World Vision
They’re already a very popular charity here, if the evidence of various coffee bars and such displaying “all tips go to support our sponsored child” signs is anything to go by, and now the Australian public has donated – man, woman, and child – a dollar apiece: AU$20 million to support World Vision’s tsunami relief efforts, and this is on top of the money already raised since the disaster. It doesn’t sound like much when you say “a dollar apiece,” but consider that not all are actually capable of making a donation: children, pensioners, the indigent. For all the instances of pundits quoting Stalin’s cynicism (“one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic”), it appears that we all really can act collectively to the benefit of others.

Weeds, Whites & Land Management
The title here is stolen from an inappropriate Little Feat’s song, “Willin’”, and mismanaged into something approaching the topic of desertification in Australia, as discussed in today’s SMH article by Paul Sheehan, “Continent at risk of dry tsunami.” In it, Sheehan goes on about “weeds” being an efficient part of the land’s own water-management process. Of course, weeds are just plants that aren’t grass, trees, bushes, or edible grain producers, so it’s a bit silly to use the term. Nevertheless, the main point, that land management practices since the arrival of humans, particularly European colonization, but no less the Aborigines 80,000 years ago, have decimated the continent’s ability to support itself. For all those who deride environmentalists, global warming, Michael Crichton’s critics, well, you need to know that there are problems and the idea that industry can be given the option to manage itself in respect to ecological custodial regulations is ludicrous, as is the idea that farming isn’t an industry. There are small-holders (and they’re not doing any better than the corporations for the most part), but there is more and more centralized control over agriculture. Unless corporate profit-taking practices can be curbed and sustainable farming introduced as a requirement for operating in agriculture, government will be at the mercy of business as more demands for more resources need to be met. Imagine what will happen in the coming decades when the topsoil blows away, when the earth has too high a salt content to allow vegetation, when the water demands for farming exceed our ability to supply farms and people in an either/or situation. The question Sheehan’s article ends with, “what if [Peter Andrews] is right [about sustainable farming and salination],” isn’t the end. I’d ask, is Peter Andrews the only one out there actually doing something about the problem? If he is, it’s already too late.

And the Nominees Are . . .
I’ve already emailed Hillary and Chuck, not that I expect either of them to do much about Alberto Gonzales. (I have to use my old NYC address, but that's where I'm registered to vote anyway.) I do think, nevertheless, that now is the time for the Democrats to fight hard - not just on this nomination, but on the whole pack of them, and anything else that comes up - or Bush’s corruption of our nation will continue unabated. Contact your Senator. Write to them, call them, whenever there’s something you want them to think about and act on. The Republicans do it, individually and en masse. We can, too.

Boxed In
He’s still the President, which we all expected, but it’s sort of disappointing that only Barbara Boxer stood up to challenge Republican fraud. No matter what sneering jibes have been issued in response, last year’s election was another example of machine politics at work, something we’d all like to think had passed away with Tammany Hall. And it isn’t enough. A full-scale investigation is required, independent counsel and all, both nationally and in Ohio, where Kenneth Blackwell delivered the vote to Bush, as he’d promised he would. Who’s going to stand up and make the call, when only one Senator out of two hundred (and only 75 were present to certify the Electoral College results, 74-1) had the courage to stand up for the American people? Four years isn’t enough time to fix the problems that allowed the 2004 and 2000 frauds to occur, not if our legislators are going to fiddle while DC burns. Don’t forget, Bush doesn’t have the mandate he and his sycophants claim: 3 million votes isn’t a landslide; it’s 2%.

Conservative Compassion
$13,000 from an estimated $17 million net worth is the sum total of Bush II’s sympathy for the plight of millions in southeast Asia. Admittedly, his annual salary is only $400,000, plus room-and-board for himself and every member of his family living in the White House, so he can’t have much to throw around to help poor people: they might become dependent or something. I know, I know, “the poor you will have with you always,” but if you’re going to make a big show of your charity, you’re missing the point about not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Then again, we knew that when Powell got sent in to talk up how the U.S. is the friend of Muslims everywhere. Does anyone at those White House prayer meetings actually know any Christian philosophy, or do they just make it up to suit themselves? Remember the story of the widow’s mite, then consider what individuals around the globe are doing to help.

In case you’re wondering about governmental aid donations, leaving aside overall aid budgets, The Swanker has a comparative breakdown showing the contributions of Arab nations, the U.S., Britain, and Australia, vis a vis GDP, none of the latter 3 of whom have managed even 1% so far, while the Arabs are managing at least that much. (In the credit where credit’s due column, however, Australia has increased its overall contribution to AU$1 billion, over 5 years, to Indonesia alone.)

Update: to put this in population perspective, follow the Swanker's link to No Right Turn, where per capita rates are entabulated.

Disaster
It's probably appropriate to comment a little on the tsunami right now, what with everyone else having already chimed in (including to make fools of themselves by blaming global warming, George Bush, environmentalists, anti-globalization activists . . . basically taking the opportunity of 150,000 deaths to whet whatever axe they use to produce chips for their shoulders).

It's horrible; awesome, even. As the numbers rolled up and up and the t.v. replayed scenes of the ocean sweeping across beaches, resort areas, villages, I couldn't grasp the magnitude. Too big, too many. At 60,000, I could see Shea Stadium packed full, and had a way to imagine the scale. Three stadiums full. And there'll be more. Like September 11, I've stopped watching the news coverage, unable to endure the endless loops of the disaster footage. The newspapers will be enough to keep up with.

Homes gone. Land gone. The salt water will effect the ability of the land to support vegetation, to regenerate. Businesses devastated; the ability of people to support themselves with whatever small or large industry or enterprise they had used to feed themselves and their families.

But so many millions of dollars are being donated, and not just by governments. In a single night, New Year's Eve, which the networks here turned into fund-raisers, the Australian people donated nearly half a million dollars, and cumulatively since the event contributed nearly $5 a head, man, woman, and child: $50 million. Around the world, the citizenry of other countries are doing the same. Medecins sans Frontieres has had to ask people to stop donating, so much money has been coming in, overwhelming their ability to handle it. And the on-the-ground aid work is ramping up, assisted by troops from America, from Australia, from all around the region. Private citizens are pitching in wherever they can.

Years will go by, and all the heart-warming stories - the infant rescued after days floating on a mattress, the animals in Sri Lanka whose senses sent them to high ground ahead of the flood - these will be lost, and the work will go on.

You know the charities; you know what to do. (Oh, and meanwhile, it's not particularly useful to slag the UN, the only existing body capable of coordinating the relief efforts of so many disparate countries, committees, organizations. It's not like anyone else is offering to actually lead the work needed.)

Underway
Back at work now, which, despite ADSL at home, makes it easier somehow to post entries - bad, I know, stealing time from my employer, but I make it up to them - so it feels like the new year is well and truly started, although that won't really be true until I stop writing "2004" instead of "2005" on checks, letters, memos, et al. We didn't make it to the beach over the holidays break, but we did manage to see The Incredibles, which has got to be one of the most enjoyable films I've seen in a long time. Yes, better than the grown-up movies, even, if only because it's so well-rounded. Craig T. Nelson was good, which was a surprise, because I've never liked him, and Holly Hunter was disconcerting at first, but proved excellent. Sarah Vowell, of NPR, did the voice of the daughter. I've never heard her radio show, but she hit all the right whiny notes, showing an excellent feel for the character. And Wallace Shawn should be in every movie, even if it is only a bit part. We also got I, Robot out on DVD, and Hellboy, both of which were very good, each in its own way. Of course, having had this boy-movie festival (while the nephews were over, providing me an excellent excuse), I'm now committed to seeing something more age-group oriented. I'm sure something will turn up eventually that isn't a costume piece or throwback to the Rock Hudson-Doris Day era.

Wrap-Up
Because the office closes and hands out days off at Christmas like they're bon-bons, I've had quite a bit of time at home through tomorrow that I'll have spent on holidaying, including traditional calls to the homeland and hosting overnights by the nephews and other familial obligations undertaken and executed. Now that the New Year is underway, there are yet today and tomorrow for pure relaxation. Naturally, the weather is somewhat uncooperative, so beach time may have to wait a week.

Meanwhile, what a year it's been. No job turned into a new job just in time, appendectomies (well, one, mine, anyway), etc., and so forth. Until the tsunami, the year had looked to finish as peacefully as might be expected with the U.S. occupying Iraq, so it's all the more awe-inspiring to know that nature itself can be so incredibly devastating. So many lives lost, so much destruction, this is likely to be the new Lisbon, surpassing that legendary earthquake's toll for, let's hope, centuries yet to come. With so many yet unconfirmed losses, every day brings new pain for many.

