I'm back!
Yes, after a long hiatus, I intend to resurrect the old ClayInfinity blog...
More rubbish!
More diatribe!
More inane commentary!
More me!
Arent you all lucky!!
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Friday, January 30, 2004
Johnny's On The Run
It's started... Johnny's calling Mark Latham sloppy with the truth but fails to recall how he in turn has been sloppy with the truth himself...
Anyone recall Iraq? Solomon Islands? Children Overboard? Children in Detention? Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Sloppy with the truth? Surely not!
It's started... Johnny's calling Mark Latham sloppy with the truth but fails to recall how he in turn has been sloppy with the truth himself...
Anyone recall Iraq? Solomon Islands? Children Overboard? Children in Detention? Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Sloppy with the truth? Surely not!
Labor Launches New Age
Mark Latham, new leader of the Labor Party finally yesterday gave all of those who crave a viable alternative to Johnny "Man of Steel" Howard something to look forward to.
His keynote speech yesterday at the Labor Party conference was strong, gave a clear message of goals and was the first affirmative stance Labor has taken in many years.
The "we are nobody's Deputy" line is right on the money and whilst our alliance with the US is valuable, it should not hold sway over our own opinions.
I wrote yesterday that funding for education needs to be increased and whilst Latham does promise funding on a "needs basis" he does include Private schools in that equation... I hope his "needs analysis" shows that they need 10% of what they're getting now under the Howard regime...
Overall, a good start and for the first time in ages, it appears our Lil'Johnny is on the backfoot...
Read media coverage of the speech here and here
Mark Latham, new leader of the Labor Party finally yesterday gave all of those who crave a viable alternative to Johnny "Man of Steel" Howard something to look forward to.
His keynote speech yesterday at the Labor Party conference was strong, gave a clear message of goals and was the first affirmative stance Labor has taken in many years.
The "we are nobody's Deputy" line is right on the money and whilst our alliance with the US is valuable, it should not hold sway over our own opinions.
I wrote yesterday that funding for education needs to be increased and whilst Latham does promise funding on a "needs basis" he does include Private schools in that equation... I hope his "needs analysis" shows that they need 10% of what they're getting now under the Howard regime...
Overall, a good start and for the first time in ages, it appears our Lil'Johnny is on the backfoot...
Read media coverage of the speech here and here
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Whilst on Education...
Teachers do get a bum wrap. For a profession that is essentially vital to the technical advancement of the human race and critical for the development of acceptable social behaviour in our children (second behind a child's parents), our governments have really given our teachers hell.
So here is my solution to ensure the teaching profession is reinstated as a meaningful profession.
1. Disband the Teachers Union and replace it with a professional body... say "The Institute of Education Professionals". This body will be more concerned about curricullum's and standards of testing etc rather than salaries and working conditions.
2. Allow teachers free market practices to gain employment. No standardised salaries, no forced placements, no transfer bans etc. If a school needs a teacher, it advertises and the Principal interviews and selects an applicant and a salary is negotiated... just like any other job.
2a) Pay for performance. Good teachers (and there are alot out there) deserve good pay and the opportunity to make a good living. Principals should set targets, review performance against those targets and reward for meeting those targets.
3. Hours. Teachers get criticised by non-teachers for the excessive school holidays and short work day. Teachers counter that by stating they do alot of planning and extra-curricular work. So let it become fact rather than myth. Teachers will get same working conditions as any other person. 20 days a year, sick leave, maternity leave etc. Working hours will be 8:30 to 5:30 like most other jobs. "School" hours will remain the same, but teachers will be employed to do their planning etc rather than have them volunteer their free time after the 3pm school bell. School holidays will be for children, but teachers will have to use their 20 days annual leave in that timeframe to ensure they are present when kids are there. Conversely, teachers should expect higher remuneration.
4) Now the government needs to put some money on the table. Reverse the public/private funding differential. Fund the public system fully. Give Principals proper budgets for them to fund their school and pay their teachers a GOOD wage. Fund school maintenance and redevelopments and ensure that stationary etc is readily available. No need to provide 5 Star schools, just ones that have adequate paper and pens and books and don't leak and have basic air conditioning. Leave Private Schools and the Religious based schools to their own funding networks.
