UNaction
God knows the United Nations needs a shake-up, and maybe putting one of the more aggressive critics in as ambassador will help, although I’m not convinced just from Condoleezza Rice’s say-so. It isn’t so much whether the UN was good or bad on Iraq – because in the last round in Iraq, they weren’t allowed to do their job or believed insofar as they were able to produce anything towards a result – but the inaction in Africa has been an embarrassment, or would have been to any remote observer, if any such were possible, whereas for most of us, well, were as complicit as our governments fail to act, whether with the UN or in some other coalition or even alone, as happened in Rwanda and now in Sudan. So oil-for-food scandals aside, there are diplomatic progress problems.

Unfortunately, it’s the permanent members of the Security Council who, in wielding their absolute vetoes, cause the problems, and the U.S. isn’t the least of the trouble-makers there, even if the neocons and Iowa farmers believe it’s the French. Pressing for action, getting movement more than mere resolutions, those are the kinds of activities I want to see, but I expect, perhaps cynically, something much different. The UN could be effective, if the rich and powerful nations of the world would make it so, and starting with the U.S., and then John Bolton’s concept of shifting and opportunistic alliances, the kind that have gotten us into trouble in various other regions of the world, wouldn’t be necessary, allowing more idealistic, global efforts. The appointment of John Bolton seems to perpetuate the worst diplomatic tendencies of the Bush administration.

Creature Features
While M. was out flying the high-culture flag with her Hollywood friends at the top-100 after party, I was similarly engaged in ensuring that only the highest examples of filmic art came anywhere near my brain. Alien vs. Predator is right up there with all the finest of the "x meets x" horror genre. You can take that however you like, but for just over an hour and a half, I was marginally entertained. Like most of the Frankenstein entries, the biggest problem is that the main characters don't speak English. "Hiss" says Alien. "Click-click-click" says Predator. "Aiee" says all the humans. "Ugh" says I. What is it that compels me to watch these things?

Taxing Spending
Here in Australia, there's been the GST, the Goods and Services Tax, for a few years already. The GST applies to everything you spend money on, with the exception of "essential food items." But a coffee, pay a tax. Hire a lawyer, pay a tax. 10% of the purchase is tax. In New Zealand, I understand it's 15%. Is that, essentially, what Alan Greenspan is proposing? In would be a big shift, but it sounds more like a ploy to distract everyone from privatizing Social Security.

Gains, and Ill-Gotten Gains
Does Tony Abbott own stock in the private health care companies? Over the last 3 years, premiums have been increased by more than 7% annually under his watch, with a nearly 8% average increase this year as well. Inflation doesn’t account for it. In fact, according to Abbott, it’s due to gains in the standard of private health care. I don’t really get that. Was private health care substandard? Or is private care now so advanced beyond what’s available under the Medicare scheme that my coverage should be able to keep patients alive and healthy substantially longer than the rest of the population? The truth lies in his statement regarding future rate rises: "All I can say is that the only rises that will be approved by this Government are rises which are absolutely necessary to ensure that the funds can continue to pay out benefits to members." In other words, the insurance companies are doing such a lousy job of managing their business that they can’t afford to stay in business unless they keep raising rates. As the Howard government attempts to force more and more of the population to sign up for private cover, it’s possible that we might eventually see a “group rate” effect, but I’m not counting on it. If it wasn’t for the dental, I’d have dropped our coverage already.

Coelacanth
Actually, thylacine, the “Tasmanian Tiger.” Could they still exist? I’d have to add it to my list of creatures to be spotted in the wild, along with a platypus and an echidna, but I'll have to get out more in any event. Parramatta Park's got little more than kookaburra, cockatoos, and lizards.

What Goes Up
In April it’ll have been a year since we opted to renew our mortgage with a fixed rate, which we did anticipating the official rate rise that’s only now come to pass. That gives us just two years for the economy or my wage to perform better before we have to feel the pinch, and the Reserve's already touting next month's meeting for another bump-up. (Anyone who bought the line PM Howard was running during last year's campaign had better be more ready than we are.) In one year, my contract will be up for renewal, but because the period is two years, I’ll have to think pretty hard about whether it’s affordable to take the “sinecure” and hope the Reserve Bank’s actions don’t set me up for a problem in 2007, or to look for a job with less security but a higher wage and hope for no repeat of 2004’s events. How many mergers can there be? It depends, I suppose, on whether tougher economic conditions overall result in more or fewer companies becoming targets, or whether that happens when there’s generally more cash around. Maybe I should buy that lottery ticket. . . .