Christmas brought reminders of love from my family, not least a very welcome subscription to The New Yorker, but also, perhaps even better, Dr. Evil, arch-enemy of Captain Action, that most lugubrious of 12-inch action heroes.

He's a hippie, of course, what with the medallion, Nehru-style tunic, and sandals, and we all know how devoted to the cause of badness those 60's-style radicals are. The brains are a nice touch, don't you think?

Yuletide BBQ
Because Australia is an Anglo country, Christmas is traditionally celebrated with all the appurtenances of the northern hemisphere, from reindeer and Santa’s sleigh (sometimes modified as a “rusty Holden ute”) to fir trees bedecked with baubles and tinsel. It looks, to use the vernacular, naf. Sure, red and green are pretty, but the bearded gent in the fur suit is ludicrous in the context of sun and surf, prawns on ice and a coldie. Sure, it got cold back in the Mediterranean Promised Land – a desert country, by-and-large, not unlike here in the antipodes – but the snowy scenes depicted on greeting cards have no more basis in reality than the jolly old elf delivering presents or coal according to a fixed standard of behavior amongst the kiddies. The fairy lights strung up around town twinkle brightly, but we’re in daylight savings mode for the duration, and the sun stays up well past shopping hours, limiting the effect and leaving little enough benefit for anyone left in town. A little cloud-cover this year doesn’t change the situation overall: it’s time to rethink Christmas decorations, not to mention time to stop bagging each other over who’s a better Christian; see previous post. (Travelling along Broadway last night past the Legion of Mary, M. & I spotted their storefront display: a table-top sized nativity scene, with a full-sized Santa kneeling before it amid clouds and clots of cotton snow. Yikes.) Perhaps we can review what Christmas is all about: the promise of redemption, the love of families, peace on earth and goodwill to all, God rest ye merry gentlemen. I couldn’t care less if December 25 was co-opted from pagan winter solstice celebrations; it’s too late now.

The star of Bethlehem makes a nice symbol, and there are certainly plenty of shepherds around so we can leave in the wool, although I don’t recommend wearing it. Angels, sure, if you want ‘em, but Santa’s just silly, as are the Frosty snowmen and other such non-tropical winter representations: scrap ‘em, and head down to Bondi, Manly, Coogee, Maroubra, wherever, and have a open-to-all-comers game of beach volleyball. Everybody can BYO beverages and comestibles, too, and share-and-share alike. Hanukkah is over already, but the festival of lights says a lot about faith and is otherwise seasonal, so let’s have some menorahs and Davidic stars. Tinsel, however, is a hazard. The bright sun reflects off the stuff to sharply, and we’ll all be driving or walking into light poles in broad day, blinded by the glare. Some nice colorful bunting would work just fine. But don’t talk to me about Kwanza – for all the African population around, it’s a made-up-in-America secular event that has no place or purpose here. For M. and I, the day will be spent quietly at home, perhaps a visit out among the rellies in Manly or Lilyfield and the now-traditional calls overseas. We might dress up the cat with a pretty bow.

Tax Bonanza
Revenues to the federal government here have resulted in a AU$6 billion surplus. Already reneging on portions of AU$9 billion in election promises, the Howard government has turned around to hand out AU$11 billion to big business in tax breaks, grants, and tariffs. And the economy? Be warned; oh, and Merry Christmas.

The Expatriate Community
Somebody's going to be in trouble.

Gregory Altreuter -- Internationally Published Poet
Hello. Guest poster M here. Greg recently got in big trouble from a certain member of our American family for not annoucing to the world my recent, humble, achievements. So for fear of risking getting in trouble myself I hereby annouce the publication of one of Greg's poems in a none too shabby bi-annual called Blue Dog, put out by Poetry Australia Foundation. It's an excellent poem called "Grass," and the issue has just hit the bookshelves. We're waiting for a copy in the mail, but I may try to get copies to a select few of his dedicated readers. You know who you are.

Bridges, Tunnels, & Crowds
Remember when the Williamsburg bridge was falling down? No, well, you may not have cared; God knows NYC didn’t show much concern until it really was nearly too late. Now, however, after years and years of work, endless paint scraping, concerns over airborn lead particles, well, it’s still not exactly repaired, but at least they’re working on it. Turns out – as if we didn’t already know it – the subways need work, too. Governments hate spending money, don’t they? There are those who will say it’s because too much is spent on foreign aid or on homelessness programs, and the proper role of government is to build roads, if only those damn lefties would let them, but that’s not really the problem, is it? Be honest, now, because you know the problem is inefficiency and inappropriate priorities. Where is the money really being spent, when, and how? Endless dollars are poured into missile-defense systems that don’t work and studies on how to improve financial management within the various levels of government (let alone studies on what we’re going to do about the trains). Plus, like everywhere else, once the money gets down to the grass-roots levels, there’s also considerable waste and corruption. Why don’t the trains run properly in Sydney? Because the government is spending the money elsewhere, on new highway ring-roads and tunnels, for example. Traffic is miserable, but building more roads doesn’t reduce the problem; it exacerbates it. Why are the subways of NYC in such poor shape? Because when the MTA had the money, they gave themselves bonuses and salary increases instead of putting in the time and effort to upgrade their equipment. (Yes, there are other reasons, important ones, but this isn’t an essay on those details.) Businesses used to run on the principle that when times were flush, you put the excess back into the company, improving capacity so that outside forces would have less effect on performance in the future, instead of spending it on executive stock options and lavish holiday parties. Governments ought to do the same thing (although I hate to use the business=government equation: that’s what got George II into office, and it isn’t true anyway, not in anything other than a metaphorical sense). Who pays for all this? The poor and the middle class, of course. What can we do about it? Well, we don’t have to sit there and take it. We can make our displeasure known, demand the quality we ought to be receiving, and withhold our support wherever we can until we get it. Vote your interests, first of all, not just your fear of interest rates, and then start writing and calling and making yourself heard: public services serve the public. CityRail could have kept the Olympics-level service going; and the MTA could have quieter, more reliable trains running through solid tunnels with up-to-date signalling, switching, and tracking equipment, if we’d been making a point of it before it got to be too late.

Prostitution
Now that I’ve signed up to display Google ads, it’s nice to know they’re legal.

Re-Legitimizing Peace
Mahmoud Abbas’ call to an end to the use of arms is cautiously worded, but a positive impulse towards peace. It remains to be seen whether he can carry the Palestinian Authority into being the political body the citizenry need, or whether Hamas and the other terrorist organizations will continue their hold on the hearts and minds. The PA never spent the time and money under Arafat on the social welfare programs that would have legitimized them, while Hamas et al. were setting up soup kitchens and re-homing the dispossessed concurrently with their recruitment drives and arming of beleaguered, disaffected people. If Abbas can turn this situation around, he’ll prove himself the Palestinian who deserved a Nobel Prize, as his predecessor never did.

It’s Always Mom’s Fault
I wondered how long it would take before the mealy-mouthed Miranda Devine blamed working mothers: 7 paragraphs; and another 7 until she blames feminism. Of course, as a columnist, she doesn’t have to go into the office, so she can be a stay-at-home and a working mother all at once. Very clever.

Zip Janet Albrechtsen’s Job Anywhere But Here
Or zip her lip, anyway. Talk about a “grinch.” Janet Albrechtsen advocates off-shoring jobs because that’s teaching Third World countries to fish, whereas governments supplying foreign aid is just feeding them for a day. Is it hypocritical of me to worry that my job will be moved to Bangalore and I’ll be here on the dole? Not really, not when you consider what foreign aid really buys. Countries with foreign aid budgets spend their money by funding projects and economic reforms in the Third World, not by handing out cash on Calcutta or Nairobi street corners to individual passers-by, and not just in food or humanitarian aid. Her “Struggletown vs. Wealthtown” comparison is fatuous and insulting to everyone, not just simplistic and inaccurate. If she’s serious, she can start with her own damn job.

E=MC2
The Sydney Commuter explains the physics of CityRail: remember, time is relative, so when the display says the next departing train is due in 2 minutes, what they're really saying is: E(lectronic indicator) = M(aybe) C(oming) [in] 2 [minutes]. Never more true than when you're depending on catching a particular train. I figure that CityRail operations are also the proof of string theory, because they operate on a [shoe]string. I crack myself up.

Wrapped in the Flag
The holiday season is so much fun. Fresh from battling chicko-shops over nativity scenes, the reactionary forces of right-wing political correctness are raising a hue and cry over Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. Plans for the annual sound-and-light display now include a giant disco ball hanging from the Harbour Bridge and a disco remix of the national anthem. Sounds like a party.

