Friday 29th of March 2024

liberal luminary's apology...

 

an old tennis joke...an old tennis joke...

John Alexander, the Liberal candidate for Bennelong in next month's by-election, has apologised after a video surfaced online of him telling crude jokes in the 1990s.

In the video, which was posted on YouTube in 2011, Mr Alexander can be heard telling a joke about rape and making racial quips in a Brisbane pub.

In a statement, Mr Alexander said his jokes were "completely unacceptable".

"More than 20 years ago I told crude and inappropriate jokes, which were completely unacceptable and I apologise unreservedly," he said.

"There is no place for jokes about violence against women. Again, I apologise unreservedly."

At one point, he starts a joke: "A black guy in Chicago has witnessed a rape ..."

Set to be held on December 15, the Bennelong by-election looms as crucial for the Turnbull Government, which would lose its majority if the seat falls to Labor.

Mr Alexander won Bennelong on a 19 per cent margin at last year's federal election, but faces a strong challenge from Labor's candidate, former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally.

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-23/liberal-mp-john-alexander-apologis...

 

the wolf-whistling males...

The number of women in the entertainment industry coming forward with charges of sexual harassment is starting to feel endless. They include stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie but also heads of tech startups and journalists, gallerists and producers.

But it is women working in far less glamorous occupations who really bear the brunt of male lechery and assault: the housekeepers, waitresses and farmworkers. A paper in the journal Gender, Work & Organization, based on interviews with female workers at five-star hotels, found almost all experiencing some kind of inappropriate sexual advance from a guest. In another study, 80% of waitresses reported sexual harassment. A mind-boggling 88% of female construction workers did, too.

If you look at these numbers, you recognize that most victims are not so glamorous.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/22/sexual-harassment-doesnt-j...

 

Gus apologises for the bad cartoon at top...

the victims...

 

They were bound to be told sooner or later: stories of men who allegedly raped women, only to later become pastors.

Stories from women who were counselled by priests to stay in abusive marriages and "submit" to their husbands; to cope with violence by praying, forgiving.

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-24/church-too-christian-victims-of-ab...

 

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'These women are not just statistics'

These Australian women all died this year. What they have in common is their partners or ex-partners have been charged in relation to their deaths or have been named as the suspect in a murder-suicide. Here, the women's families and friends tell us the stories of their lives.

 

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/these-women-had-a-right-to-be-safe...

 

 

 

could it be pork barrelling with gladys?...

...

Announcing the project the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the joint project was “a game changer for peak-hour commuters who travel to and from Macquarie Park every day”.

But until last week the project did not rate a mention on the NSW government’s Future Transport 2056 site, which claims to be the NSW government’s blueprint for transport.

The transport minister, Andrew Constance, previously ruled the project was too expensive, despite lobbying from the council.

The buyback of the school will be particularly sweet for Berejiklian, who had a political coming out of sorts when at 15 she campaigned against her high school, Ryde high, closing in 1985.

She then moved to North Ryde high, later renamed Peter Board high. It was closed in 1998 by a Labor government under premier Bob Carr.

The NSW minister for education, Rob Stokes, and the local state Liberal member, Victor Dominello, refused to say what the government will pay for the school site.

The NSW government sold the site in 2006 for $51m to Dexus Property Group. Dexus sold a portion on Wicks Road to Woolworths in 2013 for $30m, for use as a Masters Hardware store, but part of the site is also leased as a playing field to Ryde Hunters Hill district hockey club. The future of the field is unclear.

 

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/30/bennelong-byelect...

still stealing something...

 

"We're not taking this election lying down," Howard said. "It's a byelection in challenging circumstances for the government.

"You've got the resources of the Labor Party, GetUp! and the unions, and a candidate for the Labor Party who's got a high profile, although she carries a lot of political baggage because of her failures as the premier of New South Wales."

Mr Alexander resigned from Parliament last month after British authorities failed to uncover evidence that he was not a British citizen.

Mr Howard praised Mr Alexander's "upfront" response to the citizenship affair, but said it was "unbelievable" that the former tennis star had been ineligible in the first place.

"If there ever was a dinky-di Aussie, it's John Alexander," Mr Howard said.

Read more:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/john-howard-brings...

 

 

While the headline to this article in the SMH says "John Howard brings star power to Bennelong byelection", the grabber from the front page says:

 

John Howard steals the limelight in Bennelong

 

 

Yep John Howard is always stealing something... Read from top...

a $1400 a day "oversight?...

 

Liberal John Alexander failed to declare thousands of dollars in rental income from his $4.8 million, eight-bedroom luxury property in the NSW Southern Highlands.

Mr Alexander, the Turnbull government's candidate in the crucial Bennelong byelection this Saturday, bought the sprawling 100 acre property in May after inspecting it with his soon to be neighbour, radio broadcaster Alan Jones.

 

 

read more:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/john-alexander-has...

 

"Mr Alexander" should dismiss himself from parliamentary election. He is rich enough. Say six months at 30 days means he made $252,000 of undeclared cash, less expenses and as I suppose this country luxury caper is "negatively geared" the public owes him, $65,572?... Well done, Alexander... Showing the way to table tennis on country estates... Living next door to the great mouth should be enough.

a winning idiot who never learns...

Standing next to a beaming Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Alexander told a story about someone who had come up to tell him that he had built Tennis World, a tennis complex.

Mr Alexander said that when he thought his tennis career was over, his back improved when he started coaching at the centre.

"Then I got to about No.14 in the world," said Mr Alexander, who will be returning to Parliament as the holder of a seat he first won in 2010.

"The doctor at the time said, 'You have eligibility for a disabled sticker'. I said, 'I still have some pride,'." Mr Alexander said. "That was before I entered politics."

Precisely what Mr Alexander was attempting to convey by the joke is uncertain. But the comment drew ire from those who interpreted it as offensive to the disabled.

 

Read more:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/john-alexanders-bi...

 

It looks as if JA represents what's wrong in the Liberal (CONservative) Party: sexism, racism and belittling of the less able... though on this occasion he could have been trying to bring professional politician, including himself, into the sewer. He succeeded magnificently.