Hollywood or Bust
M.'s had her script accepted into the top 100 in Project Greenlight, an outcome I fully expected, of course, but also an achievement worth no little pride. Although nearly 2,000 scripts were submitted, only 720 met the basic criteria, and after a gruelling peer review process, they've been whittled down. Next, the top 50, then 20, then 10, then "Action." At this point the competition is truly fearsome, I expect, although none of the scripts we read made it through, so it's hard to judge precisely. If the titles are any indication, I think M. should anticipate moving ahead. (I mean, "Physics & Chips"? "Where Boys Fear to Tread"? Really. I hope those're just working titles.) Anyway, congratulations; next stop: Oscar.

Thank You, Thank You
No big surprises in the Academy Awards last night, except maybe in the rearranged presentations. Having groups up on stage or seated together and introduced from the audience is a good idea; it highlights, however, a certain elitist element, leaving the big award nominees to perform the usual crawl to the aisle and walk to the stage shaking hands with everyone you pass or at least the ones you don’t kiss. But Best Director or Best Actor/Actress are bigger deals, in respect to box office and the price you can subsequently command for your next contract, than are Best Sound Editing or Best Key Grip or whatever. I hadn’t realized that Scorsese has never gotten the gong for Best Director, and now Clint’s gotten it twice. I did think Unforgiven was terrific, and I expect to thoroughly enjoy Million Dollar Baby, once we get to it, but Scorsese must be the most deserving director to ever not win. Some fundamental flaw in his movies? Or is it because he’s never done a western? (Oh, and Hillary Swank’s dress looked like it was on backwards, until she turned around to reveal it had no back. Who dresses these people?)

Closing the Gates
And now it’s over; the biggest art event in NYC since King Tut’s tomb’s contents toured through the Metropolitan Museum. Wrap-up’s, if I can be permitted the pun, are expected from those who were there. And, courtesy of Gothamist, a fitting, seasonal farewell photo:

Fourth-Form Politics
It wasn’t enough to pay for news stories or to hire male prostitutes into the White House Press Corps, George is so desperate for America to believe Social Security needs to be in the hands of Wall Street fat cats that he’s hiring nine-year-old children to stump for him. He’s nine, but he’s cute, so we ought to believe him. The sad thing is, there are fifty million people who actually will believe this kid, just because arguing against believing him means to them you’re anti-family. I’m not; he’s nine. And a head full of trivia doesn’t make you a genius.

Why America Will Win
Hollywood. See, here, as in Britain, we've got a long-established and generally revered (when it isn't being reviled or undermined) national broadcaster, producing some very high-quality programming (when they aren't, as in the U.S., just recycling BBC content), and one of the highlights is Andrew Denton's Enough Rope, a talk-show with a very limited number of interviews during its hour-long time slot, which, tonight, upon returning from the summer hiatus, is going to air with the Crown Princess (and Prince) of Denmark, a very nice Tasmanian girl, I'm sure, but so what? Yes, she can out-sail her new husband, which I'd expect, and her itinerary while here shows a deal more public service-class than the Prince of Wales is managing during pretty much the same time period, but her appearance on Denton is just pandering to the worst kind of celebrity obsession. It's almost A Member of the Wedding. And the result is that while half the country spends an hour on the ABC, the rest of us - my household included - will be watching the Academy Awards, and the ones who watched Enough Rope will be switching back to the Oscars as soon as HRH Mary and Frederick are through. Nothing beats Hollywood. Not in the movies themselves, and not in real life. (And by the time I get home, they'll already be long over.)

A Good Defense
Canada won’t participate in the Reagan-Bush-Bush missle defense scheme, wisely choosing not to spend untold billions on a system that does not work, despite fudged data, skewed results, and canned “tests.” Ambassador Paul Cellucci’s “confusion” over Canada’s decision is pretty confused itself, but stresses that the U.S. will still shoot down any missiles it detects coming in from the north. Luckily, the new SDI project doesn’t include working technology to shoot down anything, just like when Reagan proposed the idea just to scare the Soviets. At least Bush the elder was smart enough not to believe the hype.

