Sack the government

We must get rid of the Kevin Rudd led Labour government in Australia. We no longer have a choice. When they are to blame for everything that's wrong in this country, what else can we do? Thankfully, there is an election approaching fast so we can vote them out and with the arrival of a new government all our problems will be over.

No more boats arriving from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan loaded with desperate refugees seeking asylum in our great nation. No more waiting for surgery, no more medical disasters caused by a lack of money, no more people sleeping in corridors because there aren't any beds, and no more hospital patients dialling triple zero to get drinks because there aren't enough nurses. The health system will be miraculously healed in the blink of an eye. Finally, and most importantly, there will be no more dishonesty in Australia. Liars, cheats, and frauds will vanish. The evil that men do will cease. Shonky businesses won't use the fact that they are bidding for government tenders as an excuse to overcharge. That's called "price gouging" and it will never happen again under a new government.

One of the government's responses to the Global Financial Crisis was to spend and spend big in order to stimulate economic growth and offset the worldwide downturn. Three of these big spending programs have been in the news over the last month or so. The Home Insulation Project, The Schools Building Project and another project which builds housing for Aboriginals in regional and remote areas. Apparently in its haste to roll out the money for these projects as fast as possible, the government overlooked the fact that some people only see advantage for themselves in certain situations. For example, when the government says that everyone can have their homes insulated for free, some people think that represents an opportunity for them to make a lot of money very quickly. Safety standards? Proper accreditation? What? Who cares about that?

Building companies see that the government is handing out money for school building projects and aboriginal housing projects so they dive in for their share of the action. It's a feeding frenzy on public money.No problem as long as they do a good job. As long as they do it properly. As long as they don't overcharge. The trouble is that some did.

This may disturb you so I hope you are sitting down. There are dishonest people in our society who think nothing of cheating and lying or doing whatever else may be required to get what they want. There are people whose main concern is the dollars in their pocket. The government should have known that their good intentions would be torn to shreds by selfish frauds. They should have foreseen the extent to which crooked business people would rip them off. A government so naive should not be allowed to continue governing the country.

If you agree with me and can't read the intense sarcasm in my words, then you are the naive one. The truth is that every system that has ever been designed to benefit society in any way has been abused by selfish, heartless, and lazy people. Fact. We are being ridiculous in the extreme when we blame the government for human nature. These are good programs which have in the majority of cases worked very successfully and benefited many Australians, but thanks to the squeaking wheels of rorting and gouging, some people want to scrap the whole thing, and of course it's all the government's fault, so let's sack them.

Party Pooper

Interesting story from Denmark this week about the Carlsberg beer company tightening their rules on drinking at work. Workers have stormed off the job in protest at no longer been allowed to drink beer whenever they like during the work day. Most work places have water coolers but Carlsberg employees have had unlimited access to beer coolers. These have been removed and the workers may now only drink at lunchtime. Presumably, management is still trusting personal responsibility to prevent drunkenness which is how it worked before the ban.

Everyone knows the effects of alcohol which is why drinking it has usually been considered an out of work activity. A social activity. Of course, liquid lunches are infamous in many workplaces and particularly in some professions. However, being sloshed is not conducive to efficient work practices. Booze may loosen the tongue and remove inhibitions in some cases but is that they kind of personal interaction we want to encourage at work. Think about where you work. How would it be if alcohol consumption was not only permitted but encouraged by the provision of beer coolers, for example?

According to The Opinionated Beer Page ( http://www.tobp.com/humor/work.shtml)there are 25 reasons why drinking beer at work is a good idea. See the website for the full list if you're interested but it includes, increasing the chance of seeing your boss naked, making burping in meetings acceptable, raising the chances of getting pay rises because drunk bosses are more likely to say yes, and the number one reason on the list of why beer drinking should be encouraged in the workplace is that it is an incentive to actually show up to work. I know this list is supposed to be humourous but isn't this kind of humour the very reason why we don't want people getting smashed at work. This list was probably written on company time by a drunk employee.