It’s amazing to me to have been here for two years now and to have heard consistently throughout that period Australian consternation over American patriotic displays only to now encounter the same behavior. “You Americans,” I’ve been told, “always hanging out your flag”; “the national anthem is played at every sporting event? How strange” “Children recite the Pledge of Allegiance?” Yeah, it’s true, although they don’t have to say “under God” if they don’t want to. Yes, there’s Flag Day. Yes, we sing the anthem, if we know the words, before each baseball-football-basketball-etc. game, off-key, too. Now somebody wants to put a beat on Advance Australia Fair (is there a comma in there somewhere?) and look what happens.

I like Australia’s low-key patriotism. We go a bit over the top in the States sometimes (especially when the Bushes and Reagans start up about Constitutional Amendments to protect the flag). I like Australia’s sense of humor, too; a dry, satirical wit, often enough, when it isn’t boldly scatological. So what’s happened? Where’s all this coming from? Perhaps it’s all just a beat-up from the talk-radio morons. But what a noise.

Most likely, this is all Clover Moore’s fault. Yes, the new Lord Mayor of Sydney – suddenly everyone’s discovered that their distrust of government put in office someone who isn’t going to just give them business-as-usual. She looks different, acts different, so everything she does is wrong. These are the people who put John Howard back into office for his “historic” fourth term, and with Bob Carr under siege, Labor’s days now appear numbered in NSW and the city. Especially if the crowd down at the Opera House don’t Hustle on 31 December.

All Over But the Shouting
Oracle is buying out PeopleSoft for $26.50 per share. I think I missed the part where the “poison pill” kicks in having been eliminated. Oracle is now the biggest of the ERP vendors, and until Microsoft buys out SAP, they also look to be, effectively, the only game in town. SAP is notoriously hard to implement, for all that it’s also supposed to be a superior product to Oracle once it’s in place. Having used neither, I can’t comment beyond the gossip, but I have used PeopleSoft, and it’s a pretty nice relational database product, one likely only to enhance Oracle’s own software line. This does leave me in a bit of a nervous disposition, however, as it bodes for the elimination of one of the key products I’ve hung my professional life on. As much as I’d like to believe the PeopleSoft line will continue, and itself be enhanced by integration with Oracle’s database platform technology, it seems much more likely to be fully subsumed before long. And the army of consultants and developers in Pleasanton, California, and around the world? My marketplace just got a lot more competitive for the next couple of years.

Responsibility and Consumerism
Most businesses making campaign donations do so pretty much equally between Democrats and Republicans. Others are more partisan. Buy Blue can help you direct your consumer impulses into socially-directed purchases. Why buy from a company which will only use the money to promote a social agenda you don’t share? Instead, the Blue Christmas list will help you select retailers and so forth who put their money into the system more in line with your own preferences. Amazon, for example, put 61% of its donations into GOP coffers, while Barnes & Noble gave 98% of theirs to the Democrats. (And Borders went them 2% better, with 100% of their money going to the DNC.) You don’t even have to mount an actual boycott, well, unless you want to fly somewhere not serviced by JetBlue, or can’t gas up at Phoenix Oil & Gas service stations. Nothing’s foolproof.

Weekend Wrap-Up
While M. was away at a seminar learning many new and useful things about this-and-that, I contented myself over the course of Saturday and Sunday with the usual chores and listening to some recordings I haven't put on to play in a longish time, such as London Calling, by the Clash, which album has had its 25th anniversary the other day, and which stands up remarkably well, with only two or three clinkers over the course of [what was once] a double-album. I also put on More Songs About Buildings & Food, the Talking Heads' second album release, which was a lot of fun, too. While Remain in Light was, at the time, a revealatory album, it does not hold up quite so well, being too busy (although Eno's backing vocals are terrific). These lounge activities were accompanied by one more glass of wine than I ought to have had (it's summer, hot, and a cold chardonney is a beautiful thing) and catching up on September issues of the New Yorker, which were depressing due to their heavy Election '04 content, much of which was predictive of the disappointing outcome in November, despite the hopeful notes sounded throughout. The Graham Parker boxed set I got from the counsellor some time back was the most fun; even barefooted, I had my soul shoes on.

Friday Cat Foto

It's a tradition.

Suburban Subterfuge
More housing is needed, and Bob Carr’s got the plan to get it done: with the new land release, new plans for subdivisions to be built according to a “village” centre concept, ensuring that everyone lives within walking distance of a shopping strip. It apparently doesn’t matter that there will be no mass transit infrastructure to speak of until 2019, requiring the residents to drive to work, and there doesn’t appear to be any plan for easing the environmental burden, whether in power or water usage. Carr’s plan is, as usual, a short-term vision for a long-term problem. What shops are going into these suburbs? Who’s going to run them? What has to be given away to get the major retail support? If Bob thinks Coles and Woolies are going to build supermarkets in his village centres, he must be deluded or already conceding the tax revenues to entice them. If he thinks the drilling being planned out in the aquifers is going to supply the increased demand for water, he must be listening to a latter-day Noah. As for electricity, well, he’s working on the coal-fired plants even as we speak, although it’s going to cost all of us plenty more even before the new houses go up. Vision, Mr. Carr, is a word meant to be used when the plan employs foresight, not desperation.

The Best-We’ve-Got-Right-Now-for-You Generation
“You go to war with the army you have,” is the best response Donald Rumsfeld could muster when questioned – by the troops themselves – why the army doesn’t have all the equipment it needs in Iraq. Sorry, but that’s the answer you give when you’re the army fighting defense, not offense, and as someone who grew up in the Second World War, he ought to know that. In that war, we built up the military and kept building until the war was over. In fact, we were building and shipping for the allies before we even joined in. This time, we didn’t plan, we haven’t executed well, and it’s the soldiers on the ground who suffer. Meanwhile, you won’t hear a lot about this from the conservative commentators around, at least not until they can figure out a way to keep Rumsfeld the “best Secretary of Defense . . . ever.” They just don’t get it, do they?

Festival or Famine
With the news of Marianne Faithful pulling out from performing in The Black Rider at the Sydney Festival this year, aren’t we glad we opted instead to go see the Leonard Cohen tribute? Yes, but then, we probably were, anyway. Meanwhile, we also hope Ms. Faithful will recover well. Her career’s rise and fall and rise again and again has offered great entertainment at its peaks, and I hear her new album is her best work since Broken English, which is a tempting prospect.

Wire Act
I finally made it out to see Hero last night, which M. left me to do on my own, there being too many battle scenes for her taste, but I think she ought to have come along. Although, yes, there are vast troop movements, this isn’t Return of the King or one of the usual epochal Camelot films, although there is a mythic, Arthurian quality. Instead, and in addition to the appeal of the story itself, it’s one of the most brilliantly colored movies I think I’ve ever seen, not to disparage in any way the restored print I saw a while back of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I think, spoiled the graceful arial effects, or, at least, they didn’t come off so well in this film, perhaps because of the kind of 3D-style camera-work that was often used with them. This is not to say, however, that any of the actors were themselves ungraceful; they were, immensely so. The music was brilliant, and the story full of nuances to be mulled over and discussed for their present-day significance and universality. Something about these political creation tales, legends of the ancients, when heroes strode the world in grand, epochal fashion, resonates within us, regardless of the cultural source. War and peace, love and relationships, patriotism and partisanship . . . all these things were present and not simply glossed. The feelings, the passions, aroused within this movie are deep, with a surface polish that is hard to see past sometimes, but lets us know there is so much more beneath just the same. I kept thinking of a particular niece, too, whose present studies in Chinese language would make for some fine points of discussion, I’m sure, vis-à-vis the spoken words vs. the subtitles, perhaps some insights on the use of dialects, and the subtleties at work in the story and presentation.