Unfair: Sting & the Tsunami
Shouldn't this be the other way around? (Yeah, o.k., cheap shot. Sue me.)

Defrocking the Mad Monk
Tony Abbott, the Liberal government’s health minister, is a long-standing vocal opponent of abortion, not just from his private Catholic morality, but as a public figure addressing government policy. The latest twist, that he fathered an out-of-wedlock child who was given up for adoption and whom he has only now met, is remarkable only for the fact that Mr. Abbott is on the front bench of Parliament with the portfolio he has. Children given up for adoption and their natural parents are reunited, with more or less success, all the time. What makes the story last in the press is the cynical exploitation Mr. Abbott employs it for. Anne Summer’s analysis raises some valid points to balance the story as it’s being touted from the Abbott side. The decision to give the child up for adoption wasn’t “mutual”; Abbott ran out on his pregnant girlfriend and left her to make the choice alone. They split up seven months into the pregnancy, and Abbott played no part in supporting his former partner through the birth and adoption or thereafter. This is not unusual, of course; many 19-year-olds make the same choices, although some will come through it better and some worse. Some will give the child up, and some will terminate the pregnancy. Abortion, as we all know by now, is deeply traumatic, and many women remain haunted for years afterward. Giving a child up can be similarly traumatic and as haunting. Adoption is certainly a better option than being raised unwanted or by parents unable to provide for or commit emotionally to the child, but it isn’t as easy as that. Not getting pregnant in the first place is the best option of all, but not particularly realistic, especially when we’re talking about teenagers and young adults, who (face it) aren’t always particularly bright about these things, regardless of whether they manage to get a seat in Parliament later or not. But let’s be equally clear that abortion shouldn’t be a method of birth control per se, in which case the decision of Mr. Abbott’s then-girlfriend is admirable.

So it’s now a matter worth speculation: why now? Why has Mr. Abbott gone public? That his grown child would be curious regarding the identity of his natural father, would seek him out, would have a positive reconciliation with him, is all very positive. The public has no interest, except for as much as Mr. Abbott can generate with the complicity of the press and all us on the internet. Who tipped off the Bulletin? And why did Abbott, after agreeing to an exclusive with the Bulletin, then go to the Telegraph? And why then did Mr. Abbott start the discussion on abortion in the media frenzy between the Telegraph’s article and the Bulletin’s? The immediate answer’s obvious. (Not a political football? Then don’t put him up on the tee.) What deeper motivations may be at work, however, remain to be seen.

Look, Ma, No Cavities
We all know brushing regularly helps us keep our choppers in place, and it’ll soon be more effective, if the toothpaste that fixes cavities gets on the market. (So much for fluoride in the water? Just as well; we all know it causes communism.)

Crop Circling
It’ll be less than interesting in the end, I figure, when we find out what the 60 x 30 metre lawn-etching means: a man, a dollar, a wave, a tombstone = ? If not for the dollar, the tsunami guess would make sense; if not for the tombstone, I’d accept the surfing logo idea. Unless . . . maybe somebody’s dream of a surf shop in Aceh was wiped out in the tsunami?

Into the Valley of Death
After committing the nation to war, the addition of 450 new troops isn’t really a surprise. Unlike other members of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” Australia has been in from the start of “major combat operations.” Whereas the Dutch and various others having already exited or now pulling out, John Howard’s involvement has to continue, or he would be guilty of yet another deception. The election at the end of January doesn’t change the need for combat troops or reconstruction teams; the on-going and increasingly organized insurgency requires additional opposition if Bush’s experiment is to succeed. But Howard’s turn-around had to come with a price tag on it, and I wonder what he’s bought this time?

Realty Reality
A land tax on investment property is sensible, but surely it shouldn’t be so hard to structure it fairly. Sydney, Australia in fact, has been on a real estate investment binge of such enormity that prices here are hard to credit, and no quarter-percent interest rate rise is going to do much to dampen the presently flattened enthusiasm sufficiently to bring the housing market back to reality, which means other efforts are needed. That “small investment unit” is still getting negative-gearing, often enough, and generating an income, so I have little enough sympathy over a bit of tax to pay for the infrastructure supporting it. Your little “family beach shack,” well, I can see an argument for structuring the taxation so as to encourage limits to development. Do you have any idea what’s required to sustain even a modest presence on the shoreline? (Of course, if you’re one of those who don’t care about the environment or whether your neighbors are in any way inconvenienced, then go ahead, cry poor.) No, I’m with Bob Carr on this. Investment properties deserve to attract taxes. If you can afford a second home, you can afford to pay your way.

