http://www.sauer-thompson.com/ respected as well as despised" G.W.F. Hegel, 'Philosophy of Right']]> en-us thoughtfactory@internode.on.net Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:18:52 +0930 http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/state-elections.php After voting 1 Green this morning in the South Australian state election I bought the AFR and browsed it over morning coffee curious to see what the informed commentators from the Canberra Press Gallery were saying about the state elections in Tasmania and South Australia. Commentary means some kind of... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/the-tensions-be.php I see that the Obama administration in the US is beginning to put some pressure on Israel. The Netanyahu Government's strategy is that Israel can, in fact, count on US support without concluding a two-state peace – it simply must go through the motions of a “peace process”, even though... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/nbn-rolls-on.php As expected the Coalition has declared its automatic opposition to any move to split Telstra using legislation that functionally separates a non-co-operative Telstra into wholesale and retail businesses, deny it new wireless spectrum and force it to sell its half-share of Australia's dominant pay TV operator, Foxtel. The Opposition's is... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/sa-election-3.php The state government planning documents of our cities that aim to direct or shape growth usually talk in terms of “strong communities” and “smart growth” to build a successful city. Peter Spearritt in Trouble in the city at Inside Story says that: If you want to find out what is... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/border-protecti.php With the increase in boats carrying asylum seekers arriving in Australian waters without prior authorisation the opposition has been sniping away on border protection and boat arrivals. They are claiming that the Rudd Government is "soft on border protection" and that this supposed softness is encouraging greater numbers of illegal... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/tasmania-happy.php A week out from the Tasmanian election former Labor and Liberal Premiers Michael Field + Paul Lennon and Robin Gray + Tony Rundle made a combined public statement urging Tasmanians to vote for Labor or Liberal, thus avoiding a Green power sharing government. They told the electorate to focus on... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/retiring-early.php Retirement and superannuation are pressing political realities for many Australians, with pensioners doing it tough. As Jennifer Hewett reminds us in The great superannuation delusion in The Australian the vast majority of Australians are going to retire on less money than they can live on. She says: For most individuals,... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/political-spin.php Finally, some critical commentary about in the mainstream media about political spin that has its roots in Madison Avenue. As we know spin operations that manipulate the news agenda in order to gain either positive or negative coverage, has become part of the routine modus operandi of party apparatchiks. Many... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/health-debate-2.php As noted in an earlier post, the health reform debate in Australia takes place behind a closed shop and it needs to be bought out into the public sphere. Arthur Sinodinos in his King Kong health plan threatens the PM in The Australian says that: Health and hospitals policy is... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/canberra-gaze-a.php I watched Question Time in Parliament yesterday to check out what was going on in the political debate and I was taken back by the Coalition's tactics. There were lots of questions about paid-parental leave that highlighted how generous the Coalition's scheme to give up to $75,000 to parents who... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/the-health-deba.php The health debate has been dominated by the media reducing health and well-being to hospitals and the state's resistance to the Rudd Government's reforms in the form of taking control of the funding of public hospitals. Their concern is for more money not that hospital care is integrated with primary... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/bubbledriven-ec.php In his How They Killed the Economy in the New York Review of Books Roger E. Alcaly states that almost everyone agrees that the global financial crisis developed in part because of failures of regulation—principally of banks, mortgage brokers, and derivatives markets—and much effort is currently being devoted to revamping... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/sa-health-versu.php I returned from photographing in Tasmania to discover that the SA state election in full swing. We are about halfway through the campaign, the posters are everywhere, the issues no where, and nobody is paying much of attention to what is being said by twiddly dee and twiddly dum during... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/local-control-o.php The authors of Putting Health in Local Hands at the Centre for Policy Development rightly argue that the health care system is more fragmented and duplicative, inequitable and less efficient than it might be. They then suggest that "shifting health care governance and funding to regional agencies that are more... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/03/fnally-some-mov.php I see that Rudd has agreed with the common criticism of his government:--that the government has not progressed enough on delivering on its promises and Labor has not managed its issues - in particular the emissions trading scheme - effectively. Acknowledgment and acceptance of criticism is the first step. Is...