, the ship can end up broad or beam to the seas and rolling heavily and .
Hopefully, this explains it a little clearer.
Interesting huh!
From Mark Treadwell on .NET Hobbyist Programmer Forum
I guess it would be good to be precise here. Using a square-rigged sailing ship as a reference, a sheet is the line that is attached to the clew (the lower corners of each sail). The sails would be trimmed (adjusted) using the sheets to ensure they remained in the optimal position for the relative wind to generate the best ship's speed. The sheets attached to the courses (lowest and largest sails) had the most adjustment since the sheets (and hence the clews) of the upper sails would be attached to the yardarms below them. Each sail has two sheets. Sometimes the upper topsails and upper topgallant sails don't have sheets; their clews can be permanently fastened to the yardarms of the lower topsail/topgallant yards. For a relatively simple description of most of these terms with some pictures, see http://www.infa.abo.fi/~fredrik/sships/square-rigging.html.
With this as a basis, if a sailing ship's sheets have come loose, the affected course is likely to luff or flap loosely in the wind. The appearance of a ship with luffing sails is one of disarray. The slower a ship goes, the less control you have with the rudder. If you cannot control the ship, you are then at the mercy of the waves. In the worst case, the ship can end up broad or beam to the seas and rolling heavily and .
Hopefully, this explains it a little clearer.
Interesting huh!
Crazy Ideas
I received this little titbit in my ABC news mail and though Now this is a bit of a stupid Idea.
*Pay fat people to lose weight: doctors*
A doctors group has proposed that overweight people be given a $170 subsidy to attend an accredited weight-loss program.
The idea is part of a Federal election wish-list released by the Australian General Practice Network.
The network's Dr Tony Hobbs says the proposal would help address Australia's obesity problem by making it easier for people in lower-income brackets to get help.
"We believe that this will go a long way to helping people get access to accredited weight loss programs where the people will be supported," he said.
"They'll have goals set, they will be expected to come back at the end of the 12-week program and be measured to see whether or not they've been able to succeed with their weight loss program."
So What they want to do is encourage people to get fat then loose weight. Repeatedly!! I know lets increase the burden that overweight people already place on Society. This money that is meant to make the programs more affordable will just make them more popular and then they can raise there fees. Meaning that this handout will just be given to companies and people in an industry that is already more than a little dodgy if you ask me.
If you want to help the community and decrease the incidents of obesity then increase the funding to local community sporting groups and run a campaign where you get a free health check up when you are a member of a local sporting group. This Idea has been thought up on the spot and would probably not work but at least it benefits the whole community and increases participation in sport, increases the activity of the community and provides some regular check-ups for people who are trying to do something for themselves. It's not just providing a handout for fat people who are just not very active.
I am not against overweight people I have the ability to gain weight very easily it's in the Anderson genes. I have however taken up several activities that promote weight loss. long distance sports such as mountain or road biking and Outrigger Canoeing for the upper body. There are sports and activities out there for anyone. So lets encourage activity rather than supporting the Diet industry by throwing wasted money at them.
Look if you agree with me please email the AMA and the Federal Government. Please be polite in any email sent to these addresses. If you don't agree with please leave a comment and explain why. If you have suggestion on a better Idea than mine please leave them in comments as well (I did say mine might not work).
Cheers
*Pay fat people to lose weight: doctors*
A doctors group has proposed that overweight people be given a $170 subsidy to attend an accredited weight-loss program.
The idea is part of a Federal election wish-list released by the Australian General Practice Network.
The network's Dr Tony Hobbs says the proposal would help address Australia's obesity problem by making it easier for people in lower-income brackets to get help.
"We believe that this will go a long way to helping people get access to accredited weight loss programs where the people will be supported," he said.
"They'll have goals set, they will be expected to come back at the end of the 12-week program and be measured to see whether or not they've been able to succeed with their weight loss program."
So What they want to do is encourage people to get fat then loose weight. Repeatedly!! I know lets increase the burden that overweight people already place on Society. This money that is meant to make the programs more affordable will just make them more popular and then they can raise there fees. Meaning that this handout will just be given to companies and people in an industry that is already more than a little dodgy if you ask me.
If you want to help the community and decrease the incidents of obesity then increase the funding to local community sporting groups and run a campaign where you get a free health check up when you are a member of a local sporting group. This Idea has been thought up on the spot and would probably not work but at least it benefits the whole community and increases participation in sport, increases the activity of the community and provides some regular check-ups for people who are trying to do something for themselves. It's not just providing a handout for fat people who are just not very active.
I am not against overweight people I have the ability to gain weight very easily it's in the Anderson genes. I have however taken up several activities that promote weight loss. long distance sports such as mountain or road biking and Outrigger Canoeing for the upper body. There are sports and activities out there for anyone. So lets encourage activity rather than supporting the Diet industry by throwing wasted money at them.
Look if you agree with me please email the AMA and the Federal Government. Please be polite in any email sent to these addresses. If you don't agree with please leave a comment and explain why. If you have suggestion on a better Idea than mine please leave them in comments as well (I did say mine might not work).
Cheers
Friday, September 07, 2007
APEC
I don't understand why so many people feel the need to protest at the APEC summit. It's a trade summit which is not in itself a bad thing. In fact many of the aims of the group are very admiral. The aims are to promote liberal trade, reduce corruption and set out guideline for greater transparency of Business operations. These are good things weather your in Australia, the US or any of the other countries in the Pacific rim.
The scope of the group as stated on their website is:
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) works in three broad areas to meet the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies.