International Feel
The Booker’s gone global. The special prize’s short list has the usual suspects and Nobellists, but also gives the nod to Philip Roth and John Updike. Personally, I think Updike should be out; he gets published enough in the New Yorker, a prize greater than all others. And should perhaps previous Booker wins preclude inclusion?

Throwing the Baby Out with the Sabbathwater
It worries me when I hear Garry Brack, of Employers First talk about what’s fair. At least he’s honest about what he wants (unlike when he called his organization the “New South Wales Employers Federation”), which is to give more power to employers over the rights established by the labor movement to working men and women. He’s the type to claim that “hard work never killed anybody, unless it scares them to death,” but he seems afraid of paying a living wage than of anything else. So it isn’t that he wants to eliminate weekends, an overstated charge, so much as he wants to stop paying for them. Business changes we all know about already, where jobs are outsourced to Third World countries, where “employees” are “independent contractors,” and where governments have bent over backwards so far to keep employers employing as to effectively end up paying them for the privilege, aren’t enough. Brack’s snide complaints and litany of scare-mongering stories of injustices perpetrated by employees are an insult to anyone who’s ever worked for a living. Isn’t it enough that white-collar workers are already giving up hours upon hours without pay? Australia has already effectively moved beyond the 40-hour week into 50-, 60-, and 70-hours, especially among its white-collar population, while employers for the last ten years and more have cried poor. Competition is tough, but companies can’t keep laying it off on workers’ backs while paying their CEO’s hundreds of times above the rate of their other employees. It’s just greed, as usual.

AARP Art
The American Association of Retired Persons has been one of the most effective lobbying groups of all time, fighting for the rights of citizens over the age of 55, educating retirees and helping them maintain a reasonable standard of living. But that just makes them an obstacle to overcome for the Republicans intent on gutting Social Security, who have now recruited the same creeps who brought us the Swift Boat lies. Their first ad: a pretty little graphic depicting AARP as being “against” the troops and “for” gay marriage. No explanation, just a picture of a combat soldier with a red “x” and two men in evening wear kissing with a green tick. Deliberate and calculating, not to mention inane. Are you a member of AARP? Your organization can take these creeps to the cleaners. Go get ‘em.

Moving People
Now why is Bob Carr putting the kibosh on light rail in Sydney? He says the “narrow” streets of Sydney aren’t appropriate to tram lines, but there’s some love affair with cars going on here, maybe because parking meters and fines revenues work better for him than efficiently transporting people from one end of the city to another. Or maybe he’s disgruntled because Lord Mayor Moore’s plan looks to provide greater flexibility at a lower cost than Carr’s Epping-to-Chatswood rail link. There is still also the unresolved issue of Clover Moore herself, her election to the mayoralty a slap in the face for Carr’s Machiavellian ambitions during the City of Sydney/South Sydney Councils merger, which appears to have led Bob to act out his frustration in childishly opposing whatever Clover proposes. Regardless of the source, a knee-jerk reaction against providing light rail in Sydney is just power-tripping. As the city grows in population, better methods of moving through town are needed, and that isn’t just ring-roads and traffic tunnels. Mr. Carr appears to have in mind the needs of automobiles over people, and that’s not what cities are about. The suburban nature of most of greater Sydney is becoming less characteristic rather than more, with even the NSW government limiting land grants despite population growth. Sydney is developing its urban nature beyond the CBD, and Bob Carr needs to recognize this, even as Clover Moore already has.

