Federal MP, Andrew Wilkie, threatens to stop supporting the Gillard government if they don’t legislate poker machine reform.

He wants to compel gamblers using high-intensity machines (which accept $10 bets) to pre-commit to a limit on their losses before they start playing.

When their loss reaches the cap, the machine will lock them out.

Low intensity machines (accepting $1 bets only) would not be capped.

But the Gillard no longer needs Mr Wilkie’s vote like before, and thinks there is little to lose by double-crossing him.

* * *

On Australia’s 200,000 high intensity poker machines, gamblers routinely lose about $1200 per hour.

Gamblers on low-intensity machines lose “only” $120 per hour.

Which is no good, either.

For many Aussie battlers, $120 is big money. Lose that much and the cash earmarked for paying bills and feeding the family is gone.

All poker machines should be phased out.

Clubs that cannot survive without poker machines should not survive.

The Church should preach that gambling is greed — incompatible with love for God and his vulnerable children.

A national survey has found that Australians consider Australia Day the most significant day in the calendar. (AAP, 12 January 2012)

More than Anzac Day.

More than Christmas Day.

It is certainly being boosted by the political and media would-be opinion-controllers.

Municipal Councils are all hosting community breakfasts, sporting events etc., trying to beat up some interest.

Our Australian Aborigines are given at least a token mention in the publicity.

* * *

Australia Day commemorates the fact that on January 26, 1788, the “First Fleet” of European colonisers landed at Sydney Cove.

From that day on it became progressively more difficult for Aborigines to maintain their culture and way of life.

Since the 150^th anniversary of the First Fleet’s landing in 1938, some at least of the Aboriginal community, have taken to referring to January 26 as “Invasion Day and “a day of mourning and protest”.

It’s an unresolved problem.

The Christian gospel could be the factor that truly “reconciles” invaders and the invaded groups inhabiting Australia.

Generosity and fairness shown by the whites — and forgiveness and good living by the blacks – those are all it would take.

Grandstanding and slogan-quoting will not be enough.

Labor MPs will have a “conscience vote” re same-sex marriage.

Malcolm Turnbull wants a conscience vote for Liberal MPs as well.

But if MPs really used their conscience on this issue, wouldn’t the vote be 100 percent against and zero for?

A vote should be unnecessary.

* * *

Any party containing members willing to vote for such an extreme nonsense as same-sex marriage is a good party not to have running your country.

Perhaps better not to have any party running the country.

Ideally it doesn’t matter what party is the nominal government — so long as we don’t let them govern us.

In a decent country, the Church would be the de facto government.

* * *

If the government passes bad laws, the Church should explain why they are wrong — and the people should simply disobey.

Such a situation needs to happen.

But first the Church must pull up its socks.

If you are a Catholic who has quit over the child-abuse issue, or some other reason — please get back into gear.

The Church has a job to do.

You can help make it happen.

Bashar al-Assad. President of Syria, denies responsibility for the killing of many (some say 4000) anti-government activists in recent months.

He claims that hundreds of police and soldiers have been killed by the “peaceful” protesters.

The “protests” in Tunis, Egypt and Libya in the last year or two seem to have done nobody much good.

Their net result may well turn out to be no more and no less “democracy” – but plenty more Sharia law and military rule.

* * *

What “rights” did the protesting Syrian rebel groups actually have in mind?

The “rights” to elections?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

If victorious, one “right” they’ll probably give themselves is the “right” to kill every Alawite and every Christian in the land.

* * *

Syria is 75 percent Sunni Muslim. The biggest minority is the Alawites (sort of Shi’ites),12-15 percent. Christians about 6 percent.

From a Christian viewpoint, Assad’s Alawite government has been streets ahead of most Muslim-dominated governments . . . .

Tolerant of all religions — including having Christians prominent in government, administration and the army.

We of the west might do best to keep our noses out of internal matters of nations whose cultures we don’t really understand.

The Australian Labor Party now officially supports legalisation of “same-sex marriage”.

Activist, Alex Greenaway, calls it “a clear message . . . that it’s time to provide equality for all Australians”.

Which is manifest nonsense.

All Australians are not equal.

Those who break the law are put in prison. That is not treating them as equals.

The question that homosexual activists don’t want to face is whether homosexual acts are harmful enough to warrant the law prohibiting them.

* * *

Homosexually-active persons are not normal.

They know they are not normal.

They know it won’t be easy to suppress their abnormal activities.

For this very reason, the law should encourage, pressure, and persuade them to give them up.

Even more important for young persons who are teetering on the brink of declaring themselves homosexuals . . . .

To give them some incentive to think again . . . .

There are other reasons to oppose legalised homosexual acts — based on disease prevention, child protection etc.

But those mentioned above are basic.

* * *

If we have equal regard for persons afflicted with homosexual tendencies, then we must do all we can to help them.

They aren’t being helped by telling them, yes, your unnatural acts are all you are good for – we’ll leave you to damage yourselves because we don’t care about you . . . .

If we have a real regard for them, we’ll tell them, yes, it is unfortunate that you are this way — but we’ll do everything possible to help you live a normal lifestyle.

Following a recent Melbourne “children’s beauty pageant”, the risks of such contests have been debated.

Victoria’s Child Safety Commissioner, Bernie Geary, has issued a fence-sitting statement. He concedes that these affairs are based on “a perception of competitive beauty and personal appearance” – and that the entrants were wearing “heavy make-up and dresses of adult-like design”.

Despite that, Mr Geary says there was nothing “sinister, unsafe or degrading” about the event . . . .

* * *

But are not children who are “sexualised” when young at risk of developing eating disorders etc?

Are they not learning that the way to become the centre of attention is to make oneself sexually provocative?

A proposal to ban children under 16 from beauty pageants is a step in the right direction.

One group with some sensible ideas on this is “Pull the Pin from Beauty Pageants”.

Find them at www.pullthepin.com.au.