Recycled Rudd: Will he be better the second time around?

Posted to CNN (27/6/2013) on 27/6/2013 at 11:10 PM
Commenting on "Recycled Rudd: Will he be better the second time around?"
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/27/world/asia/australia-rudd/index.html

Liberal will win the next election, but Labor will put up a good contest under Kevin Rudd. The damage caused by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard will take time to heal.

There are several unfilled key positions, but under Kevin Rudd's wing is a team of inexperienced Gen Y MP's, due to resignations of the Julia Gillard's supporters and those sacked by Julia Gillard who supported Kevin Rudd in the previous showdown.

For Australia's sake, Labor must not win the election, or else Australia will enter an era of financial crisis. Not unlike Julia Gillard, both spent money like no tomorrow.

Kevin Rudd is the 26th and 28th Prime Minister. In his previous PM life, he demonstrated that he was a workaholic which earned him the title Kevin 24/7 with a management style dreaded by his staff. In fact, the PM office had extremely high staff turnover.

Kevin Rudd is a good communicator, but then talk is cheap. He has many Twitter followers, and speaks Mandarin very fluently. His smiling baby face is likeable especially adored by seniors, but this is a facade of "hiding a knife behind the smiling face" (36 Stratagems).

Fixed carbon pricing may be the first item thrown out of Julia Gillard's window and replaced by emission trading scheme (ETS), a more unethical way to reduce carbon emission. This is one of the tactic known in the 36 stratagems as "kill with a borrowed knife".

Gonski funding model for schools seems like a fair system, but it will not fix the real problems. Billions of dollars will be misused by schools and principals, not dissimilar to some of the Labor government funded projects. The core problem must be tackled, and the education system must undergo a complete revamping from early childhood learning to tertiary education.

It is interesting to note that Penny Wong, former Finance Minister under the Gillard's government, has switched camp and landed in the position as the Leader of Senate. Penny Wong's survival is a very smart and strategic move by Kevin Rudd. Penny Wong is an Asian-born (Sabahian), lesbian female. She is the best tool for killing three birds (race, gay, gender) with one penny.

After historic court rulings, what's next for gay rights movement?

Posted to CNN (26/6/2013) on 26/6/2013 at 11:33 PM
Commenting on "After historic court rulings, what's next for gay rights movement?"
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/27/us/gay-rights-whats-next/index.html

I believe same gender marriage is NOT about equality or the right of individuals. Change of definition of the word marriage is not just a political matter, or legal matter. It affects the moral fibre, cultural, societal and family structures, which can be damaged beyond repair.

The argument to the nth degree will be marriage between siblings from the same biological parents, father with daughter or mother with son. To continue further with the argument, father with son, and mother with daughter. If a parent marries a child and the female bears a child, is the child the grandchild or the child of the senior partner?

Rules are human-made (just for political correctness) and morality is human-defined. Obviously, these can all be changed if so desire. The questions need to be asked are "should this be changed", "what can this lead to", and "where is the boundary".

Australian foreign minister resigns amid speculation of leadership bid

Posted to CNN (22/2/2012) on 22/2/2012 at 7:10 PM (Not yet published by Newspaper)
Commenting on "Australian foreign minister resigns amid speculation of leadership bid"
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/22/world/asia/australia-rudd-resignation/index.html

I posted a comment to the news article published by Herald Sun (19/6/2011) on "Kevin Rudd set to party to mark his 'assassination day'. I reckoned that the whole thing was a conspiracy. Kevin Rudd’s resignation at 1:20 am Washington DC local time or 5:20 pm Melbourne Eastern Standard Time is the continuation of the saga.

The following is my original post, which was also posted to my blog site http://sinfongchanpolitics.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/kevin-rudd-set-to-party-to-mark-his.html

Kevin Rudd was never dumped. It was just an act to rescue Labor from total annihilation in the previous Federal Election. A change of leadership was the only way to beg the people of Australia for mercy to give this incompetent party another chance. With further intentional deterioration in performance will give Kevin Rudd an excuse to return to his rightful place - showing that he was not that bad after all.

Just think about this, why did Kevin Rudd just so happen had to admit to hospital at the peak of election campaign? It was just to avoid answering questions from the media. Former mates Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard did not visit Kevin Rudd at the hospital, nor a phone call to check on his condition was just unthinkable; in short, they are not fit to be called Australians if this was done intentionally.