Centennial Weekend
Democrats Abroad Australia spent Saturday in Centennial Park, not attending the annual "Good Vibrations" concert, coincidentally, but just having a bit of a chat about upcoming events, such as participation in the GLBT Mardi Gras parade, the expected visit to Australia by new DNC chair Howard Dean, and otherwise socializing over various picnic foodstuffs and outdoors activities, including volleyball, participation in which was a serious error on my part, involving as it did: flailing around, falling over, and spending the next day aching from unusual sportif muscle usage. The gathering was convened with the excuse of the Presidents' Day observance back home, which we can still celebrate regardless of the fate of our candidate, since it's still officially "Washington's Birthday," and used to celebrate both Washington and Lincoln, both of whom deserve the honor. Although I'd failed in my efforts to establish a rain date reservation for us, the threat of thunderstorms didn't materialize until late in the afternoon, so as much as I hope nobody got too wet (and the only lightning strike on a person was out at Bondi), well, most of the day worked out quite well.

Love Is in the Air
The Fifth Avenue hawks are home again and making a bit of a display of themselves apparently, but who knew they had a 'blog?

Nothing, If Not Consistent
Although little more than a one-trick pony (although death squads are a hell of a trick), John Negroponte is now slated to become the new director of national intelligence. This will surely allow the Bush administration to enshrine extraordinary rendition, torture, and other human rights abuses as the de facto rule of law, at least until one run-in too many with Rumsfeld sees Negroponte’s head handed to him.

False Idols
So Ian Pilmer finally gets around to watching The Day After Tomorrow, and he’s so upset by having paid $14.50 for a bad movie that he writes an bit of editorial drivel about how environmentalists are the new dogmatists, even going so far as to say they are “evil.” Let’s be clear about a couple of things. First, as Helen points out, Professor Pilmer, in addition to his work at Melbourne University, is aligned with the big mining outfits, so he’s got a bit of an axe to grind. Second, data are essential and plentiful to assessing environmental conditions and determining a course of action to reduce undue effects of human over-consumption of natural resources, which are well-established facts, as everyone but the Republican U.S. Congress, George W. Bush, and John Howard’s Australian parliamentary majority are prepared to accept. But by demonizing environmentalists (whom he dismisses as “city folk,” as if urban living somehow disqualified intelligent people from having an opinion on anything outside the door to their flats) claiming that their “concerns [result] in evil,” using derisive words and terms intended to vilify (“irrationality,” “asinine” – the word used specifically in reference to the movie he’s too embarrassed to have watched to name – etc.), and then claiming that overuse of water and an increasing reliance on gas-guzzling private vehicles legitimizes dismissing environmental concerns as “trivialities,” Pilmer not only fails to make a respectable argument (let alone pause to wipe the froth from his mouth), he only shows how intent he is on supporting the continued and selfish misuse of natural resources for personal gain. Sorry, Professor, but those of us who would prefer you didn’t despoil every bit of nature you can reach aren’t as uncritically-minded as you’d like to have everyone believe. Most people can tell that a multiple-year-long drought and an increasing population are putting strains on an already delicate ecosystem and that generations of industrial revolution developments are causing a variety of problems elsewhere. This is the kind of thinking that has the U.S. denying acid rain, even while its manufacturing plants pump enough sulphuric acid into the air so that the seasonal precipitation is killing fish across the Canadian southeast, not to mention what’s happening in Eastern Europe. Yes, there are short-term effects taking place, but the longer they are allowed to run on, the more they contribute to long-term problems. Famine in Africa has a human component other than environmental damage, but before long, that’s what it becomes. It’s a long-standing engineering principle that you cannot suppress a problem without it just popping up elsewhere. Problems need solutions, not ignorance.

Above the Law
Is this for real? I mean, I wouldn't put it past the Bushies to have this on, but, no, it can't be real. Oops, no it's real, and it's passed. The Department of Homeland Security now has the ability to suspend the rule of law without judicial review. (Can I rely on the Senate to turn this back?)

Goin' to California (in My Mind)
I'd like to be going for real, because I never did eat at the restaurant where my brother is the executive chef, the first fully-certified organic restaurant in California. Organics are making a bit of noise here, too, with increased availability even in the major chain grocery stores, but California's rules are tough, from what I've heard, not to mention that even with larger numbers of growers producing organically, it's all too easy to fall out of compliance, suddenly reducing supply. (Monsanto, invested heavily in genetic modification, is apparently a serious source of contagion and dispute.) Anyway, I like the look of the Thai curry and the organic fries, and I've got nothing against organic beer just on general principles. Anyone heading up Mendocino way likely ought to stop in.

