Greenie fantasies about power kill babies
Let's not beat about the bush. The lost embryos were babies ready to go. They were just awaiting implantation into their mothers. And the cause of the blackout is equally clear. Politicians blame the big storm but HOW did the storm cut all power? Easy and obvious:
South Australia gets 40% of its power from wind turbines -- but wind turbines have to be turned off in high winds or they will fly to pieces. So they were turned off. But when you lose 40% of your power suddenly, there is no way out of disaster.
Had they kept their coal-fired generators going, they might have had a chance. When they saw the storm coming -- and it was heavily predicted -- they could have spun up their coal generators and then turned the windmills off
SOUTH Australia’s power blackouts have destroyed embryos at Flinders Fertility leaving families heartbroken and medics distressed by their loss.
The Advertiser understands more than a handful of potential children became “unviable” because incubators at Flinders Fertility — which is based at Flinders Medical Centre — failed when the entire state’s power went down.
Health Minister Jack Snelling revealed on ABC 891 radio this morning “about 12 patients were affected”. It was also suggested up to 25 embryos were lost per patient.
Hospitals all have emergency generators, but the one at Flinders did not work for some minutes. A short but crucial period without power means those embryos, which were ready to be implanted, are no longer able to be used.
Flinders Fertility called it a “devastating” and “distressing” situation. There will be a review. Flinders Fertility assured families and patients that “cryopreserved material” – waiting for a later implantation date – was not affected.
In a statement they expressed their deepest sympathies to the families and said the loss of power compromised incubators, affecting a small number of patients.
“Despite every effort by our scientists, the embryos are no longer viable,” they said in a statement.
“This is a devastating situation for our patients, and very distressing for our staff.
“Flinders Fertility doctors have contacted patients directly, and individual support and counselling is being provided.”
SA Health Interim Chief Executive Vickie Kaminski.
Families will be given priority for further treatment and there will be no further costs to repeat fertility cycles.
SA Health Interim Chief Executive Vickie Kaminski said there was “an issue” with the generator, leading to battery-powered back-up; that meant that on Wednesday night 17 patients were transferred to Flinders Private Hospital.
Flinders Medical Centre expressed their sincerest condolences. “We’re currently reviewing the circumstances that led to the Flinders Fertility laboratory being without power during part of Wednesday’s extreme weather event, a spokeswoman said.
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The national anthem went off without a hitch at the AFL Grand Final
I doubt Mundine knows what he wants. He probably can’t think of any ideas to improve Australia. He just hates it how it is, because he’s a hateful b*stard. If people took him up on his call it would just deepen the gulf between white and black society. He is a racist
OBVIOUSLY no one was listening to Anthony Mundine. The former NRL star-cum-boxer wanted players and fans to boycott the national anthems at this weekend’s AFL and NRL Grand Finals to protest against Australia’s “ignorant” attitude towards Aborigines.
“Been saying this for years!” Mundine wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday. “The anthem was written in late 1700s where blackfullas (sic) were considered fauna (animals) Advance Australia Fair as in white not fair as in fair go ...
“All players aboriginal & non aboriginal should boycott the anthem & start changing Australia’s ignorant mentality. “Lets move forward together yo.”
The proposal was rejected by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said: “Everyone should sing. Those like myself who perhaps are not the best singers should perhaps sing quietly so as not to ruin the experience for neighbours, but everyone should sing and everyone should be proud about our country and the fact that we can come together with sport.”
Swans forward Buddy Franklin rubbished the idea as “stupid” and television personality Karl Stefanovic thought it was “ridiculous”.
It came after NRL greats Larry Corowa and Joe Williams publicly called on players to “send a powerful message to white Australia” when Advance Australia Fair is played before the rugby league Grand Final at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
But Mundine’s wish went unheeded, as the anthem went off without a hitch at the MCG on Saturday afternoon. The players put their arms around each other’s shoulders and the crowd was respectful.
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Identity politics no substitute for scholarly truth
American novelist Lionel Shriver stirred an international controversy during her recent visit to Australia.
Speaking at the Brisbane writer’s festival, Shriver had the temerity to suggest that novelists should not be constrained by the new rules of the identity politics game. Writers of fiction should be free to explore the experiences of ‘others’, even if they are not members of the same racial, gender or other identity groups.
Shriver’s so-called apologia for ‘cultural appropriation’ is relevant not only to works of imagination but also to the humanities and social sciences.
There is a growing trend for scholarly enquiry into certain subjects to be deemed inappropriate if the researcher lacks ‘lived experience’.
Political criteria also apply, as the social psychologist and critic of the lack of intellectual diversity in the modern academy, Jonathan Haidt, has pointed out.