Why in the world Julia Gillard has to kowtow to Kevin Rudd and keep Foreign Ministry just for a political "enemy", and provided such a big budget for him to travel around the world.

The so called conflict between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd went on and on like a pork chop. This is nothing more than a distraction so that Australians will not pounce on the government continuously about the wasteful unproductive projects and mismanagement of the country.

Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd did not come from the lower rung of the labour force. They were well educated and had not really dirtied their hands in the shopfloor during their younger days. Their ideal on Labor movement is no more what they have learnt from textbook. They use the Labor Party as the platform and vehicle to enable them to rise to the top.

Deep down inside, they are unlikely supporters of Labor movement, which is a hindrance to Australia’s progress. The current show down is a way to destabilise the factionalism within the Labor Party, so that the Party can move more towards the less industrially militant position like the Liberal’s.

Perception is everything to gain confidence of the people of Australia. Once again, Kevin Rudd appears like a sacrificial lamb and Julia Gillard the big bad wolf. Despite all these drama and stress, Julia Gillard seems patient, cool and unmoved. She is a very smart lady and appears to be unassuming. By stepping down, Kevin Rudd is seen to be honourable and “submit” to play the game of peace, and he will be given a chance to rule the country again, does extending the life of Labor Party in power.

During the past few months, many key Ministers are in dead silence. They are all in the plot, and know very well what is behind the story, and how future will unfold. For what Kevin Rudd has done, he will be given a Diplomatic post likely in China, Indonesia and upcoming Burma, countries that have great strategic significance to Australia.

Relative calm will prevail for the next few months, and many bills will be passed with the help of the Independents, Greens and even Liberal MP’s who now have lost patience with the leader. Many of these bills will result in Australia going into further debt. The real unemployment rates, not the so called official ABS reported statistics, will rise. The mining boom is going to fizzle out as China’s economic prosperity begins to slow down.

Julia Gillard will remain as the Prime Minister until the next mutiny which will take place prior to election 2013. At this appropriate moment, the baton will be returned to Kevin Rudd, a god send saviour who has the charisma to pacify the restless Australians, as the country’s economy takes on a tail spin!

Sadly to say, the Liberal Party’s inaction leads to their missing a golden opportunity to get Julia Gillard out of office, if that is their intention!

Musharraf: Obama is arrogant

Posted to CNN (27/5/2011) on 29/5/2011 at 1:06 AM
Commenting on “Musharraf: Obama is arrogant”
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/27/pakistan.musharraf.obama/index.html

I'm definitely NOT sympathetic towards any terrorists or anyone who takes human lives cold-bloodedly. The way the mission was conducted was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereign right. If that could take place in Pakistan, it can happen to any other country in the future. It defeats the purpose of having national constitution, law and order.

China admits Three Gorges Dam has 'urgent problems' as drought persists

Posted to CNN (25/5/2011) on 26/5/2011 at 10:31 PM
Commenting on “China admits Three Gorges Dam has 'urgent problems' as drought persists”
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/25/china.three.gorges.dam/index.html

Back in 8 November 2006, David Dreverman, head of the Murray-Darling river basin commission (Australia), said: "This is more typical of a one in a 1,000-year drought, or possibly even drier, than it is of a one in 100-year event." In 9 January 2011, South Australian water broker Waterfind said that "Historic odds indicate 2011 will also be a year of high rainfall within the basin as there has only been one time in the past 110 years".

It is unfortunate that the people living downstream of Yangtze River are experiencing hardship, but I doubt very much this is contributed by the Three Gorges Dam Project. In four years time, everyone will be celebrating when rain falls heavily again, and the people will be spared from flood and drowning, and the dam will go down in history as one of the greenest development of mankind.

FIFA rocked by fresh bribery allegations

Posted to CNN (25/5/2011) on 26/5/2011 at 9:26 PM
Commenting on “FIFA rocked by fresh bribery allegations”
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/football/05/25/hammam.warner.fifa.blatter/index.html

After watching Qatar's presentation for hosting 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, you will agree that with or without any bribe allegation, Qatar deserves to win. Great presentation! BTW, I'm from Australia, and we got only 1 miserable vote!