Library Notes
Last night I stayed up a little longer than I’d originally planned, because I had only twenty pages or so left in the book I was reading and I wanted to finish it. This is only the second book by David Malouf I’ve read, the first being Johnno, which is probably the traditional starting place. I wasn’t a fan, but when I was desperately pawing through the office stack of shared books, setting aside the James North Patterson and such, picked up Remembering Babylon based on simply the awareness that Malouf is highly regarded and the blurbs on the cover indicating he’d been shortlisted once for the Booker and this particular book had been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, the local prestige award.

The story centers on a small community’s collective and individual encounter with a kind of “wild child,” or, as it was expressed in the American Old West, a renegade; that is, a white man raised by the aborigines. His presence brings to mind the white community’s alienation from its surroundings, at least for some, and allows Malouf to explore the themes still plaguing Australian consciousness, land rights, the “Sorry” campaign, the denialist, revisionist history of colonization being perpetrated by certain academics. Nothing too explicit, nothing too deeply written into, but well-managed just the same, although the renegade’s portrayal is a little on the overly magical side, which is why, ultimately, it isn’t a major work. That, and the rather abrupt forward jump in time across fifty years and only a romantic reminiscence to tie things together.

This is, however, the first Australian novel I’ve read to address the pre-Federation period, so I’m not aware of anything better out there. Still, if what you’re interested in is Australians’ relationship to their past and the place of the aborigines, my preference at this point is Andrew McGahan’s The White Earth, even though there isn’t an aborigine anywhere in it.

Yet Another First-Run Movie
While M. was out for a bit of socializing, I took the opportunity to see Children of Men, a movie I didn’t think she’d like, howsoever much she may have been interested in it. I was right about that, but it shouldn’t take anything away from the movie itself, which, while not great, is very affecting and very good indeed. Julianne Moore doesn’t have a lot to do in it, but then neither does anybody else, really, although I guess that’s kind of part of the point and really they’re all doing such good work that you hardly even notice, sucked into the situation and the characterizations right from the start. There’s plenty of tension, understated exposition, effectively detailed settings, and anti-action sequences that leave you holding your breath. So much hopelessness that even by the end, you’re not sure if there’s any hope left, and that’s kind of the point, too. I don’t know about the original P.D. James novel, but I assume the filmmakers have opted to make it all that much more topical, if only with particular pointed references to Hezbollah-style Islamic militarism, Iraq, and torture. But while such current-affairs touch-points do their job, the larger point isn’t lost to politics. We are so cruel to one another, so devoted to our cruelty; but if we suffer, there’s someone else who suffers more, because that’s who we made them to be.

Oh, Shut Up, All of You
Not really, but I made the mistake of "upgrading" my blogger template, which means that my haloscan.com comments feature has been lost, at least until I can figure out where it goes. I'm putting things back in, but it could take a little while, especially the third party stuff.

On the other hand, I rather like some of this new content management. Look: post labels.

(Meanwhile, I'll switch on Blogger commenting, just in case.)

The Energy Debate We Had to Have
With our PM, John Howard, pretty well committed to the development of nuclear power generation (despite the preference in some states not to have these things foisted off in their jurisdiction – although that concept has been seriously damaged by the recent High Court decision on Howard’s “WorkChoices” override of states’ rights), should it be surprising that we’re not part of the new US$12.8 billion fusion development project? Not really, since it will take decades, and the next federal election is much sooner than that.

Besides, nuclear power, fusion or fission, won’t save us from bush fires - or will it? That’s part of the selling point, after all, that nuclear energy would increase “clean” energy production and thereby reduce global warming contributions in Australia.

Update: Former Telstra chief, Ziggy Switkowski, who headed up the report to his good friend, John Howard, on the viability of nuclear power, says the waste wouldn't be more than would fit in a household bathroom. Ziggy, mate, how's about we put the stuff in your bathroom? Seriously, I get the idea he just made it all up.

National Service
Charles Rangel wants to reinstate the draft? I expected it from the Republicans, but to have the new, Democratic, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee propose this is a bit of a shock. O.k., he’s been a supporter of registration for a long time and often proposed putting the draft back in place, but c’mon, the draft? Really? And he wants to extend mandatory military service to age 42. Sure, that might catch some of the Fighting 101st Keyboarders, as the on-line chickenhawk brigade are known, but, c’mon, really, the draft? Who’s he working for? O.k., now that Kissinger’s weighed in to say Iraq can’t be won, a bigger troop commitment seems like a good idea now? Not that Chuckie’s proposing the start up conscription right away, but keep in mind that the GOP did activate the Selective Service some time back, just in case. Oh, this sounds bad.

Little Miss Sunshine
We made our first cinema excursion in months yesterday to see this movie, and we’re very glad we did. There isn’t much plot as such, but the dialogue’s terrific, the acting is top-notch, the picaresque occurrences along the way very funny, the characters well-defined and playing off one another brilliantly. It’s all one big set-up for the gag at the end, but the payoff’s worth it, all the dots pretty well connected at last for a painfully funny send-up of all your expectations. What’s that Tolstoy line about happy families?