Merry Christmas, You Bastards
It’s an interesting proposition, one raised, as Miranda Devine rightly claims, year after year, that Christmas is under attack. Oh-my-God. What will we do? Sadly, what we hear more about these days isn’t the same as what the Christians used to ask, that we “keep Christ in Christmas,” but instead it’s a kind of Wahhibist hue and cry for Christmas to be celebrated in full force by everyone. No secular society here. Instead, some chicken sandwich shop doesn’t want to put up a nativity scene, and they’re anti-Christian. The city spends hundreds of thousands of dollars more on decorations around town and they’re not enough, they’re “grim.” While there are a number of people of conservative political mindsets who claim it’s non-Christians making it hard on the “rest of us,” in fact, the claim that secular forces are conspiring to disallow religious celebrations in public is equally a myth, and it make me angry to have these fundamentalist mental cases throwing this in my face every year. Growing up, I witnessed a move from civic decorations devoted to fir trees, Santa Claus, and reindeer to efforts inclusive of other religious festivals of the season, with menorahs and Davidic stars mixed in among the other tinselled streetlamp wraps and banners. There were always pretty lights and colorful placards and so forth, and it was very pleasant. And since those days, nothing’s changed – nothing, except that lately, since the 1980’s, I’d say, there has been a growing discontent among conservatives over their depth of control. I’ve lately spent some time re-reading literature from the 1930’s and ‘40’s, and it’s very plain to see that conservatism used to feel it encompassed morality and then lost its grip over the course of the two World Wars. Although the 1950’s saw the fist clutch more tightly, the pressure exerted only caused what it tried to hold onto to squeeze out explosively during the 1960’s and ‘70’s, and the fragmentation that occurred has only recently moved to reassemble social order, albeit in a new inclusive fashion than previously. For the last twenty years, however, that fist is closing again, and the pundits of conservatism, such as Miranda Devine, Rush Limbaugh, Fred Nile, Jerry Falwell, have risen to decry the lack of morality in public, and they choose to do this by “astroturfing” the FCC with indecency complaints, using the media to cavil against chicko-shops and an insufficiency of Christmas cheeriness at Town Hall. This serves to raise the ire of small-minded people, who then proceed to support the broader agenda at work. But look, it’s not as bad as they’re making out. There’s tinsel everywhere, tacky, yes, but present up and down the main streets of suburb and city. The shopping malls and storefronts have their fake snow and plastic evergreens. There’s no lack of Salvos begging spare change, Santas in “North Pole” villages for your annual photo distribution to the rellies. At least one house in each town is decorated with enough lights and Frosty Snowmen to see its quarterly energy bill exceed its mortgage repayment by an order of magnitude, and the traffic will be abysmal with everyone driving by to see it. There are even little stables with Wise Men and Christ Childs overlooked by 60-watt angels. The non-Christians are not unhappy the Christians make a point of Christmas, and the secularists only bemoan the shabbiness of the decorations’ quality. (Fairy lights and tinsel and bauble-hung pines look a bit dismal in these southern climes, and it doesn’t help to substitute palms or eucalypts.) So maybe it isn’t Christmas that’s under siege. Maybe it’s just the pressure of all those gifts you’re going to have to get, the hot weather, and the sense of enforced cheer. Maybe if you celebrated Christmas itself, you could stop picking on everyone else who isn’t doing it to your standard. Just a suggestion.

Mountain Greenery
So we were up in the mountains, as the Laurie Anderson piece starts, but we don’t go on from there in the same vein. Instead, we were visiting Katoomba, meeting with friends there and having a relaxing weekend away in the Blue Mountains. We overnighted at the Carrington, a kind of Overlook Hotel, but without the ghosts, and had a nice look around, including, naturally the Three Sisters, a natural feature of the landscape I can’t seem to stay away from – this is the third time for me.

I’m going to have to see a bit more of the local natural wonders eventually, but I’m not going to kick about it. In fact, although the Catskills might be the most easily comparable location in the States, it seems quite pleasant indeed up there. That might be less true during fire season, and winter gets a little chilly, no doubt, but I like that. Certainly, it would be quiet, and it’s always very green and restful. I should stop thinking of retirement now, though, and get back to work.

Power, Absolutely
We don’t have Niagara Falls turning any turbines around here, and nuclear plants don’t operate as promised (and never have), so all we can rely on for electricity are coal-fired power plants, by and large. They’re rough on the environment, and demand is higher than they can supply readily, especially in summer, leading to the latest Carr government innovation: a special levy. From the article, it sounds like Penrith and the western margins of the city are where the trouble is, but a lot of the money is in the CBD, so I expect the levy not to be very favorably structured for unit-dwellers around town. I’d like to get some better details though, and soon; it’s only fair, if they’re going to charge me, that they tell me about it first. I just renewed by EnergyAustralia contract, too, which I’d expect to be honoured. There is no honor among politicians, however.

Southerly Buster
Yesterday’s temperatures triggered a burst of colder air sweeping in off the sea by the late afternoon, bringing not only a welcome relief as I walked to the Parramatta station but also, by around eight or nine o’clock, a brief patter of rain. The sound, scattered raindrops pattering on the metal awning beneath our windows, was distinct, but it’s been so long, I didn’t recognize it at first; I wasn’t even sure where it was coming from. The rain didn’t last long overnight, but this morning dawned cool and grey and with a bit of a downpour here and there over the area, leaving the sidewalks and roadways gleaming, freshly washed. Such a relief, however brief it will yet prove, that the rainy season is not quite finished. As I post this, however, the sun has come out to torment me further.

Homeland Insufficiency
Tom Ridge has resigned, but to call the results of his tenure as Director of Homeland Security “mixed” is to be generous. Yes, explosives-detection equipment has been installed in some airports, but while luggage remains largely unscreened (other than: “did you pack your bags yourself” inquiries), National Guardsmen loiter around the magnometers, M16’s in hand, while inept fetishists require a sniff of your shoes or feel up your grandmother. Good work, Tom. As for color-coded alerts, well, thank God we had John Ashcroft screaming hysterically like a panicked schoolgirl, because that put Ridge’s calm befuddlement in context: I don’t know what’s wrong with John, he seemed to say, we’re still only ON HIGH ALERT! To be fair, American business interests haven’t done anything other than whinge and drag their feet over any idea of investing in security improvements themselves, and that has made things difficult for Ridge, especially given the lousy budget he had to work with: “My President created a new Cabinet position but all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” Or pantone chart. International businesses have long sought ways to avoid regulation and increase profit, and they’ve generally been very successful. Nevertheless, how much business are they going to do after they’ve shipped in a container full of nukes? Upgrade or die, I say. The cost of doing business has now grown to include securing commercial shipping – air, sea, road, rail. Negotiate a tax break if you can, but otherwise, get it done.

It remains to be seen whom Bush will appoint by February, but I sincerely hope it’s someone with vision and force, not just another bobbing head or Cold Warrior.

1 December
It's officially summer here now, which explains the heat. My God, it's hot. O.k., so it's really only 101 Fahrenheit, that's not hot enough for you? On the first day of summer? Yeah, that's what I thought. Of course, I'm not really very far west from the city, but every kilometer counts when you can only rely on lovely sea breezes to cool things off to a reasonable temperature. Down by the harbour, it's a balmy 27.9, whereas out here, it's 38.5. Going out at lunch, I could feel the moisture evaporating off my eyeballs, much as it did when we visited Las Vegas. Maybe it's not really that bad. It would help if they'd fix the air conditioning in the office. Three months of this. Of course, it's really longer than than; we do have to contend with the solstice and then wait for the equinox (note: Northern Hemisphere-centric links), which effectively add another month of hot weather. No wonder the city shuts down over Christmas-New Year's. Culture-shock temper tantrum? You were warned in the masthead.

Double-Plus Liberty
Policy Review has an article by Tod Lindberg on Neoconservatism’s Liberal Legacy in which he argues that neocons, such as himself, are in fact liberals. Well, they serve a liberal agenda in that they balance freedom and equality in matters of public policy. The article strikes me as a bit of double-think, but there is a valid point being made, insofar as neoconservatives are operating within a democratic context. The gloss on the moral basis of the judgments serving the polarity of the neocon position, however, ultimately argues towards status quo more than it does towards positive change. Society will decide, ultimately what the neocon agenda is, by balancing any extremes therein with extremes from the opposite end of the political spectrum, with the ability of the public to accept greater equality for a greater number increasing as their own freedoms expand and can be more generous. Thus, gay rights, for example, will ultimately come to pass – or not – based on society’s ability and its intrinsic need to accept the equality of homosexuals once the rest of society’s freedom is no longer perceived as being threatened thereby. It’s a persuasive argument, but it boils down to: “I’ve got mine, Jack; screw you.” For all its truth, society can do better. Every change is a paradigm shift; every change is a revolution, at least insofar as you refuse to think critically and dispassionately from a standpoint outside your own selfishness. It is selfishness that pushes people to opposite ends of the political divide, and it is selfishness that keeps them there, mocking their opponents, attacking what they refuse to understand. “Free your mind, and the rest will follow,” as the saying goes, and it’s true: once you can step outside hidebound tradition, once you can see the other point of view, it becomes difficult indeed to be less than compassionate. Paul Wolfowitz and the like may claim the neoconservative label, and they may apply it to George Bush and his ilk, but they do not serve a compassionate purpose. The morality of Bush, the political agenda of the neocons in Washington DC, these seek to balance their freedom over the equality of others, judging according to their perception of the superiority of their own moral system. It’s circular, and it’s selfish.

North’s Souths
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are looking to move across the harbour after next year; well, I won’t begrudge them the opportunity to make a bit of profit from their efforts, and the Redfern oval isn’t in particularly good shape. It’s a valid point that even if their present stadium site is renovated, it would take a period of years to get it done, and then with still no better guarantee of drawing a sufficient crowd. For a club that relies on the gate for its revenue, making the move is sensible. It would, however, be nearly the same as moving the Yankees out of the Bronx . . . or rather, moving the Mets out of Shea. It also means I’m really going to have to make an effort to see them in Redfern or give up calling myself a Souths fan.

