I am mourning

[Platy]

Even if it means lying? Home truths about those Qantas staples

Members of the LAME Association are charged with upholding a safety mission (cited below). It is to be expected that most individuals in most circumstances discharge their duties accordingly. Similarly, most members of the AMA (Australian Medical Association) deliver their care for patients under agreed professional strandards and ethics, despite occasional incidents of malpractice and indecent behaviour.

Personally, I would rather have the backing of such a group (when flying) than rely solely on an airline management that is mainly cost driven. Incidentally, the last I heard QF management model the impact of hull losses on the business and calculate 3 hull losses to be sustainable limit. Of course they know that any hull loss would undermine the safety aspect of their brand, which is probbaly why they rebuilt 747 "JH" after the Bangkok incident.

From the LAME Association website:

"Upon My Honour, I swear that I shall hold in sacred trust the rights and privileges conferred upon me as a certified mechanic.

Knowing full well that the safety and lives of others are dependent upon my skill and judgement, I shall never knowingly subject others to risks which I would not be willing to assume for myself, or those dear to me.

In discharging this trust, I pledge myself never to undertake work or approve work which I feel to be beyond the limits of my knowledge, nor shall I allow any non-certified superior to pursuade me to approve aircraft or equipment as airworthy against my better judgement, nor shall I permit my judgement to be influenced by money or other personal gain, nor shall I pass as airworthy aircraft or equipment about which I am in doubt, either as a result of direct inspection or uncertainty regarding the ability of others who have worked on it to accomplish their work satisfactorily.

I realise the grave responsibility which is mine as a certified airman, to exercise my judgement on the airworthiness of aircraft and equipment.

I therefore, pledge unyielding adherence to these precepts for the advancement of aviation and for the dignity of my vocation."

 

[simongr]

Guess they are safe then that the pledge does not preclude lieing.

 

[bambbbam2]

I just was delivered my brand spankin new laptop.. thanks Johnnie H for the Skills campaign.. all I had to do was promised to complete an online short business program and I get it for free!

Gee I love this country

 

[milocole]

Did you read the old Terms and Conditions?

 

[dragonman]

thanks Johnnie H

Thanks for nothing to JH. i will remember him as a liar (Tampa, core promises) as devious (workchoices sprung as a surprise once the senate was controlled) and as a naysayer on climate change, the republic and and apology to indigenous Australians.

Good riddance

 

[Yada Yada]

I, on the other hand, am finally seeing the sun shining brightly and the birds chirping after 11 and a half dark years.

Same here!

 

[mainly tailfirst]

Thanks for nothing to JH. i will remember him as a liar (Tampa, core promises) as devious (workchoices sprung as a surprise once the senate was controlled) and as a naysayer on climate change, the republic and and apology to indigenous Australians.

Good riddance

<G>
I regard John Howard as the most consumate politician this country has ever had. His ability to bend to the whims of the swinging voter was extraordinary. The fact that the Dems got most of the grief over the GST was an amazing piece of manouvering. The only real political mistake he made was not going a year ago. Being a big Costello fan, I think he would've made a better PM, but we'll never know now.

As for workchoices being a 'surprise', well, blind freddy saw that one coming a mile off once Barnaby got Senate Seat #6 in Qld. Did the previous 2 attempts to get such legislation through the senate before the 2004 election not serve enough warning?
I disagree strongly with the need for the legislation, but I do not regard the Coalition as being duplicitous when implementing it.

It will be very interesting to see how Mr Rudd & Co perform over the next three years. Labor seems to give us amazing leaders, but so so governments - I wonder if this one will be any different?

mt

 

[Keith009]

In addition to unpopular policies, I'd say the Liberal campaign management was a real mess and contributed to their defeat. Election day was interesting for me, and the general disorganisation I saw from the Libs spoke volumes about the state of their party machinery. FFS - they forgot about an entire booth in one of the electorates I visited! Wasn't a minor booth nor a safe Labor seat either. No Liberal bunting, A-frames, htv cards, anything - and it wasn't till 1500ish that a single Liberal appeared, and at 1600ish a certain Liberal Senator had to personally deliver htv cards to the booth. The looks on their faces were priceless. I fear for the physical wellbeing of the campaign manager in that area. In general the entire Liberal campaign was off message and cluttered by lots of 'noise.' "Go for Growth?" wha?