5) Funding will be equal across the board based on school headcounts and not some economically driven socio-economic model that sees rich private schools in Strathfield get funded more than poor schools in Liverpool. Budget equals "x", headcount equals "y" then budget for each school equals x/y multiplied by their headcount. No questions.
Now someone very close and dear to me is a teacher and we disagreed on a number (all?) of these things. I can see that teachers cling to their union as their only lifeline for bargaining a decent living and remuneration.... and yes the government have been dead set pricks about it, but the fact is that it hasn't worked for the last 20+ years. Teachers are derided and under paid and the public system is falling apart.
It's time that both sides think outside the square...
Teachers do get a bum wrap. For a profession that is essentially vital to the technical advancement of the human race and critical for the development of acceptable social behaviour in our children (second behind a child's parents), our governments have really given our teachers hell.
So here is my solution to ensure the teaching profession is reinstated as a meaningful profession.
1. Disband the Teachers Union and replace it with a professional body... say "The Institute of Education Professionals". This body will be more concerned about curricullum's and standards of testing etc rather than salaries and working conditions.
2. Allow teachers free market practices to gain employment. No standardised salaries, no forced placements, no transfer bans etc. If a school needs a teacher, it advertises and the Principal interviews and selects an applicant and a salary is negotiated... just like any other job.
2a) Pay for performance. Good teachers (and there are alot out there) deserve good pay and the opportunity to make a good living. Principals should set targets, review performance against those targets and reward for meeting those targets.
3. Hours. Teachers get criticised by non-teachers for the excessive school holidays and short work day. Teachers counter that by stating they do alot of planning and extra-curricular work. So let it become fact rather than myth. Teachers will get same working conditions as any other person. 20 days a year, sick leave, maternity leave etc. Working hours will be 8:30 to 5:30 like most other jobs. "School" hours will remain the same, but teachers will be employed to do their planning etc rather than have them volunteer their free time after the 3pm school bell. School holidays will be for children, but teachers will have to use their 20 days annual leave in that timeframe to ensure they are present when kids are there. Conversely, teachers should expect higher remuneration.
4) Now the government needs to put some money on the table. Reverse the public/private funding differential. Fund the public system fully. Give Principals proper budgets for them to fund their school and pay their teachers a GOOD wage. Fund school maintenance and redevelopments and ensure that stationary etc is readily available. No need to provide 5 Star schools, just ones that have adequate paper and pens and books and don't leak and have basic air conditioning. Leave Private Schools and the Religious based schools to their own funding networks.
5) Funding will be equal across the board based on school headcounts and not some economically driven socio-economic model that sees rich private schools in Strathfield get funded more than poor schools in Liverpool. Budget equals "x", headcount equals "y" then budget for each school equals x/y multiplied by their headcount. No questions.
Now someone very close and dear to me is a teacher and we disagreed on a number (all?) of these things. I can see that teachers cling to their union as their only lifeline for bargaining a decent living and remuneration.... and yes the government have been dead set pricks about it, but the fact is that it hasn't worked for the last 20+ years. Teachers are derided and under paid and the public system is falling apart.
It's time that both sides think outside the square...
Education or Government Mind Trap?
There has been a lot of debate recently on Howards outrageous attacks on the teaching profession and their "subversive" method of educating the children to be against the war in Iraq. I have never heard such preposterous bullshit in all my life. What does he expect to happen? That the teachers push the political line of the day as the "truth" and that all children be taught that the government always does the right thing? This is Australia Mr Howard, not Communist China of the 1960's.
Democratic society is founded on free speech. That is what it is all about. The capitalism that drives the government is not what we are here for. We are not here to train our youth into being Liberal party zealots who bow to the whip hand of consumerism and capitalism.
No, we are about having a right to say what we feel and if some teacher says to a student that the war in Iraq was wrong, then so be it. There should not be a school curriculum set on the subject (which there wasn't) but a teacher has a right to express an opinion like everyone else. Just because they are employed by the government, does not give Howard the right to dictate free speech and thought.
