When Yes means No (?)

"Enthusiastic consent" to sex means "You must explicitly ask for permission to have sex." If it's not an enthusiastic yes, then it's a no.  A lot of perfectly normal sex would become illegal with such a law and consent would still be hard to prove or disprove with such a law.  It would be the ultimate intrusion of government into private life. Even the Fascists did not go that far

A message from Bettina Arndt [bettina@bettinaarndt.com.au]below:

I have just completed a skype interview with Lorraine Finlay, a very brave law lecturer from Murdoch University in Perth, about proposed changes to sexual consent laws in NSW. Lorraine is a former WA State Prosecutor and co-author of the 2015 book “Criminal Law in Australia”.

The NSW Law Reform Commission has been asked to review the laws and the state government is pushing hard to promote these changes. What worries me is that there is hardly anyone involved in the public debate explaining why enthusiastic consent laws are a really bad idea – despite the fact that in America these laws have been in place for decades and the results are very clear. They dramatically shift the burden of proof favouring rape accusers and denying due process rights for young men. Across the United States, legal organisations, law professors and other academics have been speaking out about the damage caused by such laws. Yet, here in Australia, it looks like once again we will allow the feminist narrative to silence proper debate on the issue.

I’ll be letting you know when the Law Reform Commission is seeking further public consultation and hope I can inspire many of you to express your views. Along with this video I am posting some relevant material on my low bar below the video, so you have material you can use to make your arguments. Rest assured that all the women’s organisations will be arguing for enthusiastic consent laws to be introduced – just one more means of pushing for their end goal which is more rape convictions. We need to get active to protect the legal rights of young men. Think of your sons and all the young men you know and love - they will be even more vulnerable if we let these changes go through.  

So here’s the video:



Please help circulate this so we can alert people to what is going on here.






Senior High school English courses drastically dumbed down in Queensland

NATASHA BITA

ENGLISH students will study DJ playlists and street art in a new senior high school syllabus branded "edutainment". Online games, as well as websites set up by tattoo artists, are listed as "texts" in the new Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) guidelines, starting next year.

Year 11 and Year 12 students will not even have to read any books in Essential English - a basic course for students who plan to work straight after high school. While mainstream English students will study Shakespeare and Australian novels, the Essential English students can watch YouTube videos and logs, analyse SMS text messages or interpret Twitter or Facebook posts instead.

The curriculum defines designers, digital storytellers and vlog creators as "writers", along with novelists, poets and playwrights. The "texts" students can study include "non-verbal or visual communication", including street art and apps.

One assignment task is "an explanation of a DJ's playlist that has been designed for a function or event". Another is "selling or explicating a website designed to enhance the public image of a popular text producer". "Text producers can include, but are not limited to: tattoo artists, authors, film and theatre directors, photographers, musicians, hair and make-up artists, and graphic designers," the document states.

Students will also be taught how to write job applications and resumes, and study work-place signage and work-related legislation. QCAA chief executive Chris Rider said the syllabus "suggests study topics about aspects of popular culture that students will find engaging and relate to".

State Education Minister Grace Grace said the new syllabus had been designed by experts for the needs of vocational students. Education academic and former teacher Kevin Donnelly yesterday criticised the new Queensland syllabus as "edutainment".

Not online.  From p.3 of the "Courier Mail", 21 July, 2018






Just another Leftist tyrant

An embattled Labor backbencher is facing further allegations of bullying and abuse against staff - as senior party figures are said to be closing ranks on the future of her position in government.  

Emma Husar, a first-term federal member for Lindsay in Sydney's outer-west, has now been accused of treating staff like 'slaves' in addition to making one perform domestic duties.

It comes following a string of bullying allegations from her former staff, which Ms Husar has strongly denied.

However, matters now seem to have escalated with the first-term politician allegedly involved in a probe that could lead to being disendorsed by the Labor party before next year's election.

And one former staffer told The Australian Ms Husar's expectations for her staff 'crossed the line'.