I do have to admit that I felt some sympathy for John Howard for losing Bennelong, even if we had an amazing candidate there. And yes I agree that he'd stayed on for too long - he could've gone out a winner, and be the 2nd PM in history to choose when he wanted to resign. But instead he became the 2nd sitting PM in history to lose his own seat. I disagree with much of his policies and am ecstatic that a progressive government has been elected, but it was a pretty sad way to end a political career.

Ironically quite a number of Victorian Liberals, obviously members of the Costello/Kroger faction, don't feel quite as kindly about JH as this Labor hack does - a few of them openly declared their dearest wish for a Coalition victory but for JH himself to lose Bennelong. Just some tidbits from the campaign trail...

<G>
I regard John Howard as the most consumate politician this country has ever had. His ability to bend to the whims of the swinging voter was extraordinary. The fact that the Dems got most of the grief over the GST was an amazing piece of manouvering. The only real political mistake he made was not going a year ago. Being a big Costello fan, I think he would've made a better PM, but we'll never know now.

As for workchoices being a 'surprise', well, blind freddy saw that one coming a mile off once Barnaby got Senate Seat #6 in Qld. Did the previous 2 attempts to get such legislation through the senate before the 2004 election not serve enough warning?
I disagree strongly with the need for the legislation, but I do not regard the Coalition as being duplicitous when implementing it.

It will be very interesting to see how Mr Rudd & Co perform over the next three years. Labor seems to give us amazing leaders, but so so governments - I wonder if this one will be any different?

mt

 

[mainly tailfirst]

Ironically quite a number of Victorian Liberals, obviously members of the Costello/Kroger faction, don't feel quite as kindly about JH as this Labor hack does - a few of them openly declared their dearest wish for a Coalition victory but for JH himself to lose Bennelong. Just some tidbits from the campaign trail...

That was my personal wish too. I always thought that a Costello Government would have been more 'little l' Liberal than the Ultra-Right, Ultra-Dry version that was Howard's own. Being in the LOTFAP, I missed the build up (as well as the Chaser:-( and instead consoled myself that at least we don't spend the GDP of a small country just trying to pick the candidates!

mt

 

[Keith009]

That was my personal wish too. I always thought that a Costello Government would have been more 'little l' Liberal than the Ultra-Right, Ultra-Dry version that was Howard's own.

Mmm well I was secretly hoping Tony Abbott would be Opposition Leader, along with the delights of Sophie Mirabella/Panapolous, Bronwyn Bishop, Alex Hawke etc on the front bench. It'd guarantee Labor another term automatically. Seriously though, the Christian Right has really got to think about whether their views belong in a mainstream political party, or should they stop betraying Menzies' vision of a classical liberal party, bugger off and form their own loonie right party.

 

[NYCguy]

... The Christian Right has really got to think about whether their views belong in a mainstream political party, or should they stop betraying Menzies' vision of a classical liberal party, bugger off and form their own loonie right party.

They already have two - the Xtian 'Democrats' (I think they are confusing the notion of democracy with their desired model of govenrment - theocracy) and the Family First party, which claims to be independent of the evangelical movement, but which isn't fooling anybody.

 

[mainly tailfirst]

They already have two - the Xtian 'Democrats' (I think they are confusing the notion of democracy with their desired model of govenrment - theocracy) and the Family First party, which claims to be independent of the evangelical movement, but which isn't fooling anybody.

Hmm, it was a stuggle to decide whether to put FF or Fred Nile last on this year's Senate paper. In the end FF got the prize, at least old Fred is not being hypocritical about his allegiances. As for 3 glorious years of Labor - it looks like FF will have the balance of power in the Senate. Not a happy prospect getting any sort of 'progressive' legislation passed. Fun times await.

mt

 

[Keith009]

As for 3 glorious years of Labor - it looks like FF will have the balance of power in the Senate. Not a happy prospect getting any sort of 'progressive' legislation passed. Fun times await.