ABC’s ABC
The “My Favourite Book” campaign over at the ABC was an intriguing survey, and while my own selection was (perhaps typically) marginal, there were surely enough people voting on more conventional books for the results to be worth looking at. A 90-minute broadcast is a little long, however, to my mind. What will be the top book? I just hope it isn’t The DaVinci Code.

Rainbow’s East End
Because it’s a NY Times article, the focus is on Long Island, but the problem of illegal immigrants and migrant workers is still acute, as is the problem of overreacting communities and politicians, wherever it occurs. The difference is in visibility. Growing up on Long Island, we became very much aware of the growing presence of illegal Hispanics and, as a result, the problems that led to their emigration. The difference now is not in numbers or in kind but in visibility. Day laborers did not typically appear on the street corners of the towns and villages of Long Island, but they’re there now. In fact, if you drive through many of the NYC suburbs – Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester and Sullivan counties – you’ll find them, and you can hire them if you’ve got something for them to do: cheap construction work is a big area right now, as the growing season precludes their use on the small area farms. So why are so many people intent upon seeing these people arrested and, if illegal, deported? Because of selfishness. Yes, as usual, these are people who want their lawns mowed, their houses painted, their fruit and vegetables picked, packed and fresh at the supermarket, but don’t want to know how this gets done, especially if it means facing the fact that migrant workers aren’t organized and aren’t being paid a wage equal to what they themselves would demand. Why do the migrants come? Because they can make ten times what they can back home. They don’t want your house, your car, your job. They want a house, a car, a job, and they want to take care of their families the same way you do. But it’s bad enough, isn’t it, that corporations are shipping jobs overseas; now – well, actually, for decades now – “overseas” is coming home and taking up jobs. Globalization: you’re for it when it benefits you, and against it when you think it’s spoiling your property values. Maybe you should make up your mind.

Highway Toll
If you read or watch the news enough, there’s one thing you’re sure to learn: driving is death. Roadway accident tolls are announced every weekend, and during every holiday period, a state-by-state count is maintained. On a per capita basis, however, I wouldn’t say the figures are so grim as they might seem. And I wouldn’t blame the young drivers nearly so much as I would two other demographics: truckies and everybody else. So while NSW is planning further restrictions on young drivers, I’d like to point out that long-haul truck drivers get into far more accidents and cause many more deaths on the roads than the kids do, and (at least in Sydney) everybody around here drives like a maniac to begin with, with DUI being a problem of epic proportions. Restricting under-18’s isn’t going to solve either problem, although it’s sure to reduce the number of teenage traffic fatalities. Cracking down on trucking companies that push their drivers into making their runs within impossible time frames is a good idea, so I’d like to see more of that. And I’d like to see more traffic stops generally.

Update: In case you enjoy statistics, the government has complied road safety information in this report for your delectation. While the figures suggest the assertion that truck drivers are safer than others on the road is indeed correct, there is a perponderance of instances where the weighted factor is "unknown," which would skew the presentation into being largely arguable still. It is nevertheless true that insurance isues and public liability issues tend to provoke knee-jerk reactions from government, regardless of whether it's NSW or NYS.

Power Grab
Back when the NSW government decided to merge the South Sydney and City of Sydney Councils, they attempted to stack the new government with a mayor and councillors of their choice, only to be rebuffed on election day, when Clover Moore, an independent, got the mayoralty and was able to bring a sympathetic majority into office with her. The purpose of the merger was always about getting the property-development money from the city into the south and then into State coffers, because the Carr government mismanages its revenues, requiring an ever-increasing cash flow to just keep going. There is no long-term under Bob Carr. Unfortunately, there is no opposition worth voting for, so the system is stacked against the citizen. An independent executive with real power would be very worthwhile right about now, to my thinking, but I’m bringing a bit of political-system baggage to my analysis. Lord Mayor Moore’s upset victory, however, may prove somewhat hollow, as the NSW government owns a significant part of Redfern, an area now plan to develop with or without the city’s participation or consent, let alone keeping the citizenry informed. God knows, Redfern needs help, and urban reform projects including some of what’s being proposed here have worked very well elsewhere, but is that what’s happening, or is the Carr government selling off public land to create revenue from private development? Is the Aboriginal community there part of the planning, or are they going to be dispersed around the city without consultation? Carr’s got a heavy-handed style, especially lately, as the city’s infrastructure crumbles out from under him, after billions of misspent dollars, so I know which way my suspicions trend.

Peter, Meet Paul . . . Hey, My Wallet’s Missing!
Social Security Reform has meant creating self-funded investment accounts since Reagan, but at last, we have a President with the moxie to push ahead on the plan. Of course, it’s going to cost billions, even trillions of dollars the country doesn’t have - now or over the next 10 years or more – but why worry? Bush will be out by then, and he doesn’t need Social Security to retire. For most people, there is a general understanding that the program must be reformed, but no real idea how it should be done, and I certainly fall into that category. Private accounts may indeed be the only way forward; after all, we need to increase the rate of personal savings (or so the conventional wisdom has it), and we cannot rely on corporate pension funds and 401(k) accounts and the like, since a vast number of people don’t have access to these or the financial leeway to take advantage of other tax loopholes. As an expatriate citizen, one of many millions, I’m also concerned that I don’t presently pay into the Social Security system and may be ineligible to take advantage of its benefits when my turn comes, at least at any meaningful level. I recognize that the longer we wait to do anything, the worse the problem will grown, sort of like having appendicitis – if we wait, it may burst, and leave us with a mess not even radical surgery can fix. I remain, however, firmly opposed to the idea of taxing me into the stock market, which is what the Bush plan, in addition to the trillions of dollars necessary to kick start it, requires. This may, over twenty years, if we’re lucky, provide investment income sufficient to fund retirement, but it will definitely benefit a corporate elite who are already in possession of too much public money already, money they use to fund lavish personal lifestyles. Government serves the people, but more and more, government acts at the behest of industrial executives, and we’re left holding the bag, screwed royally from both ends.

Thanksgiving
Back across the equator, it's Thanksgiving, and my scattered family is marking the day in their latterly traditionaly fashion, as are we, which is to say, for us, not at all. Yes, we have again failed in our determination to practice this commemoration in our new home and introduce it to our friends, but remain resolved to get around to it, maybe next year. It's a noble holiday, surpassing in some respects the religious occasions of the year, being more inclusive in its very inception. Of course, in our household, we have pardoned all turkeys forevermore, a practice we gently encourage elsewhere as well. Have a nice tofurky day.

Fly the Naked Skies
What next? Full-body searches? pat-downs at the airport are getting a little out of (ahem) hand lately, it appears. If anyone believes this is keeping the country safe, then I'd have to question what they're keeping in their brassieres. Take off your shoes, please; stand over by the pole, please, and gyrate your hips. Yes, I know it's supposed to be about nonmetallic explosives smuggled in under your clothes, but why 70-year-old women with walking frames are getting felt up is beyond me. No judgment, and no restraint, either. If it happens to you, complain. A lot. Hey, go ahead and miss your flight, too. If enough people fight on this stuff, the economic cost will force real change, real security, not fetishistic rent-a-cops and unscreened luggage.

February in the Park
Christo’s Gates will be installed in Central Park beginning December 1, and the full installation will be up from February 12 to 27, just two weeks, and it sounds like the city and the artist and his sponsors have their plans fully prepared for a wonderful exhibition. Much as I’d love one of the t-shirts, posters, postcards, or such, I will patiently wait for something in Sydney to be wrapped. I’ve already missed the wrapping of Little Bay (I was ten), but if the Gates took 20 years, how long will it be before we get a new project here?

Preventing Terror
Congratulations are due to Britain’s security services in having reportedly thwarted a terrorist attack. While details are not yet forthcoming, this shows that Al Qaeda and the groups and individuals allying themselves with that cause can be effectively combated and the threat reduced without invading anyone, something which has been effectively accomplished in the past against the PLO, the IRA, ETA, and other groups. Military force has been called upon, but with Afghanistan the notable exception, only with limited scope to deal with international terrorism. While terrorists continue to learn from their own successes, we ought to be doing the same, something the English are showing now.

Billions
War reparations are widely credited as part of what went into creating the environment in Germany that gave rise to the Nazis and Hitler’s militaristic goals, that then bankrupted state desperate for the legitimacy offered by world domination at the point of a gun, so clearing off 80% of Iraq’s $39 billion in debt is a very positive step forward. That’s $39 billion, however, owed to America, Japan, Russia, and parts of Europe, not any of the $30 to $40 billion is reparations to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Persian Gulf nations. As usual, the Arab nations have yet to step forward to address problems in their own part of the world, and everybody’s tip-toeing around them, hoping for a positive outcome. Admittedly, it’s not their fault that Hussein invaded Kuwait and had to be kicked out, but among them, $40 billion (and $10 billion of that is still be adjudicated) could be written off, and with little harm to their respective national populations. Oil revenue is everything they’ve got, but that ain’t hay. The effective reconstruction of Germany and Japan after 1945 was possible because of the generosity of the victors regarding the war debt of the losers. Magnanimity is something we cannot afford to forego.