Activist scholarship committed to fashionable notions of social justice that campaigns for the rights of oppressed racial and gender group is welcome.
But any work that is critical of a particular group, or which make members of the group feel bad about themselves, is unacceptable.
But the real victim of the stultifying culture of political correctness is our ability to accurately, objectively, and effectively describe and address important social problems.
Take the difficult task of overcoming Indigenous disadvantage. Activist-academic accounts perpetually blame every problem in Indigenous communities on the racist legacy of invasion and dispossession.
According to this school, research that explored the links, say, between traditional Aboriginal culture and contemporary Aboriginal men’s violence against Aboriginal women would be condemned as ‘victim blaming’.
We see similar things happening in the debates around Islamaphobia, marriage equality, feminism and gender.
Identity politics — let alone obsessing about the identity of the author — is a poor substitute for focusing on importance of good scholarship that tells the truth about controversial social issues.
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Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation wants free movement between UK, Canada, NZ and Australia
WHILE much of the world is throwing up new borders to clamp down on unwanted migrants, one organisation is pushing for free movement between Australia and a select group of countries.
The Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation wants to see unrestricted movement for citizens of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK between nations.
Founder James Skinner claims to have “received significant support” from MPs and senators in each of the countries, who claim it would bring economic and social benefits. An online petition calling for a European Union-style freedom of movement arrangement has gained 162,000 signatures.
“If the European Union can incorporate freedom of movement for citizens of 28 member states (all of whom have different cultures, languages and ancestries), there is no reason why a free movement initiative between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom could not be introduced,” he told news.com.au.
Mr Skinner claims the historical and cultural ties between the Commonwealth countries plus similarities in the legal and political system make it a no-brainer. Similar levels of economic growth, development, healthcare and quality of life added to the case that freedom of movement wouldn’t be a “brain drain” for any particular nation, he said.
“Citizens of these nations could therefore move freely without the risk of a migration exodus occurring, which causes negative consequences for all economies involved,” he said.
“One of the current problems with the European Union is citizens from less developed nations emigrating to more prosperous nations for employment opportunities and a better quality of life, causing a brain drain in the primary country and excessive immigration in the secondary country.
“With a free movement initiative between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, we would not see such migration patterns as all countries involved are similarly developed with exceptional qualities of life.”
It’s one of a plethora of ideas fighting for oxygen in the post-Brexit debate as the UK works out what its relationship with Europe and the rest of the world will look like.
Earlier this month, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said free movement could be on the table as part of a future free-trade agreement with Britain now being explored.
“Should we be in a position to conclude a free-trade agreement after Brexit well then obviously [improved access] can be the subject of a free-trade agreement,” she said.
“It’s something we were able to achieve with the United States and I certainly look forward to increasing the number of business visas, student visas, work visas, between Australia and the UK.”
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has long been a champion of improved access for Australians in the UK and once called for a free labour mobility zone, praised the “almost glutinous” harmony between the two nations.
While he stopped short of endorsing free movement, he said it would be a “fantastic thing if we had a more sensible system”.
“You’ll remember the difficulties we had in recruiting paramedics … so this is something where I think we can make progress and I’m confident that we will,” he said.
Despite historical ties, the number of Australians living and working in the UK has fallen by 40 per cent since 2008 due to restrictions on migration.
Australia’s High Commissioner, Alexander Downer, has pushed for greater access and the move is supported by the majority of citizens in each country, according to a survey by the Royal Commonwealth Society.
It found in a YouGov poll earlier this year that 70 per cent of Australians, 75 per cent of Canadians, 82 per cent of New Zealanders and 58 per cent of Britons supported free mobility, with those aged between 18 and 35 in New Zealand and Australia most enthusiastic.
But with about 64 million people in the UK, 34 million in Canada, 24 million in Australia and just 4 million in New Zealand, how would such an arrangement work in reality?
Mr Skinner said the plan would be to create a “single labour market” to service the combined economy that would allow people to work and study freely. It could also be a boon to those frustrated by delays to family reunification.
“With free movement between these nations, families and loved ones would not require visas or work permits, and can be reunited without the cost and stress of arduous immigration controls,” he said.
Critics of freedom of movement say it reduces sovereignty over national borders and can allow terrorists and criminals to slip through undetected.
The idea would also have to overcome a major hurdle in public opinion revealed this week through the Essential Poll, which found 31 per cent of Australians feared a free trade deal that could make their jobs vulnerable to overseas workers.
It also showed bitter division on attitudes to Muslim immigration with 49 per cent of Australians supporting a ban on it altogether, while 40 per cent were opposed.
The Australian Government has been contacted for comment.
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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