From 1JUL, Fielding actually shares balance of power with the Greens and Nick Xenophon, subject to on how the rest of the count shapes up of course.

 

[Platy]

John Howard came here to Cairns the day before the election. He did a walk through of our fruit & veg markets (Rustys). It was the first time I had seen him in person - he did look "small" and quite "old", but was walking briskly around. It did seem very strange for him to visit a seat with a 10.3% margin to the Libs on the last day of ther campaign. That is until the seat fell with a 15% swing.

Kevin Rudd came a few months earlier and we duly went off to the function to meet the fellow - he impressed by making time for everyone individually in a large room of several hundred people - very mannered and very polished.

Our local Lib candidate was telling folk that didn't like Howard she wanted a change herself.

The rest is now history...

...lets see what they do with aviation policy!!!

 

[mainly tailfirst]

From 1JUL, Fielding actually shares balance of power with the Greens and Nick Xenophon, subject to on how the rest of the count shapes up of course.

Assuming things go as Mr. A. Green has predicted, I put the Greens as the "Left Nationals" so that gives L+G 37 and L+N 37. So Mr. X and FF get to split the rest. Now to pass anything, the Senate needs a majority, thus FF needs to be courted. Based on my experience in SA, Mr. X is a "reasonable man that simply hates pokies", so he can be assumed to vote for any reasonable measure that Labor puts forward. That leaves FF holding effectively a power of veto. This is not a pleasant prospect for a government trying to pass 'progressive' laws. Of course the real loser is the Australian public, who'll have to put up with (and pay for) such cough like the 'family friendly internet filter' as a cost to get decent legislation passed.

Don't get me wrong, having a split senate is vital to decent government (Exhibit A: Work Choices), but you need reasonable minor parties holding the balance of power - not independent whack jobs like FF.

mt

 

[Keith009]

...all that's assuming of course that we have a 100% obstructionist Coalition in the Senate. When Labor was last in power the Coalition did demonstrate a belief in government mandate by voting up most things. Same with Labor pre-1JUL04. Scenarios which require the support of minor parties are still, on balance, rare occurances considering the amount of legislation that goes through the Senate.

At this stage I reckon the only significant hurdle to Labor's mandate would be reforms to workchoices. It's going to be a problem to get past pre-1JUL, but post 1JUL we can expect Fielding and the Greens to deliver enough numbers to pass the reforms based on past voting behaviour. Unless of course the Greens pull a 'that didn't go far enough' stunt (code for 'there is a Liberal-Greens deal'), their favourite excuse in the Vic upper house for voting with the Libs 73% of the time.

As for controversial social policies - both Labor and Liberal permit a conscience vote, eg RU486.

So I reckon Fielding's influence is perhaps overstated as not many legislation will come down to minor parties wielding their balance of power.

Oh and thank god Banshee Nettle will soon be gone...

 

[simongr]

This is my pet hate - minor parties holding the balance of power. I Senator (fi I am reading this correctly) can effectively veto the Governments reforms - does that not seem wrong to people? It's not like his allegiances were clear from the commencement of the campaign.

 

[NYCguy]

(One) Senator (ifI am reading this correctly) can effectively veto the Governments reforms - does that not seem wrong to people?

Which is exactly why then-PM Keating described the Senators as "unrepresentative swill".

 

[Yada Yada]

Of course, there is always the prospect of a double disolution if the senate blocks too many things. So perhaps the Libs won't block too much as this could lead to a few more losing their seats.

 

[mainly tailfirst]

Of course, there is always the prospect of a double disolution if the senate blocks too many things. So perhaps the Libs won't block too much as this could lead to a few more losing their seats.

ROTFL. I don't think it'll go that far. If the libs are deemed to force another election before 3 years are up, just due to being pig headed, it'd be electoral suicide.
I suspect, that as long as a few key amendments are made that look after certain senators' pet projects, there won't be too much of a ruckus. Just an annoying waste of $20M here and there.
If I was a betting man, I'd wager that the biggest bun fight will be over national water legislation. Forget party lines on that one - it'll be good old state v state (as it should be in the Senate .

mt