Fare-Free
Today the trains were free. This is very nice for the casual users, but worthless to anyone commuting. The discounted fare received by purchasing a weekly, quarterly, or annual ticket offsets any long-term benefit from one day free. My weekly ticket buys me 7 trips at 55% off the full-fare rate, so even if my ticket was going to be offset accordingly, there was no reason to buy four full-fare trips Tuesday through Friday. If I’d sat down to do the math, I might have saved myself $5 over the next two months simply by buying my ticket tomorrow and having the seven-day period run Tuesday through Monday, but that only works because my employer is granting us an additional four holidays ex gratia. Now, if John Brogden, opposition leader in the NSW parliament, gets the premiership, he’s promising one free day per month when the trains don’t meet a 75% on-time rate. If every month had a free day, I could do even better, maybe even save enough to pay for one week’s travel over the course of 2008, following the next election. No, sorry, it’s an empty promise, and I’m not biting. Instead, pledge to fix the system, then shut up and do it.

Scene on Crown
At last week’s jacaranda party in Paddington, we met the owner of a gallery up on Crown Street, Blank_Space, which we’ve been meaning to visit since it opened, but, well, these things happen. Or don’t, that is. However, personally informed of an imminent new show opening, we could hardly fail to make the effort, so part of last night was spent at the top of the hill looking at new art by Jane Dowton and Bianca Calandra, both new artists to me, each working in distinct media, but together making for an excellent exhibition, entitled “Curious Things.” Although Bianca Calandra’s work uses mixed media, and Jane Dowton’s working in photography, both have a found object component, Calandra’s more traditionally so, something on the order of collage in the Rauschenberg manner, but with a more playful, naïve content. Dowton’s objet trouvé component being a condition more of her imaginative use of everyday encounters with text and objects that might usually be ignored. The surprising richness of color and texture in her series, “Piles of Rocks from My Mum’s Farm (Classified and Unclassified),” exemplify at the higher end of abstraction the elevation of the quotidian both artists attempt, and I think more successfully than Calandra’s paintings, perhaps as a result of the latter’s inclusion of textual elements, not themselves “found” but composed, which, I think, subverts the effect. Still, it was a good show, an excellently presented space, and drew a good crowd.

Good
I think when Clinton says Bush is “very good” he means it the same way as when Sam Spade says it of Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon. He knows it’s an act, but acknowledges how effective it would be on someone else. Bush lies much the same way as Brigid, too, in the service of his own greed.

Executive Clemency
Is Thanksgiving the only time Bush exercises his power to issue a capital punishment pardon? Tradition demands this exercise of restraint, but of course people condemned to death cannot reform and are never innocent, so turkeys are a different matter.

Button, Button
Look, I hate to say this but isn’t a provision that allows government officials to hide millions of dollars in personal assets one of those things that government officials in corrupt countries do? When Mobutu Sese Soko, for example, lit out for Switzerland, didn’t everybody ask, hey, where’s all that money? Turned out he’d been hiding it for years where he could get it later, didn’t it? Remember Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos? Those shoes didn’t come in cereal boxes. In fact, I seem to recall that every time dictators get deposed, first thing everybody wants to find out is where they put all the money. Sometimes it gets found, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it just gets spent, often enough on buying a soft place to land. The Bush administration has a problem with this sort of thing, and it isn’t just Cheney and Haliburton; I seem to remember that Paul O’Neill, the former Treasury secretary, came under significant duress for some conflict-of-interest problems he had, until he “voluntarily” acted to resolve the issue. Too late for him, but the next guy could have it made.

Reasons to Love NY
Actually, I think I meant “leave” NY, an Olympics being a good one. Good luck, and all that, but all the hotel rooms are being set aside, so you’ll be staying in New Jersey anyway; the advertising will be inescapable – and just imagine what the mascot might be: cockroach? alligator? pigeon? Mr. Met? Street punk? Oh, the list is endless; that west side stadium will actually have to be built, which means the Jets or Giants or both will return to the city, or the Yankees will relocate from the Bronx (no doubt making for significant complaints from the Mets, who would also like a new stadium someplace people like for itself); and do you really believe the traffic infrastructure is going to ever be capable of accommodating “Olympic Priority Lanes”? C’mon, the city can’t keep up on potholes, let alone add a lane to the LIE. Sure, Thorpey says he likes it, but he’s more involved in underwear than swimming these days, and by that time, he’ll be Oscar de la Renta, right? One last reason not to do it: Frank Gehry gets to design the gymnastics center in Brooklyn. $7.6 billion (with a $3 billion return), and what do you get: lots of unused sports facilities for the next 150 years.

No Political Hack Left Behind
In other nomination news, Margaret Spelling is up for Secretary of Education, as expected. She promises to continue the previous secretary’s commitment to doing nothing but pay lip service to public schools.

Good Dog; Now Play Dead
Alberto Gonzales is a shoo-in, because Pat Leahy has decided to roll over. Let’s hope this is just a “bye” so Rice’s confirmation gets the scrutiny it deserves (fat chance).

Fare’s Fair
On Monday, CityRail workers are expected to pursue a work action, refusing to collect fares for the day or impose fines on passengers to neglect to purchase tickets. Despite Miranda Devine’s claim that “an army of train travellers” will join the train system staff in this action, I’ll be buying my weekly ticket. Why, you ask? Because it’s cheaper. I have no guarantee that the bulls won’t come after fare-evaders, first of all, plus, 4 daily tickets costs more than one weekly ticket. The majority of the people I ride with daily aren’t day-trippers; they’re commuters like me, and most of them face the same economic choice. We’re stranded by the system, caught in the middle between the unions and Michael Costa, battling for supremacy. If the problem is really that workers are wearied by reform, what impositions are being imposed by Costa beyond reasonable safety concerns? Is there more to it than that; is it really workers who perceive overtime as an entitlement versus management unwilling to invest in the equipment and infrastructure upgrades necessary to get the system running at a twenty-first century level?

Draft Watch
The Wal-Mart Republicans derided any claims there could ever be another draft, but right now, the military is calling up former personnel now in their 40’s, many in ill-health or with medical problems that would normally exclude them from service, and many whose obligation to serve should have already expired. Naturally, there are some who are fighting the call-up, and even some who just decline to show up. So once this pool is exhausted, what next? Iraq’s not going to be over in February, remember, so even though the reactivation of the Individual Ready Reserve is going from 120 days to a full year, we’re going to run out of soldiers to deploy, even assuming the rate of people voluntarily signing up remains constant. Luckily, the non-Wal-Mart Republicans, the ones with the money, that is, will be able to get deferments for their kids.

And meanwhile, incidents like this one - and it’s surely not the only such - are the result of calling the Geneva Convention “quaint” and failing to provide adequate training, supervision, and support of troops in the field. What’s Rumsfeld got to say, or, for that matter, what’s Cheney got to say about Rumsfeld now? (I suppose we’re all supposed to still be happy that we’ve rejected as President a veteran with the integrity to stand up and speak out on such matters, right? Because that was a betrayal, right?)

Cleaning Out the Closet
Powell has resigned; good. After Whitman, he was the most useless, but unlike her, I’d actually had some hope for Powell as Secretary of State, whereas Whitman at least tried to be effective on the EPA. Powell not only didn’t try, he was very quickly nothing more than a tool, giving himself, in the end, over to the Bush Administration lies on weapons of mass destruction, embarrassing the nation in front of the largest international embarrassment of all, the UN. Hard to believe this man was ever touted as Presidential material. He was just a patsy.

Meanwhile, Energy, Education, Commerce, and Agriculture have also been vacated, with no nominations having been made at this time. With a fight sure to ensue over Gonzales at Justice, and the potential for such contention over the putative nominees at State – Rice and Wolfowitz, notably; less so Danforth or Lugar – Bush may be seeking fast-track candidates for these. But there’s no hurry, obviously, since these haven’t been among his priorities from the beginning.

(Another notable resignation: William Safire is retiring his op-ed column. He’ll continue writing “On Language,” where he usually keeps Nixon out of the discussion.)

Update: As had been predicted, Bush has nominated Condolezza Rice to replace Powell. Oops, that link should be to here.