For $225, Dick Cheney Will Visit Your House
Or the next best thing: your very own brain in a jar. Dear Santa Claus. . . . [via Boing-Boing]

Movie Notes from All Over
Up by my father-in-law’s place, Fox Searchlight was all set to begin filming Eucalyptus, adapted from a very popular and award winning novel (that I didn’t think was all that, but if Clint Eastwood can film Bridges of Madison County . . .), until “creative differences,” apparently over the quality of the script, scuttled the production. So, no Eucalyptus and all those people up Bellingen way out the money on their guest house arrangements and all those people from the crew on their way back to Sydney. For their sakes, I hope production is resumed sooner rather than later, although as for the film, I don’t really give a fig.

Alien vs. Predator
Or, HIV vs. cancer. Although I remain a little sceptical – the potential for error remains worrisome, bringing to mind things like Twelve Monkeys - I have to admire medical science’s inventiveness.

Street Legalities
The City of Sydney Council is trying to reduce the speed limit in the CBD to 40kph (about 25mph). The State government says it’s too slow and may override the mayor. 40kph is pretty slow, alright, but we’re not talking about arterial roads, we’re talking about central Sydney, the business district, where foot traffic is high. There are certainly problems with this, largely due to the arrangement of the infrastructure. The Harbour Bridge, for example, juts out from just off the CBD across to North Sydney, and there’s quite a lot of traffic moving back and forth at all hours of the day. The Anzac Memorial Bridge links central Sydney to the western suburbs and is also heavily trafficked. Oxford Street and King Street serve as arterials but aren’t wide enough, so they crawl. Gotta get the cars out, gotta get the cars in. But will a slower speed limit really do so much that Bob Carr needs to step in? (And hasn’t he learned that messing around with the Sydney Councils doesn’t win him many friends? That’s what got us our present Council administration.) The present speed limit is 50kph, about 6mph faster than what’s being proposed. The safety argument I can buy, but the counter, that 40kph is too slow, well, like the Premier, I’d like to see a better argument than just what Bob Carr thinks.

Murakami
Random House has put up an "official website" for Haruki Murakami that seems to me to offer a nice reflection of his books' content. The use of music is particularly nice.

Saffron
I wondered, at first, why Christo and Jeanne-Claude would choose February for the Gates, but then I thought they’d be more visible then, more participatory with the park itself, all that color when there’s normally so little. And they’re beautiful, the Gates, from what I can see on-line. This is one of those occasions when I miss NYC.

Activism Resources
In case you were thinking of donating to the cause, or supporting efforts to put or keep Democrats in office, Act Blue is a terrific resource.

The Hard Word
John Howard cannot apologize. No, I take that back, he just won’t. Some people say it’s because he’s a lawyer, but lawyers, like everyone else, understand at least the strategic value of an apology, so that’s not it. I think it’s because John Howard is a worm. Sure, he cites legal implications, even while PM-in-waiting, Peter Costello, makes his nearly-non-apology, but none of that’s going to help poor Cornelia Rau anyway. Already marginal, her experiences in the Baxter detention camp have put her pretty much out of reach, at least for now, until intensive psychiatric care can bring her back from wherever she is, and saying sorry isn’t going to change that. It might have made her family feel a little better, if it had come sincerely and at a much earlier stage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if their anger just grows. And I wouldn’t blame them. I grew up in the midst of NY State’s grand mental health experiment, when the hospitals were being closed down and the patients released into their own care, and I’ve seen the results: the explosion of homelessness isn’t just a result of poverty, and while that may be less evident here, due to the significantly more robust social safety net, but they’re still out there, and suffering the same problems, and many of them here end up in the same places many of them do there: jail or the street. We cared for the mentally ill once and released them from the hell many of our psychiatric hospitals had become, but we didn’t provide much for them afterwards and we’ve been since steadily cutting away at what there was. These are vulnerable people who deserve our compassion, but individuals cannot manage alone. Government can, and therefore must. Just a small part of the money spent on Joint Strike Force fighter planes or Abrams tanks would be enough: to set up halfway houses, monitoring programs, training for mental health workers, hospital programs, support for families taking on the care themselves. We know what needs to be done already, but have been too selfish to do it. The same kind of selfishness that makes the petulant and childish John Howard incapable of being sorry for the harm his government causes.

