It’s Getting Stupid Hot

Source: Science NET

The issue of climate change is not limited to Australia, rather a cause for global concern. So it seems only natural that such an issue would be at the forefront of political agendas…

Well, it isn’t.

A comprehensive assessment before the most recent G20 summit held in China this month was undertaken, resulting in Australia not only receiving a rating of ‘very poor,’ but more significantly, being ranked the worst country amongst the G20 collective (Slezak 2016).

In the past twelve months, our earth has had its hottest year in recorded history, with Australians having suffered through their warmest autumn on record (Readfearn 2016).

‘The aversion to talking about climate change during the election campaign reflects a wider problem: our concern for this issue has fallen even while it has become larger and more urgent’ (Steketee 2016).

So we’ve established there is a very real problem, and Australia is sorely lacking in its approach to this issue. I mean, that has to be the general consensus right?

Wrong.

Enter Malcolm Roberts; the man who recently secured the 12^th and final Queensland Senate seat on the back of only 77 first preference votes (Graham 2016). The outspoken Senator made his inaugural speech in parliament only days ago, one in which he not only compared himself to classical Greek philosopher, Socrates; but also flat-out denied any evidence of the human influence on climate change.

At the press conference immediately following his speech, Roberts had stated, ‘there is not one piece of empirical evidence anywhere, anywhere, showing that humans cause, through CO₂ production, climate change’ (Greenshack Dotinfo 2016).

The Senator then went on to promote ‘conspiracy theories that the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology are corrupt accomplices in climate conspiracy driven by the United Nations’ (Cook 2016).

Don’t believe me? You can watch it here.

Source: Greenshack Dotinfo

It seems to me that before tackling climate change, there needs to be an attitude change.

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References

Cook, J 2016, ‘One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is in denial about the facts of climate change’, The Conversation, 5 August, viewed 23 September, http://theconversation.com/one-nations-malcolm-roberts-is-in-denial-about-the-facts-of-climate-change-63581.

Graham, R 2016, ‘Why Malcolm Roberts’ demand for ’empirical evidence’ on climate change is misleading’, The Guardian, 9 August, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/aug/09/why-one-nation-senator-malcolm-roberts-demand-for-empirical-evidence-on-climate-change-is-misleading-bunk.

Greenshack Dotinfo 2016, Qld PHON Sen Malcolm Roberts: “I am a scientist! Do you know what a scientist is?”, online video, 3 August, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhy58cCtdqg&feature=youtu.be&t=39.

Readfearn, G 2016, ‘Tragic lack of leadership puts red hot climate change out in the cold’, The Guardian, 29 June, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/jun/29/tragic-lack-of-leadership-put-red-hot-climate-change-out-in-the-cold.

Science NET 2016, Brian Cox Baffled By Ignorance of Climate Change Denier Aug 15, 2016, online video, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaxVu3Uq6OI&feature=youtu.be.

Slezak, M 2016, ‘Australia worst among G20 when it comes to action on climate change, report finds’, The Guardian, 1 September, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/01/australia-worst-among-g20-when-it-comes-to-action-on-climate-change-report-finds.

Steketee, M 2016. ‘Climate change has dropped off the political radar (and this is a big problem)’, ABC News, 15 April, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/steketee-climate-change-has-dropped-off-the-political-radar/7328538.

 

It’s a Rich Man’s World

Source: Global Justice

Money; it’s the root of all evil, or at least so they say. They also say that it doesn’t bring happiness, and yet I’m sure the men that govern this country delight in making more than their female counterparts. Unlike the male dominated governing body, the workforce in Australia is fairly evenly split;

Of the approximately 10 million employees in Australia, 50.5 per cent are women and 49.5 per cent are men. But men still tend to earn a lot more than women – an average of $1,429.80 for male employees, compared with $940.20 for female employees. That in part is due to the number of hours worked: 76.6 per cent of men work full time compared with 43.7 per cent of women (ABC News).

Ok, so those were some heavy figures and a lot to swallow in one sitting. More simply, for each dollar a man earns, Australian women earn the equivalent of 83 cents (Khadem 2016).

The resulting gender pay gap nationally stands at 16.2%, and I ask you, is that fair? Across all occupational categories there is biased pay gap favouring full-time working males over full-time working females (Australian Government 2016).