Politics as Usual
This is no time to be playing politics. While the 2008 Presidential election season is, effectively, already in progress, and so fund-raising matters, governmental ethics are long past due for a serious clean-up effort. Let’s have it, Democrats: let’s go all-out on ethics reforms. The Republicans may block parts, but not if they don’t want to be seen as the party of corruption they let themselves become. But it’s not just about who benefited from the K Street Project or who didn’t. Democrats are just as prone to abusing the loopholes as anyone else. God knows, Murtha’s got a rep for cosying up to the GOP when it suits him, and everybody loves some legislative pork. I’m with Obama: it’s about putting some bite in the rules. Then let’s move on to campaign financing.

R.I.P.
I only got to one game when I was at Michigan, but it was at a time when Bo Shembechler could do no wrong. What a coach.

Environmental Indecision
While fires rage in the Blue Mountains, down in Tassie and Victoria, there’s snow, and more to come, with last night the coldest in Sydney for this time of year in a 100 years, too. Aberrant weather isn’t necessarily a proof of global warming, unless it becomes a pattern of its own, but maybe it’s just as well that our beloved PM has adopted a new(ish) position on the matter.

Justice for All
It's not just about a 'fair trial' or whether he's making use of the appeals process built into the U.S. justice system, as Ruddock and others persist in saying, but whether he is a legitimate prisoner of war or an Australian citizen eligible for repatriation and the benefits of Australian law. Like the British citizens Tony Blair retrieved from their legal limbo, David Hicks deserves the support of his government.



Here’s an Amnesty International video (produced by our friends at Ether Productions).

Rummy Dummy Spit
Rumsfeld’s out, apparently in response to the Democratic majority in Congress (say, wasn’t it just this week that George II was going to “stay the course” with his Defense Secretary?), and Robert Gates is in. What is it with Bush and all these former Iran-Contra crooks? Can’t he bring in anyone to his administration but the worst of the Reaganites? First, Negroponte, now Gates. Who’s next? Ollie?

What an astute move by our lame duck Executive.

(Meanwhile, what can we expect from the first 100 hours? Nancy Pelosi’s agenda sounds pretty good.)

Too Bad, So Sad; But in Other Races, I’m Glad
There are many more returns yet to come in, but while Lieberman may have succeeded in his Senate bid (and I’d have given up any hope for a majority just to see him lose), at least we’ll have gotten rid of that devil’s minion, Rick Santorum. I remain hopeful for Virginia, too, where the Webb-Allen race is still close, with 96% reporting and only a 1% difference between the candidates, and Montana, where Tester's showing an early lead. Missouri looks like it'll go Republican, as does Tennessee, although they could both still swing.

???? [It's supposed to be Chinese for "Convenience Store", but Blogger don't do that.]
Marrickville will go to a vote on whether shop signs must include English. Apparently, some residents, or Councillors, anyway, are concerned about Asian-language shop signs they can’t read. What? Do they think they’re selling crack? (???? [Again, no non-Roman characters available, so never mind, don't bother contacting the Laowai; you'll have a pretty good idea what it probably said, anyway.]) Now, I’m all for being able to find a tea-smoked duck at the lowest price, or I would be if I was eating duck, let alone wasn’t thoroughly grossed-out by the shop display usual to such places as sell it, but this is forced assimilation and a little silly. It would be indicative of a desire to integrate for such shop owners as are deliberately catering to a particular ethnicity that they include English, and I’m sure delicatessens and bodegas anywhere in the English-speaking-majority world could attest to more success by expanding their signage past Hebrew or Yiddish and Spanish. I couldn’t begin to count the number of “Sino-Latino” restaurants I used to see in NYC, and back when I lived in Queens, it was a multicultural delight to walk into the local Chinese take-out joint and find it was run by Koreans who spoke English and Spanish as well as their native language. But, again, isn’t this just (legislatively) catering to a xenophobic few, already well-serviced by shops providing for mainstream consumers, who are otherwise intimidated by an immigrant presence maintaining their cultural identity through language and custom without otherwise interfering with the day-to-day lives of anyone else? If the shop’s signage puts you off, don’t go in. Or even better, go in and ask questions. What’s this? How much is it? Etc. Buy something. The operators may realize they’re missing out on some income.

How Do You Tuna Fish?
In less than 50 years, there will be no more fish. The ramifications of Dr. Worm’s report extend far beyond whether or not our dining options will become limited, because we’re not the only ones on the planet dependent on the ocean. (We’re better off than the whales and dolphins, obviously, in this projection; they don’t farm.) Meanwhile, the Bush administration denies there’s a problem. Somehow, back in the States, the trend is improving, but tell that to the men in boats hunting cod. Or Australia, where the concern over illegal fishing is a headline-grabber. I’m waiting to hear what Johnnie thinks: it usually sounds like whatever’s just popped out of George’s mouth.

GOTV
If your voting machine is easily hacked and doesn’t produce a paper trail, that’s o.k., but it’s a whole ‘nother story if your software company owners are Venezuelan and started with the referendum to elect Hugo Chavez. Anybody else smell brimstone?