Liar, Liar
I don’t know if I entirely believe Mamdouh Habib. I watched his interview on 60 Minutes last night, and it wasn't particularly instructive, either in his responses, non-responses, or manner. There’s his undefined and unexplained relationship with local extremists and his support of the “blind cleric” who tried to blow up the WTC in 1993 (the guy Lynne Stewart's just been convicted for aiding; he kinda looked like an evil Santa), and the allegations that he went to Afghanistan in the days preceding September 11 make his arrest in Pakistan in October 2001 more troubling than arrests under that corrupt regime would be otherwise. He’s been called the worst of the worst, but he’s been released. He’s been accused of training terrorists, including the September 11 murderers, and of aiding al Qaeda. But he’s been released. He was tortured, he says, and confessed – under duress, he says – to acts that should have earned him a longer stay in Guantanamo, or at least a military tribunal like David Hicks is getting. But instead he’s been released. And to be honest, the Bush administration’s record on terrorism suggests Mr. Habib is due more than a little benefit of the doubt. What happened to the hundreds, the thousands arrested under John Ashcroft’s orders? No charges, no trials, nothing. What’s been happening to the others released so far from Guantanamo to Britain, France, etc.? No charges, no trials, nothing. Except Habib’s been back a scant couple of weeks and his home’s been broken into twice already. Tell me that’s vandalism, or burglary. We’ve known the U.S. was “extraditing” “persons of interest” to countries we know routinely use torture, so Habib’s claims are not implausible; all too plausible, in fact. If Habib gets his day in court, as he’s asking for, we may get the explanations we need, but meanwhile, I’m more suspicious of the government, here and in the U.S., than I am of him.

The Internet as Art Collective
There are many examples of internet projects collecting art locally, regionally, or globally, some deliberate and some more accidental (Flickr functions this way, or at least can be used to the same effect). But I think I’m going to have to keep my eye out to help develop Art in Cities (a Metafilter item), a compendium of graffiti-based art projects. It’s not all just tagging, and some of it’s really very good. Stencils and trompe d’oeil “enhancements” make up a large part, along with laser-print stickers and the more traditional wild-style wall projects. There’s only one example posted for Sydney, whereas Melbourne seems to have been hard at work collecting samples (which makes me wonder if everyone here isn’t spending all their time at the beach), so I’ll have to keep my eyes open and my camera at hand.

In Other News
No longer an NYC resident, I have to rely on others for my Gates appreciation. Luckily, there’s the unofficial Gates ‘blog, a photographic compendium at Walk NYC and this Dutch site to keep me happy, as well as the official site of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, of course.

Healthcare
When I was working in the States, I always had employer-sponsored health insurance. It was pretty basic for the most part, until the HMO’s and paid-providers and so forth came into vogue, and I never made extensive use of it, luckily enough. The system worked well enough, and I didn’t give much thought to any other possible scheme. Now I’m in a country with socialized medicine, and even though the Liberal government is hacking away at it, it’s not likely to disappear entirely any time too soon. I wonder sometimes if by purchasing private cover – hospital and extras, as it’s known, at least for the level I’ve bought – I’m helping dismantle Medicare. When I had my appendix out, I was asked if I wanted to be admitted under my private cover or under Medicare. What’s the difference, I asked? The only substantive difference was I could choose my own doctor. Oh, and I’d get hit by my plan’s deductible, basically putting me out-of-pocket for a not-inconsiderable sum. I went in under Medicare, of course. (So why have both? Because I get a tax break on my premiums and on any medical expenses submitted to Medicare or my plan that are not reimbursed or the difference thereon. I really ought to look at whether I’m really getting anything or just fooling myself.) It works well enough, especially if I go to medical providers who bulk-bill to Medicare or accept my private cover, and it’s nearly as invisible to me as my employer-provided group insurance was in the U.S.

