Just had good week of rain north of Dalwallinu, Passy. Hope now for the best season in four years.

Looked like the grandkids running the wheat properties coupled with multiple dry seasons would have to find jobs with mining companies.

As one who believes he's had a lucky life, just a bit worrried whether it'll be so lucky for my fifteen grandkids, what with too many dry seasons and when our Ausssie pitstocks run out.

Reckon there's still not enough discussion about such a future?

A strange article, passy. While I agree with your basic premise, I find it strange you should try to support it with the arrogant dictatorial actions of Neal/Bosca. These two appear to be precisely the type of elitist scum you (I thought) were ideologically opposed to.
Iron bar Tuckey gained his nickname from an incident incurred in the sixties, when he was a hotel manager. He beat up an aboriginal man with an iron bar (he claimed it was a 100 amp cable) while another man held him down.
Tuckey was fined $50.00.
Oh, for the good old days, when men could be men.
Yes we do have to protect our rights and freedoms. The only way us blue colalr types can possibly do this is through trial by jury; made up of 12 ordinary citizens, and able to try not only the case, but the law the case entails.
This would require courts of justice, rather than courts of law; where the only question the juror has to face is: what if it were me? (being held down while another man lays into me with an iron bar).

Grim

I take the point about elitist scum. I just think the media overplayed it since the world is full of elitist scum. This includes those in elected positions who criticise Neal and Della Bosca for their actions when they are symptomatic of an unrepresentative system, not just two indivudals.

I still think the initial media attack on them was over the top and symptomatic of the new McCarthyism - pick on indiscretions to gain popular support fr ressetnailly reactionary positions while ignoring the major issues.

Take for example all this kerfuffle about two photos of young people. Yet a 15 year old Canadian boy is tortured in Guantanamo and no one finds this shocking, or a real example of child abuse?

And none of the so-called child protectors seem to worry too much when kids are locked up in our version of concentration camps, the refugee centres.

I guess I am saying that although Neal and/or Della Bosca may have been less than perfect, the reason this is being blown up is to satisfy the agenda of the new MCarthyists for greater control, especially of working people, to ensure the elites ability to extract more and more surplus value out of workers. After all if everybody began to behave like Neal and Della, regularly, profits would fall, and we couldn't have that could we?

Anyway let's see what comes out of the Neal/Della investigation (which itself will be political). I might have some comments on that after it sees daylight.)

bushbred

I agree with you that there is little thinking about the future. Planning is something that the short termism of profit extraction at best individualises by tying it to islands of capital or at worst ignores.

The debate about global warming is a great example.

And the short term party we are having around resources has made us drunk to the consequences. The hangover isn't till tomorrow, and tomorrow is a long long way off, isn't it?

I think we are about to coallapse into bed and in a few hours wake with a huge headache. Worse than that we may have partied too often and the results coud be terminal.