Some reasons for this are:

• A distinct lack of women in senior roles.
• Women offer more time to unpaid volunteer work.
• Discrimination on the part of employers.
• Women are more likely to hold part-time positions than men.

Per finical year, ‘men earn on average $27,000 more than women’ (Khadem 2016). While this is partly a result of the reasons mentioned above, there is a glaring need to increase industry standards. While I’m not convinced the (male) powers that be have a great interest in equal pay, they could at least offer some semblance of it.

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References

ABC News, Fact file: 11 facts about the changing face of the Australian workforce, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/fact-file3b-facts-about-the-workforce/6322238.

Australian Government 2016, What is the gender pay gap?, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.wgea.gov.au/addressing-pay-equity/what-gender-pay-gap.

Does it have to be a rich man’s world, digital image, viewed 23 September 2016, http://groups.globaljustice.org.uk/glasgow/2014/02/26/does-it-have-to-be-a-rich-mans-world/.

Khadem, N 2016, ‘Australian women make 83¢ for every $1 a man earns: report’, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 March, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/gender-pay-gap-20160322-gnp0vy.html.

 

Extremists vs. Extreme Terrorists

The subject of terrorism; the way the media has portrayed it, the word itself is enough to incite a feeling of terror.

As cited in ‘Islamic State’ magazine, “Kill them on the streets of Brunswick, Broadmeadows, Bankstown, and Bondi. Kill them at the MCG, the SCG, the Opera House, and even in their backyards” (Stephens 2016).

As a public we are constantly bombarded with messages of the supposed Muslim terror threat and the increasing strangle hold these extremists have encroaching on our way of life.

But is this the case in the real world?

Australia has remained relatively unscathed from any such terror activity, much unlike our allies in the United States. However, for all the media hype and speculation a relatively low percentage of these attacks are in fact performed by Muslims and people of an Arabic background.

Source: Global Research

Allow me to offer you two facts that may adjust your perspective further than the above FBI findings:

1. There have been 140,000 terror attacks committed worldwide since 1970. Even if Muslims carried out all of these attacks, those terrorists would represent less than 0.00009 percent of all Muslims. To put things into perspective, this means that you are more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime than a Muslim is likely to commit a terrorist attack during that same timespan (Alnatour 2016).

If those numbers were a little hard to swallow, perhaps this will be a little more palatable.

2. 5 out of the past 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners (42 percent) have been Muslims (Alnatour 2016).

Alternatively, the United States government has a checkered history of invading foreign nations in the name of “peace”.  While it is commonly believed that following September 11 and the Bush administration America was no longer a warmongering nation, President Barack Obama ‘runs an unprecedented worldwide campaign of terrorism and murder by drone’ (Pilger 2016).

In Prague 2009, the President delivered a speech essentially promising to help rid the world of nuclear weapons and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize of his own. However, ‘No American president has built more nuclear warheads than Obama’ (Pilger 2016).

Now I ask you what is more terrifying; some unlikely, extremist terrorizing your neighbourhood, or the horror of having your home country ravaged by the heavy hand of the United States government?

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References

Alnatour, O 2016, ‘Muslims are not terrorists: a factual look at terrorism and Islam’, The World Post, 15 June, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-alnatour/muslims-are-not-terrorist_b_8718000.html.

Global Research 2016, digital image, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.globalresearch.ca/non-muslims-carried-out-more-than-90-of-all-terrorist-attacks-in-america/5333619.

Pilger, J 2016, ‘Silencing America as it prepares for war’, johnpilger.com, 27 May, viewed 23 September 2016, http://johnpilger.com/articles/silencing-america-as-it-prepares-for-war.

Stephens, K 2016, ‘New Islamic State magazine encourages lone wolves to kill Australians’, News.com, 7 September, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.news.com.au/national/new-islamic-state-magazine-encourages-lone-wolves-to-kill-australians/news-story/c9460ccd304a7cafc598a09e13e11639.

 

To be Gay and Happy

Source: Google

There’s something very wrong with this image.

This is an antiquated dictionary definition in dire need of updating, and “in some jurisdictions, two people of the same sex” should not be a necessary addition in this day and age.

Seriously, how is this still an issue?

Here I was thinking that Australia was a secular society and yet here we are falling behind devoutly Christian and catholic nations such as the United States, Ireland and Columbia (among many others) on this non-issue.