On a serious note you have to wonder about the health of people who drink beer like water, and although the news reports don't contain any reasons for the change of policy at Carlsberg, I think it's safe to say that there has either been an accident as a result of someone being drunk, or that the company is increasingly worried about such an occurrence. So they should be.

Call me a party pooper but if people knew how to control themselves then we wouldn't have any problems at all. The sad truth is that we don't always know how to control ourselves so we have all these rules about what we can and can't do and, where we can and can't do it. Suck it up Carlsberg brewery workers.

I am Right

Nobody wants to be wrong. When my children challenge me on something they believe to be fact, they don't always accept that I know more than they do and that I am more than likely right. We have 5 cent bets. That's how we settle the debate. We bet 5 cents and then we Google the facts. They don't usually pay, but that's bedside the point.

We like to think we know things and that we have answers to questions, and solutions to problems. Being right proves our worth. It makes us better than someone else. Smarter. More resourceful. The spirit of competition boils beneath the surface of many of our actions and relationships. Yes, it is stronger in some than others, but at a deep level, I believe everyone wants to be right. We want to know our actions are justified, our decisions are wise, and our answers are correct. We need to know that we are living right and travelling down the right path.We do whatever we can to make things right in our lives. To fix what is broken.

This hunger stems from basic needs which all people possess. The need to be loved, the need to feel useful, and the need to belong. These are universal needs. What many fail to see is that our longing to be right is actually a desire to be right with God. The problem is that we can't do anything to make ourselves right with God. That relationship which He intended all of us to prosper in is damaged because we think we are already right. We can't admit that we are wrong, that we have done wrong, that our need to be right is a manifestation of our pride. We don't have all the answers, we don't know everything (in fact most of us hardly know anything)This conceit rears its ugly head in our relationships where we actually work against ourselves and our real desires because we are broken. We hurt ourselves and others despite our best efforts not to. We are messed up.

Jesus Christ is the only remedy. The only solution. Easter is all about God fixing the problem by sending his Son to die for us. This is right and true. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend. The only way to be right with God is to accept what Christ did for you, believe it and believe in Him.
When I consider what Jesus has done for me, my need to be right seems childish and pathetic. I only need to be right with God.

Fingers to the Bone

Are you working too hard? Many people are. A caller to a talkback radio station boasted he had worked everyday for three years, getting up at 4am and arriving home between 11pm and 1am each night. Having recently taken a month long break he said he was now back in the groove and had reached another 106 days consecutive days of labour.

The radio announcer, himself also employed for seven days a week albeit with shorter hours than the caller, was very impressed and praised this 50 year chef by calling him an inspiration.

A slightly inebriated businessman caught a taxi home from the pub one night and was lamenting the break down of his marriage. He warned the taxi driver with these words. 'I worked my guts out for seven days a week year after year to provide for my family, to give them everything they ever wanted. But mate,' he said, 'All they ever wanted was more of me.'

The taxi driver had already determined not to let work dominate his life, but perhaps the businessman and the chef should have a chat.

Work has become a god to many people. There is a difference between working to live and living to work. When a man spends the majority of his waking hours for most of his life doing a job which he doesn't enjoy but feels he has to do in order to live, then he is a slave.

There are many slaves in our society who need to receive Jesus' offer of freedom, rest and abundant life.

Prisoner Of Obscurity

Natalie Tran. Have you heard that name? What? You haven't? You must have been living in a cave in Kathmandau. Natalie Tran is the most watched Australian on YouTube. In fact she has made it on to the top 20 most watched YouTube videos in the world. In the world, I said. Guess how many hits we are talking about here? Go on, guess. 224 million hits worldwide. 224 million.

I'm at a loss for words which is really bad when you a writer. Check out the story and her video or just the video at http://www.news.com.au/technology/meet-youtubes-224-million-girl-natalie-tran/story-e6 (copy and paste the URL into your browser) and come back here.

So Natalie draws a six pack on herself with a black marker and it's entertaining.I'm not sure if this makes me despair for the future of rational humanity or just insanely jealous. Popularity is like a disease and I want to catch it. The thing is I don't know how. I am apparently inoculated against it by qualities like averageness and blend in with everyone and everything else-ness. I am a prisoner of obscurity. My video had an unbelievable number of hits. I forget the exact number but it was somewhere under twenty. It was supposed to help sell my book. I talk about the book and my writing influences, and it's pretty interesting but 224 million people have watched Natalie Tran draw a six pack on herself with a black marker.