Known as APEC's 'Three Pillars', APEC focuses on three key areas:
The outcomes of these three areas enable APEC Member Economies to strengthen their economies by pooling resources within the region and achieving efficiencies. Tangible benefits are also delivered to consumers in the APEC region through increased training and employment opportunities, greater choices in the marketplace, cheaper goods and services and improved access to international markets.
Trade and Investment Liberalisation
Trade and Investment Liberalisation reduces and eventually eliminates tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade and investment. Protectionism is expensive because it raises prices for goods and services. Thus, Trade and Investment Liberation focuses on opening markets to increase trade and investment among economies, resulting in economic growth for APEC Member Economies and increased standard of living for all.
Business Facilitation
Business Facilitation focuses on reducing the costs of business transactions, improving access to trade information and aligning policy and business strategies to facilitate growth, and free and open trade. Essentially, Business Facilitation helps importers and exporters in Asia Pacific meet and conduct business more efficiently, thus reducing costs of production and leading to increased trade, cheaper goods and services and more employment opportunities due to an expanded economy.
Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH)
ECOTECH is dedicated to providing training and cooperation to build capacities in all APEC Member Economies to take advantage of global trade and the New Economy. This area builds capacity at the institutional and personal level to assist APEC Member Economies and its people gain the necessary skills to meet their economic potential.
None of this is evil or bad the are just trying to promote development and co-operation between the countries to benefit all of the countries involved.
Most of the protest don't seem to be aimed at APEC itself though. Most protests seem to be aimed at the president of the US. Fair enough his government has not been good for the US or many other places in the world, and it certainly hasn't been good for the international reputation of the US and it's citizens. Maybe we could leave these protest for another time though. A time when he's involved in something evil like taking over a small island nation.
Australians though have more pressing issues to protest about. We have issues that affect us directly such as the Industrial relations system that our government has brought in,he fact that this Australian Government has increased the Gap between rich and poor the highest levels ever and seems to ignore any way to rectify this, or the lack of any coherent and defined stance on climate change from the government.
John Howard has realised that he has left the issue of Climate change to long and now is trying to subvert important international events such as this APEC meeting to show how active he is on this issue. Quite rightly the Chinese President put him in his place and said that the UN was the best forum for anything more than an understanding that climate change is important.
So people please leave the APEC summit alone and concentrate on the problems facing and issues that directly affect the day to day happenings in this country. That way maybe the NSW government and police will not have the nessecary impetus to enact draconian laws and security measures.
I encourage everyone to take an interest in what is discussed in Forums such as APEC but please try not to hinder organisations that might actually do some good. There is already huge amounts of evidence that we need sustainable development in poorer countries to improve the living conditions of the people and take away to root causes of huge Social and Environmental problems.
The scope of the group as stated on their website is:
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) works in three broad areas to meet the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies.
Known as APEC's 'Three Pillars', APEC focuses on three key areas:
The outcomes of these three areas enable APEC Member Economies to strengthen their economies by pooling resources within the region and achieving efficiencies. Tangible benefits are also delivered to consumers in the APEC region through increased training and employment opportunities, greater choices in the marketplace, cheaper goods and services and improved access to international markets.
Trade and Investment Liberalisation
Trade and Investment Liberalisation reduces and eventually eliminates tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade and investment. Protectionism is expensive because it raises prices for goods and services. Thus, Trade and Investment Liberation focuses on opening markets to increase trade and investment among economies, resulting in economic growth for APEC Member Economies and increased standard of living for all.
Business Facilitation
Business Facilitation focuses on reducing the costs of business transactions, improving access to trade information and aligning policy and business strategies to facilitate growth, and free and open trade. Essentially, Business Facilitation helps importers and exporters in Asia Pacific meet and conduct business more efficiently, thus reducing costs of production and leading to increased trade, cheaper goods and services and more employment opportunities due to an expanded economy.
Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH)
ECOTECH is dedicated to providing training and cooperation to build capacities in all APEC Member Economies to take advantage of global trade and the New Economy. This area builds capacity at the institutional and personal level to assist APEC Member Economies and its people gain the necessary skills to meet their economic potential.
None of this is evil or bad the are just trying to promote development and co-operation between the countries to benefit all of the countries involved.
Most of the protest don't seem to be aimed at APEC itself though. Most protests seem to be aimed at the president of the US. Fair enough his government has not been good for the US or many other places in the world, and it certainly hasn't been good for the international reputation of the US and it's citizens. Maybe we could leave these protest for another time though. A time when he's involved in something evil like taking over a small island nation.
Australians though have more pressing issues to protest about. We have issues that affect us directly such as the Industrial relations system that our government has brought in,he fact that this Australian Government has increased the Gap between rich and poor the highest levels ever and seems to ignore any way to rectify this, or the lack of any coherent and defined stance on climate change from the government.
John Howard has realised that he has left the issue of Climate change to long and now is trying to subvert important international events such as this APEC meeting to show how active he is on this issue. Quite rightly the Chinese President put him in his place and said that the UN was the best forum for anything more than an understanding that climate change is important.
So people please leave the APEC summit alone and concentrate on the problems facing and issues that directly affect the day to day happenings in this country. That way maybe the NSW government and police will not have the nessecary impetus to enact draconian laws and security measures.
I encourage everyone to take an interest in what is discussed in Forums such as APEC but please try not to hinder organisations that might actually do some good. There is already huge amounts of evidence that we need sustainable development in poorer countries to improve the living conditions of the people and take away to root causes of huge Social and Environmental problems.
Paddle
So I received my Birthday present yesterday. For my birthday Min got me a new Paddle. It's a Xylo Blade again. This time though it is a P2 shape 52 x 18 x 9.25 inches. It has the brown turtle material on the back. It is one of the prettiest paddles I've seen. I'll have to post photo's soon.
Thanks Min.
Thanks Min.
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