Post-Ashcroft
Alberto Gonzales represents the American Dream. He worked hard, struggling against a background of poverty, and, as an Hispanic, against ethnic prejudices, and has moved into the halls of power resolute to make more of his life than must have appeared, at least on some days, even possible. He deserves some congratulations for his efforts and success. He is, however, a troubling candidate as Attorney General. This is the man who, as White House Counsel, directed the Bush Administration’s legal efforts to condone torture and the detention of “enemy combatants,” as the prisoners from the Afghan and Iraqi wars are known, without trial or recourse to legal counsel. Regardless of how “quaint” or “obsolete” he may consider the Geneva Conventions, the terms set forth by this international agreement are neither his nor the Bush Administration’s to set aside so cavalierly. That he has been willing to do so makes his appointment highly questionable, particularly in a country that used to pride itself on its founding principles of the rule of law and the rights of all men to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While his record on affirmative action and abortion appear more positive, the Patriot Act and the memorandum that allowed the events at Abu Ghraib to occur are singular failures, sufficiently disturbing to question his fitness for the Cabinet role. This appointment is not only a prime example of the kind of transactions the Bush Administration will seek to push through in personnel at all levels up through the Supreme Court and in laws, it is an example of the opportunities the Democratic opposition, alongside moderates among the Republicans, which must be taken up to ensure that the American people are not sold into tyrannies petty or great. We hold these truths to be self-evident, as the Declaration of Independence has it, but they need to be supported, from time-to-time, and this is such a time.

Terror & Arafat
The articles and news reports I’ve seen so far on Yasir Arafat have focussed on the man as statesman, but if no one else will, I’ll just point out that he was a terrorist and a murderer and a major impediment to peace in the Middle East. The excesses of Israel over the last fifty years, especially the last twenty, perhaps, indeed condemn that state, for all its status as a democracy, as being among the oppressors, rather than the opposite, which it had been meant to be. Nevertheless, we should never forget Munich, neither should we forget the Achille Lauro, nor countless hijackings and other indiscriminate murders, including the suicide-bomber phenomenon we presently face around the world. These are all the heritage of Yasir Arafat, as much as any Palestinian state may yet be. I wish for peace in the Middle East, a homeland for the Palestinians, and security for the state of Israel. Maybe now something more than handshakes and signed treaties can be accomplished.

Triumphalism
It’s a fascinating, if frustrating, study to hear the response from the Bush supporters now that their prince has won: shut up. Yes, that’s basically the gist of it. We won, they say, so shut up. That’s when they’re not engaged in mocking those of us they’d like to now shut up.

Sorry, but there’s no reason I can think of to be quiet. Regardless of rampant fraud versus legitimate results – I can’t prove anything, so it’s all hearsay at this point – losing an election isn’t a reason to give up principles. When did the Republicans ever shut up? Were they quiet when Clinton won? No, they weren’t even quiet when he was just a candidate to be a candidate, let alone afterwards. They sure weren’t quiet while Carter was in office, either (although they were clandestine, making deals with Iran to undermine the incumbent’s ability to retrieve the hostages). In fact, they’ve never shut up, even when they were on top of the political heap. When Nixon was in office, did they shut up, content with their win? No, they only crowed the louder: America, love it or leave it; yea us. And Reagan? He got hosannas at ever turn, and for fifteen years after he left office, too.

So shut up about shutting up. It’s not going to happen. Get used to opposition; we have. But if you won’t come willingly into an open, accepting, and progressive future, kick and scream all you want; we’ll still get there eventually.

Rookwood
Yesterday we buried Tony Callus, M.’s uncle’s partner of 50 years. From Malta, where he’d been born, grew up, and worked some years as a naval engineer fitting out submarines, he emigrated to Australia and made a living operating heavy equipment, with a little house renovation work and fine carpentry on the side. When he died, he was 75 old. Tony had had a bypass just a few months ago and had been recovering nicely. But he’d always been very proud of his physical fitness, having spent many years as an amateur bodybuilder. Even before his operation, he could out-lift much younger men. He continued to work out, albeit with lighter weights (and no bench-presses), just more reps. He also continued to work around the home he and Don had made together up in the Northern suburbs, where he had done considerable work to improve their domicile, structurally and decoratively, as well as a magnificent garden, with many flowering and fruiting plants and trees (although the cockatoos got more benefit of the latter than did Don and Tony). Tony was working on scraping and painting the trim when his heart failed him, evidence of just how game he was to keep going, to stay active and strong.

Don, of course, is deeply sad. As often happens, even though family and friends remain from both sides, having lost his partner, he is bereft of the one true stay he had in life. Both men had recently joined the Anglican Church as parishioners, if that’s the right term, and Don is comforted by his faith, and Tony’s, which is to be reverenced. Their minister is young, enthusiastic, and caring, and I’m sure he will continue to inspire Don’s Christianity. I’ve never participated in an Anglican ceremony of any kind, but thought Tony’s service was well done.

We’re all going to miss Tony, as gracious and warm a man as any I’ve known. We will endeavour to ensure that Don is not left to himself any more than he’d prefer. (And I expect to be up on a ladder scraping paint before too long, if not also running the lawn mower and learning to prune trees.)

After the burial, which we attended at Rookwood Cemetery, out near Lidcombe, M. & I accompanied her older brother, Mark, eight years her senior, in seeking out the graves of their mother’s family, which, after some little pacing thorugh the lanes, we eventually discovered. Strangely, Mark was able to leave a token at each, M. & I having purchased Remembrance Day poppies on our way to the train that morning; strangely, I say, because I have never before purchased one of these tokens previously.

We had a nice dinner with Mark afterward at our favorite Lebanese restaurant, which I’m also glad of, since we don’t often get to spend time with Mark by himself, outside the context of his family. I’m enjoying getting to know him, and will head out to Narabeen this weekend to watch his youngest children participate in a day of Track & Field.

We Have Seen the Enemy and They Is Us
Over the next four years, the opposition has got its work cut out. It’s important that those of us now in the minority don’t thereby get cut out of the process. There are enough re-elected moderates on the other side of Congress to ensure that there will be at least some to work with. While Bush claims to reach across the aisle, he’s never done so, and what he claims is consensus is nothing more than giving up, rolling over and playing dead. It’s vital that we don’t give in. We must choose our battles and fight them well, but there will be a lot of them.

The Iraq war is going to continue. Falluja will be levelled, and in the next few days. The insurgency will likely continue despite that, and the touted January elections will be held despite that. Don’t expect the U.S. to leave the country in February, however. These eventualities all would have been just as true with Kerry as they are with Bush. The struggle to defeat international terror, however, well, it’s an open question as to how that will be pursued, let alone how effectively. Military strikes against Iran or North Korea are possible, although the European Union is trying to cut a deal with the former, and the capabilities of the latter are less worrying, if only because they’re not a Middle Eastern nation. Diplomacy is not Bush’s strong suit: he’s demonstrated his preference for the hammer over any other tool. The Democrats can, nevertheless, keep pointing out what other options exist, facilitating a more mature approach to international relations, and they can raise what other needs must be met. We must press the administration on Sudan. It’s already too late to keep this from being another Rwanda, but we can still retrieve the situation in some worthwhile measure. Afghanistan still needs more support, or they may yet devolve again. Those warlords aren’t going away.

The issue of the deficit is over. The government will have to spend many billions yet more than it has or has any hope to have for well beyond the next four years. Under Kerry, again, this would still have been true. But we can fight for every penny we can save, and so we should.

Keep Bush’s hands off the Constitution. We don’t need any stupidity about the flag enshrined there, and – more importantly – the definition of marriage is not an issue requiring Federal intervention; whether to allow all citizens to marry freely is an option that falls within the rights set forth in the Declaration of Independence and meant to be protected by law. Let the States decide, as 11 of them have, and then let it be fought out in the courts. The system can sort itself out, as it has always done.

Social Security is a mess, and it has always been so, whether you thought when it was instituted that FDR was imposing socialism or whether in the last few decades you thought yourself overtaxed. Finding a way to wind down this program is inevitable. Putting more money into the hands of investment banks and stock brokers is unlikely to prove a wise method of accomplishing the existing commitment, even if it would unburden the coming generations. Social Security needs to be returned to the purpose it best serves: protecting the aged and indigent. Clear thinking with a view towards the long future is required, not quick-fix money laundering.

The Supreme Court is about to become a big issue, but however many Justices may need to be appointed, there are many more federal bench openings around the nation already needing appointments and still more to come. Activist judges come with liberal, conservative, and “neo-con” agendas, and some of any of these represent an unacceptable partisanship in a court of law. Bork the ones who need to be, and keep our courts from becoming enablers of bad policy.

