14 thoughts on “Monday Message Board”

  1. On a different topic, I went to WOMAdelaide on the weekend and, having felt in something of a musical rut, heard some different sounds, quite a few of which I thought were very good. For those open to different musical genres and who haven’t already heard them, I recommend you try the following:
    Lo Cor De la Plano – very good; bought their CD
    Paprika Balkanicus – balkan group; great violinist
    Bedouin Jerry Can Band – Arabic style music
    Speed Caravan – North African “Oud” music
    Geoffrey Yunupingu – vocals as good as claimed

  3. Did anyone hear ABC Radio National’s Health Report on Monday? Former Asleep at the Wheel muso,ABC music show host and now Perth resident,Lucky Oceans, fell ill with Guillain Barre Syndrome in the U.S. and incurred a medical bill for a week’s treatment, drugs and hospitalisation for $240,000!
    http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/
    The drug bill alone was hefty, but the segment on Foreign Correspondent tonight on the same subject is timely, and puts into perspective our troubles here in Qld. and Oz. BTW this is not an ABC promotion.

  6. re #3 when I was working in medical research the US system was typically held up as the model not to follow – the worst in the developed world (and further)

  7. John, it is hard to fathom out why the Liberal’s would both to reject the new IR Bill given that the Rudd government’s two stimulus packages were designed to save businesses and jobs. Similarly the hysteria over the new IR laws that jobs will go or businesses will suffer is a whole lot of hogwash. What the new IR laws does is ensure the worst employers are brought into line with the best employers. Thumbs up Gillard.

  9. Gillard’s IR bill is designed to impress union bosses who did much to fund the Labor Party’s campaign, and also to secure most of its passage through parliament.

    Julia, as a former solicitor, would know that you start the negotiations using a tough line. That way you can concede the points that normally you would not have bothered adding in the first point and end up with something which seems “moderate”.

    On the whole; the new IR bill is a very large backwards step that will increase costs to businesses at a time when it is hard enough surviving.

  10. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=aU3LuPCgYvUo&refer=china

    “March 10 (Bloomberg) — China vehicle sales surged 25 percent in February, the first gain in four months, after the government cut taxes on some models, helping the country extend its lead as the world’s largest auto market this year.”

    China cuts taxes not just on cars but on a wide range of products. This is probably the principal contributor in the decline in chinese state revenue.

    “China has halved retail taxes on small cars and drawn up plans to give out vehicle subsidies in rural areas to revive demand after auto sales rose at the slowest pace in a decade last year. Combined with the country’s wider 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) economic stimulus package, the policies have caused General Motors Corp. to roughly double its forecast for China’s nationwide auto market growth this year.

    “Consumers are regaining confidence because of the government’s stimulus policies,” said Ricon Xia, an analyst at Daiwa Research Institute in Shanghai. “Still, vehicle sales may fluctuate in the coming months.””

    “The February sales jump, the biggest in 18 months, was also helped by an earlier Lunar New Year holiday. The weeklong break was in January this year compared with February last year. Snowstorms across much of China also disrupted the market in 2008. “

  14. And they wonder why I’m an avowed skeptic of placing communal emmission rights in the hands of the global derivatives trading industry. Nothing like setting L-Platers up to fail. Still their epitaph can read- ‘They meant well!’.

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