Editorials from the Public First Program aired on Gippsland FM 104.7, Thursdays at 11:00am (AEST). An alternative viewpoint on local, national and international events. Often polemic, always controversial. Highly researched and presented by Shane Elson an award winning radio commentator and producer. Available free of charge. Only ask is that, if used, quoted or otherwise referred to, that proper acknowledgement be given.

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July 2008 #2 - Seven Deadly Annoyances

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July 2008 #2 - Seven Deadly Annoyances

DATE : Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST
Entered in Database : 2008-07-12 02:25:02
length : 4000000
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Here are seven things I think should be included in the New South Wales ‘Pope’ laws. Just in case you haven’t heard, the NSW government passed a number of laws that give not only police but also “emergency services personnel” special powers to impose fines of up to $5,300 for behaviour the person doing the booking thinks “causes annoyance or inconvenience” to people attending the Catholic Youth Day events. The laws are just one of the concessions the state is making to ensure the believers enjoy their stay. The Pope’s visit and the associated events are being underwritten by the state and federal governments and this annoys me. This is the first of things that annoy me and cause me inconvenience. Why should the state fund anything to do with the church? The churches obviously don’t mind as they now provide more social services than the government and enjoy the benefit of hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars in doing so. This annoys me because I had always laboured under the impression that in Australia we enjoyed a separation of church and state. Obviously I was wrong and this is what annoys me. The second thing that annoys or inconveniences me is the fact that the NSW laws don’t cover the impact of mother in laws on the psychological well being of sons in law. The inconvenience caused by having to ensure that I refrain from swearing, smoking, drinking and generally being the usual slob I am when my mother in law is staying with us is the second thing I think should be included in the laws. I’m sure many other sons in law would agree with me on this one. It is highly inconvenient to have to rearrange your life and sneak around your own home like you did when you were a teenager when your mother in law comes to stay. I also think the companies that run the trains that run late should be fined $5,300 for every minute their trains run late. Late trains cause me both annoyance and inconvenience and are the third thing that should be included in the NSW laws. As I understand it, the train system in NSW is just as dodgy as the train system in Victoria. If that is the case I would suggest that if the government did fine the operators, then the cash they would get in would pay for the Pope’s visit and probably the schools and hospitals as well. The fourth thing I find annoying is that the Catholics have made a “number of concessions” to the Jews of Sydney and changed their Stations of the Cross ritual so as not to annoy or inconvenience them. After 2000 years of blaming the Jews for killing Jesus they now decide to change one of their most solemn rituals so as not to offend them. I just don’t get it. Ultra conservative Catholics are incensed that one their own (Archbishop Pell) could allow “the modern liturgy and novelties” to take over their sacred events. George Pell has slashed the traditional 14 Stations of the Cross to eight so as to allow this “key spiritual and evangelical moment of the week” to not interfere with the religious beliefs and sensibilities of “the enemies of the church”. How considerate but it annoys me that he can be so flexible when it comes to politics but so rigid when it comes to other human rights issues. Something that really sticks in my craw and should be included in the things that get you fined for doing annoying and inconvenient things, are religious leaders that are not prepared to allow 50 percent of the population become leaders of their churches. While they are happy to let women basically raise kids by being mums, teachers and social workers, they reckon that women aren’t qualified to tell the world about Jesus. Now that is real hypocrisy if you ask me. When I went to Sunday school all but one of the teachers were women and at the primary school I went to at least half of the RE teachers were women. This is the fifth thing I find annoying, particularly for the women who believe, with equal passion to their male colleagues, that they are called to preach their faith. The sixth thing I find annoying and inconvenient and which I believe should attract a $5,300 fine, are journalists who don’t stand up to their bosses and apply the same moral and ethical standards to their stories that they apply to their own narrow lives. Take, for instance, the hurrah over so called child porn. In 2006 the whole nation was happy to accept the images of two naked, obviously pre-pubescence girls as part of a travelling photo exhibition for the Commonwealth Games. It seems that the media are now focused on providing us with a moral compass that suits the media agenda of the ruling classes. That annoys me because it means the mainstream media once more confirm their role as the stenographers of power. Every one of the journalists who regurgitate the pap that passes as news, as decreed by their bosses, should be fined $5,300 per day until they are reduced to penury and finally understand the society they actually live in. The final thing that I find annoying and inconvenient are loud mouthed, opinionated, wannabes who spout rubbish. They annoy me and they inconvenience me by clogging up my email inbox with pseudo spam, my airwaves with endless ranting and my mind with meaningless clap trap. If I was a policeman or “emergency services” person I would slap a $5,300 fine on them every time they opened their mouth, sent me an email or in any other way got in my face. So, here they are, my seven things that I think should be codified in the NSW Pope laws. They are easy to apply, not ambiguous like the already enacted laws and am I sure would generate a great deal of public support … Iemma and Pell need all they can get at the moment. I suggest you think up your own seven annoying or inconvenience causing things and send them off to the NSW Police Minister and ask him to include them on the list. Oh, and by the way, I do love my mother in law, despite having to slink around the house disguising my vices when she comes to visit.

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