Thurs - 27 Jan 2011

Page 3 "were unable to call Australia home" in the story about the stranded Qantas passengers. Really? Who makes the kind of dissociation people miss flights all the time, flights are delayed all the time. It makes it sound like all the passengers were either deported or denied access to the country by the authorities.

Same page story about Coles and the Israeli fruit boycott. The real story here is the Left's hatred of America and all who support all allies with them. Yes, this means they also hate Australia. Conversely they seem to love anything that is anti-capitalism, anti-democracy,and pro-socialism.this is the real reason behind the anti–Israel bent that some people are on these days.

Page 12. Here and elsewhere the old saw about the mythical inequality of women in the workplace is raised by none other than someone who has access to the literature that says otherwise. I had an opportunity to write a Masters level paper on the subject. This meant I was required to research the peer reviewed literature on this subject. It takes a little bit of work is not that hard.

Every time you read about pay inequality, or position of equality, or lack of promotion, or lack of women at the top, the evidence used is a normalisation of the data without looking at any of the underlying principles involved.

So here is, you can look it all up for yourself.

1. A woman and a man doing the same job in Australia with the same roles and responsibilities, in the same organisation are paid the same.
2. Due to biology women need to take time off to have a baby. While they are doing this a man who started at the same time they did in the same organisation, in the same department will in some cases progress to a higher position. When the woman comes back to work at the same place she may then be at a lower pay rate than the man who started same time she did. This difference in rate has nothing to do with inequality, but with the fact that the woman was absent for a period of time, i.e. was not working, gaining skills etc.
3. Some positions within an industry may contain dangerous that preclude women from holding those roles. Such positions often come with danger bonuses and high salaries. Normalising across an industry for men and women will buy this very process show an 'inequality' that can hide this kind of information.
4. Because of  point 2 earlier women may take longer to reach the top. By contrast women who don't start a family are often the first to reach the top, case in point the new Premier of Tasmania.

The inequality, if one does exist is purely one of biology.

As for the letters today there are the usual mix of the good, the inane, and the music. Excellent cartoon by Nicholson today. Labor is really showing its colours with its inability to cut unnecessary programs to fund the flood requirements and instead looking to add yet another tax to the Australian people.