'To be told to do the dishes is one thing. The way you're told, and the way it's presented, is a different thing. Everyone had a turn at being her slave,' they said.

Additionally, questions are now being raised about Ms Husar's use of her electoral allowance following suggestions it may have been used to household items.   

During her term in office, staff allege it was common for Ms Husar to require them to serve in work time as 'babysitters' for two of her three children, to wash dishes, walk her dog, clean up dog ­excrement among other duties.

Earlier this week, a former male staffer has claimed to Sky News he was instructed to do the dishes to learn about his 'white male privilege'.

In a Friday phone conference, Labor bosses were said to have questioned how Husar’s alleged behaviour could have gone unchecked for so long, given the turnover of more than 20 staff members in just two years.

The allegation came after BuzzFeed revealed the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party had been investigating Ms Husar since March, looking into allegations of bullying harassment, verbal intimidation and misusing staff.

One former staff member alleged to the website that Husar had called them 'c***s' and 'f***wits'.

Others have reportedly accused her of making her staff babysit her children during and outside work hours and walk her dog.

Her Penrith electorate office has also seen a high turnover of staff since she won her marginal seat at the July 2016 elections, with 20 people resigning during the past two years.

Ms Husar, who hails from Labor's right faction, has vehemently denied the allegations leveled against her but did not specifically refute individual claims.

'The assertions that have been made do not reflect who I am or how my office operates,' she said in a statement sent from Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's office late today. 'I was horrified to learn that complaints have been made. At no time has any staff member raised these issues with me.'

Ms Husar said her office was a 'professional and respectful workplace'.   'I am a single mum with three children, working hard and doing my best. If I have let anyone down, I apologise,' she said.

'I respect and am cooperating with the independent process that is underway, and will not be commenting any further.'

Senior federal Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, who was raised by a single mother, praised Ms Husar, who has spoken in parliament about the struggles of raising an autistic son.

'What I know about Emma Husar is that she's a single mum, works incredibly hard, represents her electorate very strongly,' he told Nine Network today. 'I find her a terrific person to deal with. I find her a very good local member of parliament.'

 Senior federal cabinet minister Christopher Pyne said any investigation should be allowed to run its course. 'I'm not obviously privy to what these complaints are and I think you'd be unwise to comment on them unless you have all the facts,' he told the Nine Network.

The Labor Party's NSW branch confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that an independent investigation was underway. 'The ALP has an independent process for assessing complaints,' a spokesman from Essential Media Communications said. 'The independent process also provides advice to the party on what action, if any, is necessary in response. 'The process is mindful to provide protection to the complainant and also procedural fairness to the subject of the complaint.'

Ms Husar, who won Lindsay in 2016 with a four per cent swing, previously worked in the electorate office of Labor frontbencher Ed Husic.

SOURCE 






Africans want police assistance with murder of African girl

Will that inspire them to help the police to apprehend their gang-member children?  Will Victoria Police admit they have an African gang problem?  Reading between the lines, what happened was African tribal warfare

The mother of a 19-year-old girl stabbed to death during a wild apartment brawl has paid tribute to her 'happy and lovely' daughter as her cousin demands justice.

Kenyan-born Laa Chol was killed when a group of young African-Australians crashed a party at a rental flat in Melbourne at 5am on Saturday.

Her shattered mother Ojwanga Abalo said the teenager 'loved everyone,' adding: 'I miss my daughter'.  'Just whenever you saw her, it was a happy moment. There were no sad moments,' she told the Herald Sun.  'She helped me with everything... I don't know what I'm going to do without her,' she added.

Ms Abalo said she hoped police would catch her daughter's 'cowardly' killer.

Miss Chol's cousin Nyawie Dau, who moved with her to Australia in 2005, also urged police to find the culprits and lock them up. 'We need justice for Laa. They need to find whoever did this,' Miss Dau said.