There has been a lot of debate recently on Howards outrageous attacks on the teaching profession and their "subversive" method of educating the children to be against the war in Iraq. I have never heard such preposterous bullshit in all my life. What does he expect to happen? That the teachers push the political line of the day as the "truth" and that all children be taught that the government always does the right thing? This is Australia Mr Howard, not Communist China of the 1960's.
Democratic society is founded on free speech. That is what it is all about. The capitalism that drives the government is not what we are here for. We are not here to train our youth into being Liberal party zealots who bow to the whip hand of consumerism and capitalism.
No, we are about having a right to say what we feel and if some teacher says to a student that the war in Iraq was wrong, then so be it. There should not be a school curriculum set on the subject (which there wasn't) but a teacher has a right to express an opinion like everyone else. Just because they are employed by the government, does not give Howard the right to dictate free speech and thought.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Bush's State of the Union
Well our man George has addressed the people of the United States and declared that he is making the world a better place.
How can I best put this.... "NO YOU ARE NOT!!"
The US, by their continuation of their self-centred foreign policy have alienated themselves and their immediate allies (which means us Australians) from the rest of the world that will take generations to a) stop and b) recover from.
Their attitudes to their god-given right to access foreign resources (Australian land for bases, Iraqi Oil reserves) and their condescending tone of peace whilst maintaining the biggest arsenal of weapons ever known has made the US a self appointed dictator of the world.
They seem to think everyone who disagrees and chooses to act is a "Terrorist" whilst their own activities are "in the interests of peace".
A case in point is how the media portrayed an attack on US troops in Iraq as a "terrorist act". Tell me, how can a civilian of Iraq throwing a bomb at the military forces of an occupying State be considered a terrorist activity? I would call it self defence.
Look, I agree Saddam was a dictator. I agree that the Taliban are not the most jovial of people, but it is not our right to destroy their culture, infrastructure and civilian population...
But as long as the US has the oil and the world domination, it is in their eyes, a peaceful world...
Just we won't get to enjoy that same "prosperity".
Well our man George has addressed the people of the United States and declared that he is making the world a better place.
How can I best put this.... "NO YOU ARE NOT!!"
The US, by their continuation of their self-centred foreign policy have alienated themselves and their immediate allies (which means us Australians) from the rest of the world that will take generations to a) stop and b) recover from.
Their attitudes to their god-given right to access foreign resources (Australian land for bases, Iraqi Oil reserves) and their condescending tone of peace whilst maintaining the biggest arsenal of weapons ever known has made the US a self appointed dictator of the world.
They seem to think everyone who disagrees and chooses to act is a "Terrorist" whilst their own activities are "in the interests of peace".
A case in point is how the media portrayed an attack on US troops in Iraq as a "terrorist act". Tell me, how can a civilian of Iraq throwing a bomb at the military forces of an occupying State be considered a terrorist activity? I would call it self defence.
Look, I agree Saddam was a dictator. I agree that the Taliban are not the most jovial of people, but it is not our right to destroy their culture, infrastructure and civilian population...
But as long as the US has the oil and the world domination, it is in their eyes, a peaceful world...
Just we won't get to enjoy that same "prosperity".
Monday, January 19, 2004
David Hookes
I have just heard that David Hookes has died as a result of last nights bashing...
I have only one thought, that the guy did it is charged with murder and gets a significant sentence.
But I can see the defence already - provocation, self defence, accidental manslaughter, mental incapacity due to alcohol....
Take your pick, but I bet this guy gets off or a slap on the wrist at worst. I hope I am wrong.
And as for David Hookes, I will never forget his "dopey, hairy backed sheila" comment... telling it like it is!
I have just heard that David Hookes has died as a result of last nights bashing...
I have only one thought, that the guy did it is charged with murder and gets a significant sentence.
But I can see the defence already - provocation, self defence, accidental manslaughter, mental incapacity due to alcohol....
Take your pick, but I bet this guy gets off or a slap on the wrist at worst. I hope I am wrong.
And as for David Hookes, I will never forget his "dopey, hairy backed sheila" comment... telling it like it is!
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