Source: Financial Review

As the graph presented above shows, same sex marriage has had a majority of public support for several years now, yet…

Given Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called the plebiscite a “taxpayer-funded platform for homophobia”, and The Greens are even more stridently opposed, it’s unlikely they would vote for the legislation to allow a $160 million national opinion poll (Dick 2016).

Confused? You’re not alone.

Firstly, is a vote really required here? Legislation is routinely put into place without consulting the Australian public on far more pressing matters without a consensus of opinion.

Secondly, I found myself taken back at the idea of The Greens not getting behind this; having voiced fears that, ‘a “hateful” campaign could lead to suicides among the young LGBTIQ community’ (Anderson 2016).

Is this really a warranted concern? (While I am in no way condoning this activity in any way), supposing it is a genuine concern; comparatively, are the misfortunes of a few not worth the happiness of many?

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References

Anderson, S 2016, ‘Greens to vote against same-sex marriage plebiscite’, ABC News, 28 August, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-26/greens-move-to-block-same-sex-marriage-plebiscite-labor-equality/7788970.

Dick, T 2016, ‘Australia won’t have the marriage equality it wants for at least three years’, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 July, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.smh.com.au/comment/australia-wont-have-the-marriage-equality-it-wants-for-at-least-three-years-20160703-gpxc30.html.

Financial Review, digital image, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.afr.com/news/politics/election-2016-majority-of-voters-would-say-yes-in-gay-marriage-plebiscite-20160701-gpwg3z.

Google 2016, digital image, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHBD_enAU690AU690&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=marriage%20definition.

Pass the Kouchie From the Left Hand Side

Source: SBS2 Australia

Allow me to summarise the above video. At three years of age Tara O’Connell would suffer through anywhere from 65 to 200 epileptic seizures daily. Her family were told that all options for treatment had been exhausted, and as Tara’s mother puts it, “we were basically told to prepare a funeral” (Tozer 2015).

With the current medical community failing her the family opted to treat her ailments with the marijuana derivative cannabis. From the first day Tara’s seizures were limited to roughly ten per day. After only ten days of treatment, she had stopped having seizures, and has been seizure free since April 2013 (Tozer 2015).

As a result, Victoria has become the first state in Australia to legalise the use of medicinal cannabis with children that suffer from severe epilepsy being the first in line to access the drug in 2017 (ABC News 2016).

As seen in the United States of America previously, this is the first step to decriminalizing the drug. And frankly, the government would be mad not to! As the graph below indicates, the US state of Colorado holds a population of 5.356 million as of the year 2014.

Source: Google

Why is this relevant?

In the year 2015, Licensed and regulated marijuana stores in the state of Colorado alone “sold $996,184,788 worth of recreational and medical cannabis in 2015, according to new data from the state Department of Revenue” (Baca 2016).

$135 million of these marijuana sales are taxes and fees resulting in unprecedented revenue; $35 million of this figure has automatically been designated to school construction projects (Baca 2016).

With a population totalling 23.13 million as of 2013 and only growing, one can only imagine the staggering figure at the government’s disposal for pressing issues such as health and education.

So in the words of the great Peter Tosh, “legalize it”.

Source: Huffington Post

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References

ABC News 2016, ‘Medicinal cannabis legalised in Victoria, child epilepsy patients to be given access from 2017’, ABC News, 12 April, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-12/victoria-becomes-first-state-to-legalise-medicinal-cannabis/7321152.

Baca, R 2016, ‘Colorado marijuana sales skyrocket to more than $996 million in 2015’, The Cannabist, 9 February, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/02/09/colorado-marijuana-sales-2015-reach-996-million/47886/.

Google, digital image, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHBD_enAU690AU690&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=population%20of%20colorado.

Huffington Post, digitasl image, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/13/jamaica-marijuana-decriminalization_n_5492718.html.

SBS2 Australia, Medical Marijuana For Childhood Epilepsy I The Feed, online video, viewed 23 September 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKwTy0tIyEw&feature=youtu.be.

Tozer, J 2015, ‘Medical marijuana credited with girl’s ‘miracle’ recovery’, SBS News, 6 October, viewed 23 September 2016, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/06/30/medical-marijuana?cid=inbody:medical-cannabis-finally-fully-legal-in-australias-most-hipster-state-victoria.