Miss Chol was partying at a $125-a-night apartment on the 56th floor of a block with a group of young African-Australians in their late teens and early 20s. A second group crashed the party and a fight broke out, leading to Miss Chol's stabbing around 5am.

A police spokesman said detectives 'do not believe the second group was invited by either the person who booked the apartment, or the deceased.'

It comes after the Homes Affairs Minister released a statement calling for a crackdown on Sudanese gangs in the wake of the death.

'This is a tragic and needless loss of a young life,' he said.  'There is a major law and order problem in Victoria and more people are going to be hurt until the rule of law is enforced by the Victorian Government.

'We don't have these problems with Sudanese gangs in NSW or Queensland.'

Mr Dutton accused Victorian Premier Dan Andrews of failing to acknowledge the issue of Sudanese gangs. 'He is out of touch and more people will get hurt or worse until the problem is fixed,' he said.

He urged Mr Andrews to change Victoria's bail laws which he described as 'pathetic.'

SOURCE 






Electricity Bills in South Australia and Other Australian States Skyrocket

South Australians pay three times as much as Americans for electricity

Like many European countries, South Australia is betting on renewable energy for its electricity, closing coal plants in favor of less carbon sources, with the outcome that its residents are becoming energy poor due to skyrocketing electricity prices.

The region’s reliance on subsidized, intermittent and unreliable wind and solar power has resulted in skyrocketing power prices. Over 100,000 Australian families had their power cut off last year, and another 100,000 are on payment plans with their power providers, making over 200,000 residents energy poor in one of the most energy-rich nations in the world.

109,000 Australian households had their electricity disconnected last year because they were unable to afford their electricity bills, which included over $3 billion in subsidies for Chinese- made solar panels and wind turbines. Electricity bills include the cost of generating power, transmitting it through high-voltage lines, distributing it to homes and businesses, and government subsidies provided to encourage development of renewable energy.

In Victoria, one of Melbourne’s bayside pubs is rationing its heating and cooling and cutting down on staff because of power bills that have reached $24,000 a month. The pub will have to sell over 120 additional pots of beer each day to keep pace with power bills that have tripled from $8000 a month after last year’s closure of the Hazelwood coal power plant. The closure of the 1600-megawatt Hazelwood plant in March 2017 resulted in the loss of over 20 percent of the state’s generation capacity. The electricity company blames the closure of the Hazelwood plant for the tripling of the pub’s power bill.

In Victoria, average retail household power bills increased almost 16 percent to $1275 compared to a year earlier. Average wholesale prices in 2017 increased 85 percent in Victoria (VIC) and 32 percent in South Australia (SA). Average wholesale prices in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) increased 63 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

Prior to the Hazelwood plant’s closure, the plant’s access to low-cost coal kept power prices among the lowest in the electricity market that supplies eastern Australia. Without the Hazelwood plant, the region became a net importer of electricity in the second half of 2017. To cope with the loss of coal-fired electricity, 500 percent more natural gas was used for power generation in 2017 and renewable energy surged, particularly roof-top solar as consumers looked to alternate sources rather than their power supplier.

Conclusion

South Australia, Victoria, and other Australian states are suffering from high electricity prices and potential blackouts because of their unsustainable mix of intermittent renewable energy with insufficient back-up power. Because of high electricity prices and energy poverty, residents with the help of the government are looking towards solar rooftop panels and home storage batteries, which are also costly, to form a virtual power plant and hopefully lower prices.

The United States should learn from Australia’s experience and not be too hasty at turning its generating sector over to intermittent renewable energy. Wind and solar power represent almost 8 percent of the current U.S. generating mix, which so far has not destabilized the grid.

But, costly tax credits for wind power have caused negative electricity prices that have resulted in traditional technologies, at times, being uncompetitive.  Wind generators are awarded tax credits equivalent to cash from taxpayers for generating power even when there is no financial need for it. Without the proper back-up power and policies that support it, the United States could end up facing similar cost and unreliability issues and challenges as these Australian states.

SOURCE 

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here