Speaking of which, abortion is wrong, as contraception, as pretty much anyone would agree, but that’s a personal belief, and limited to a particular set of circumstances. By making all abortion into late-term abortion, we frighten ourselves into believing some nightmare vision of compulsory infanticide that has no basis in reality. Education and access to birth control are more effective than stigmatizing sex. “Just say no” doesn’t work for sex any more than it does for drugs, and unless you’re going to adopt those babies or support those families, you shouldn’t get to say “no” to anyone but yourself. Raise the level of the discourse, or you’re just one of those creeps outside the clinic screaming yourself red in the face at unfortunate girls and women who have enough trouble without you around, or worse, you’re one of those creeps taking potshots at doctors with a deer rifle. As for stem cell research, this isn’t as linked to the issue of abortion as some would have us believe, and we can improve things here, too, by putting science at the forefront, again instead of morals. Science doesn’t require dead babies, so nobody’s coming after anyone’s pregnant wife. Grow up.

We have “family values,” too. We don’t limit them to our own families, however, and that’s a message that deserves to be spread. I value the needs of your family as much as I value mine. That’s called compassion, it’s called inclusiveness. It doesn’t mean I have to sit on my hands while some murderous fanatic tries to hurt me, but it does mean that I should do what I can to see to it that the roots of such madness are eradicated. If I have the means, then I have the responsibility. You can be selfish if you want, but please stay out of the way of truly decent people while you’re doing it.

My America
In my America, there are indeed “activist” judges, but the activism they espouse is the rule of law. Judges like this one. There’s more to be done, too, since Bush’s mandate appears to include ignoring the Supreme Court when it suits him. Are we a civil society, or do we only pay lip-service to the principles that have defined our nation? It is barbarous to do as we have, and worse, because we have the resources to do what is right.

Love It or Leave It
Just in case, I’m entirely prepared to sponsor any of my immediate family who want to expatriate themselves (I’m looking at you, Californians). The bed in the guest room is made up and rent is nominal.

The Cabinet
The make-up of the back office of the White House is an important part of what will happen over the next four years. Colin Powell looks to be on his way out, but so do John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld. The next Secretary of State: possibly that death’s head Condoleeza Rice, although John Danforth, the present UN Ambassador is tipped for the position. Rice, however, is looking good for Defense, and why not? It’s as much her fault we’re in Iraq as anyone else’s. A vacant National Security Advisor’s slot puts Wolfowitz forward as a replacement, and again, why not? He has had as much to do with Bush’s actions on this front as Rice did, and Bush clearly likes his thinking.

If Ashcroft goes, Tom Ridge is on tap for Justice, which at least means he can give the terror alerts, even if Rudy Giuliani, touted as his potential successor at Homeland Security, would then be the one to correct the color chart.

Most important of all (yes, sarcasm) is the possible departure of Norman Mineta from Transportation, because we might not have to take off our shoes at the airport anymore. Giving this spot to the present Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham, could keep airline fuel surcharges from getting out of hand.

No word on who’d replace Elaine Chao at Labor if she gets a new job, but since there aren’t any jobs anyway, and no more overtime, maybe we can just dispense with this Cabinet post.

Next: Death Watch of the Supremes.

Jacaranda Days
This week and next are the height of the flowering season for the jacarandas, a tree native to Brazil but imported here to good and welcome effect. The trees flower before they leaf, a very pretty spring phenomenon. They tend to stand out, not just for their color, but because they inhibit the growth of other trees around them anyway. Looking out over the city, however, inevitably provides a view of some jacarandas in any neighborhood - well, any I've been in. These are among the more welcome features of life in Sydney.

We've been invited to a jacaranda party out in Erskinville next weekend, which should be very nice.

Four More
If that's what America wants, that's what we'll get, and good luck to us all. Yesterday, Democrats Abroad - Australia gathered to watch the returns.

Convivial for hours, eventually the mood shifted as the tide began to turn. Although heartened by Edwards' announcement that no concession was forthcoming, I think we all knew what was coming. Congratulations, nevertheless, to the organizers of Democrats Abroad - Australia, particularly Carmelan, Phillip, Tiffany, and Scott, whose indefatigable determination kept us going throughout the election season.

Hi in Middle, and Round at the Ends
or, Keep Your Eye on the Donut and Not on the Hole
With 51.3% of the popular vote to 47.8%, Bush is showing a gain from 2000, but more importantly, the Electoral College vote is running at the moment 254 to 242 in his favor. It all comes down to Ohio, and that appears to be dependent on the provisional and absentee ballots yet to be counted, as many at 600,000 of them. Every vote counts, as John Edwards came out to say to the party faithful, and this time let's be sure every vote is counted. If you've got a couple of bucks to spare, the Kerry campaign legal fund is accepting contributions, and if it helps turn Ohio blue, I can't think of a more worthy cause. Anything to keep the election from going to the House.

and Finally . . .
I know that John Kerry is flawed. But I also know that George Bush is a disaster. Yes, Kerry will probably pursue a continuation of Bush's present policy in Iraq. He can do little else. He will, however, work to rebuild tattered international relationships that might get us a bigger helping hand than we're going to get under Bush. Kerry's domestic policies are going to cost money, but they're going to cost more to the people who can afford it than Bush would allow, and I'd appreciate a little help propping up the country, and I'm not getting it from Bush and his wealthy cronies. My biggest hope is that when Kerry says he's going to be smarter in combatting terrorism he means it, that he really gets it. Because George doesn't. I know George doesn't understand the post-9/11 world, a charge he levels against his opponent, because instead of using the power of the United States with an eye to the future, he applies it like a hammer. Afghanistan had to happen, but in the end, a lot more could have been accomplished even than has been so far. Iraq, however, didn't. Saddam Hussein was an evil tyrant and needed to be removed, but he was at least contained. No weapons, no hope of getting them, let alone giving them out. So yes, the U.S. military is mighty, but it isn't the only tool in the box. Anything else, for Bush, however, is a waste; it's spending money he'd rather go elsewhere, but not into social programs or even national infrastructure. He'd rather it goes to him and his buddies. And it will if he's re-elected. It would be nice to think Bush would see the division in America over this election as a message instead of a mandate, but if he wins, regardless of the margin, he will take it as the imprimatur of God himself. Christian fundamentalism, as practiced by Bush, among many, many others, is as dangerous to the world as any other. It's a shame that the politics of the nation have degenerated as they have, a shame on both their houses, Kerry and Bush, and a shame on everyone who has participated in the sniping, the misrepresentations, the lying. Too late to ask for a good, clean fight. The outcome will be with us shortly, and in the post-9/11 world, I want a President who will try to advance civilization into the 21st century, one who doesn't pursue a pre-Enlightment agenda of greed and oppression.

The Fate of the Free World
The nail-biting conclusion is coming up. By this time tomorrow, polls will have already started closing, exit polls will already have been providing CNN, MSNBC, Fox, et al. with enough anecdotal evidence for them to begin calling the election and spoiling the outcome in the further west time zones (as usual; they say they won’t but then they do – they just can’t help themselves). Meanwhile, M. & I, along with the faithful, will be gathering like the Apostles did that fateful Passover Thursday 2,000 years ago, i.e., in an upstairs room, but hoping for a better outcome from all the lead-up.

Industrial News Notes
For all the talk of a reduced bid, instead Oracle has raised its offer on PeopleSoft to US$24/share. With PeopleSoft trading at US$22.89, it may be enough now for the shareholders to push the board overboard.

Results
Turns out I got more than I expected deducted from gun to start, improving my results by nearly 2 minutes, and putting me closer to a net 5KPH than 5.5. Go me. Next year, I expect to be in shape to do the City-to-Surf, which you'll have already heard if you read the comments on the last race post, but is 1 hour & 15 minutes achievable? Or acceptable? It's probably better not to put the cart before the horse, especially as I'll probably need a horse the way things stand now.

Years of Protest
After I signed a petition over 5 years ago now, I never expected to hear that NYC would even consider turning the roads in Central Park back to pedestrians, but the city’s now moving in the right direction, if not at the most salubrious hours for park-goers, who have gotten in trouble there no matter how fast they may have been moving in the hours under discussion. Even if we were still living there, I wouldn’t be getting up before 7 a.m. for a run, neither would I go out after 7 p.m. even in summer. Too lazy, I guess. Nevertheless, after last night’s experience in Homebush, with the Nike 10K course full of switchbacks and bottlenecks, knowing that there might be open lanes in Central Park would be tempting. Keep the momentum up, and maybe in 20 years the park will be returned to the people who really use it.

You're the Run that I Want
Nike's 10K run out at the Olympic Park last night was an enjoyable bit of exercise. I've been doing 8K training runs for the last three weeks, so it was gratifying to complete the race pretty much as expected. No, I won't tell you my time, but you can look it up next week when the results are posted. I'll put up a link then. Meanwhile, I can only hope that the transponder accounts for the difference between when the gun went off and when I actually stepped across the starting line. That might give me an extra thirty seconds, anyway. Meanwhile, from the expression on my face, I should have run harder, but who can help smiling a bit when your own personal official photographer is also your beloved wife?