I draw two conclusions. I have virtually no hope, and I have virtually no idea of what appeals to people who like to watch Natalie Tran draw on herself. Okay she's way better looking than me but I bet I could kill her at Scrabble. And apart from the fact that it does not feature an attractive young lady in a bikini top and shorts, my video is an infinitely superior product.

YouTubers of the world. Enjoy your grabs of the mundane and the insane by all means but please at least consider buying my book. You too, Natalie Tran.

Honour Among Thieves

What was truly frightening about the Godfather, and the many gangster films which followed it, was the fact the mafia did not believe society's laws applied to them. Using extortion, intimidation, and extreme violence they said, 'we will do what we want to do.'

They were not a lawless group of people however. They merely adhered to their own laws and their own standards. They had their own morality regardless of its legality. The argument goes, just because something is illegal does not make it immoral. A whole book could be written on the immoral acts of history which were legal. Of course the judgement on what was immoral would be the author's point of view. Does that mean, therefore, that morals are only a matter of opinion? Who sets the standard?

All the social problems and crimes which occur in our world result from different standards; standards which do not measure up to the ultimate standard of goodness.

How many arguments, how many actions have been perpetrated by people believing their behaviour was okay or justified in the circumstances? In one family swearing and drunkenness is acceptable, in another it is not. Punching a man is okay if he throws the first punch. Working for cash to avoid tax is acceptable to many while others feel it is dishonest. These are examples of relative morality and relative morality is a conflict causing plague in society and in the world.

Surely the basis for society's morals must be an absolute standard. Surely it must be God's revelation of his Character and His will for us which is in the Bible. Even those who feel certain laws don't apply to them, like the mafia will be judged in the end by their Maker. Who can decide what is truly good apart from one who is perfect?

Quick! Call the Doctor

Everybody knows the Australian health system is sick. In fact it's terminally ill. State governments have struggled for many years to cope with funding what is the single biggest expense in their budgets. We can't brush off the troubling reality that our public hospitals are doubled over under the strain of caring for the sick and injured in society. Understaffed and under resourced, they battle on but the war is being lost. Somebody needs to do something. We need a saviour.

In strides Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who said during the election campaign in 2007 that he would launch a federal take over of our bedraggled and inefficient state health systems. Many cheered. Hope was renewed. Those who wish to dispose of state governments entirely, enthusiastically applauded the first step on the road to the removal of an unnecessary tier of government. However, three years have passed and nothing has changed.

The government held an inquiry, but nothing has happened yet. Critics complain about the lack of action. The opposition rolls out the cliches about elected prime ministers not keeping their promises, and cynics tell everyone that they told them so. The government announces other exciting developements to try to distract the masses from the perceived lack of action in some areas.

There are two important points to be made here. Firstly, three years is not enough time for an elected government to implement the reforms for which they were given a mandate by the voters. Year 1: keeping as many of the easier promises as possible and making excuses for the ones they break. Year 2: action and genuine reform begins. Year 3: preparation for the next election. That is, reminding the electorate of what they have done, and making some new promises for the next term if elected.

Four year fixed terms would help remove or at least lessen this problem. We have them for the NSW state government. Let's introduce them for the feds.

Secondly, fixing the health system is not like you or I changing our health insurance provider. Mr Rudd has already admitted that he and his government have underestimated the complexity of the issues. They needed all they time they have taken, and they will need a lot more. Our Prime Minster is not a magician. There is no magic wand to wave over our public hospitals. There is no quick fix. To hear members of the opposition say he is taking too long, makes me sick. They should shut up and jump behind the public hospitals reform agenda and push it with all the strength they possess.

Politics is an invasive species. It permeates every aspect of a our lives, public and private. It is a weed which chokes the plants of progress and reform, and it should not play a role in the ongoing drama of our public health system. Mr Rudd says he will fix it and I believe he will, given the time to do it properly, and cooperation.