Back home, medical coverage may get a bit more sticky, as the government attempts to eliminate employer-provided coverage plans and replace them with self-funded pre-tax health accounts. Now when I did have this kind of coverage, I also had the option to open what’s called a Flexible Spending Account, which was basically up to $5,000 annually taken from my pay on a pre-tax basis and that could be used to pay for things my medical coverage didn’t cover, including the deductible and any out-of-pocket co-pays, etc. It was use-it-or-lose-it, but if I was cautious, I never ended up with money in my FSA I didn’t need. Lots of people had them, and lots of people ended up using them to pay for a new pair of glasses they didn’t otherwise need at the end of the year, but we all stayed healthy and stylish as a result. Under the new Bush “ownership society” you’ll get to pay for everything out of this money, although that will mean having to deduct more from each paycheck than can be accounted for even among the least generous employer schemes. That’s because you’re not going to get the group rate, and there will be no subsidy towards the premium by your employer.

Sometimes I wonder if when George talks about an “ownership society” he doesn’t mean slavery.

’blog Business
I think it might be interesting, and it even might be fun, to go to Blogtalk Downunder (and I’m still considering if there oughtn’t to be a paper presented on language), but even at the reasonable price of $AU175, it’s too pricey for my present circumstances. It might be my only opportunity to attend the Cruisting Yacht Club, which is the outfit that runs the Sydney-to-Hobart race each year, but I’m not such a boaty person anyway. Who’s going?

Obligatory Simpsons Reference
"Mr. Burns, your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?"

(Does Bush really need to pay people to say nice things about him? We elected this man?)

American Platypus
As much as I've been enjoying "Overcompensating," I had to click into see "Magical Adventures in Space," which looked amusing, but never so funny as when I went back to the beginning and found page after page of "American Platypus," an adventure series narrated by Goth Dachshund, and apparently a television program watched by Sheriff Pony - o.k., look, it's complicated. But much easier than figuring out how to rob an armoured submarine full of beans.

References
I've no clear idea how I ended up on Maurinsky's reading list, but I'm guessing it's my opposition to AG Gonzales. I've only ever spent any appreciable time in Connecticut as was required for a brief project in Danbury, and that's close enough to NY as not to count as a different state. Meanwhile, while she's keeping everyone up-to-date on "monkey" (no, not that one), I'm falling behind on my duties, spending so much time on political stuff that the Google ads are all for the GOP. You'd think there'd be a setting: no advertising for stuff I don't approve of. Well, if Rolling Stone accepts ads for Bibles, I guess I'm stuck. It's not like anyone's using any of those links anyway.

(That was random, wasn't it?)

Post-Politics
Just to keep up on my responsibility as a weblogger, and for a little relief from the anti-Bush tirades, here’s a pretty picture of the kitty.

(Well, it is a Australian-blog “tradition.”)

Endorsing Torture
Splitting along party lines, with 5 Democrats abandoning their principles to join the party in power, the Senate has confirmed Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. It’s been said that any vote in opposition above 30 would be considered a moral victory, but there is no victory of morals here in the end, despite the 36-60 result. The Republican Senators should be ashamed, but Joseph Lieberman, Ken Salazar, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, and Bill Nelson should resign. They are fools and apologists for the use of torture, making them criminally complicit in every evil action taken before or since those memos were written. (And Max Baucus and Kent Conrad ought to have a good reason for not being present for the vote.)

The State of the Union address by the President is a showpiece of upcoming policy actions each year, and an opportunity for the incumbent to employ rhetorical skills in a convincing fashion, drawing the public to his side. Unlike in the debates, George W. Bush has herein a chance to show how adept he can be. He isn’t. Much of what he said in this year’s speech is easily parsed for its true meaning. These aren’t “spin”; or even “misdirection” or half-truths: they’re lies; name his statements for what they are. George Bush has now outlined his intentions, and they are rife with the promotion of greed and selfishness as the ruling order of the nation. He has made clear his intentions and his methods for the next four years, and we’re in for a hell of a fight to preserve liberty and opportunity for all.

Read it yourself, but watch for the following “slights of hand”:

He speaks of the “votes of the people we serve”, as opposed to those who voted in opposition whom we do not serve. Nitpicking? I think this is precisely what he means, so, no, it’s an important point.

He speaks of “frivolous asbestos claims” – why? Because God forbid anyone be compensated for what’s happened to their lungs as a result of manufacturing and building companies who knew the dangers and did nothing to protect their employees, even deliberately misleading them into actions that would be harmful?

“Improved information technology to prevent medical error and needless costs” is a national database, another ID, like your social security number, and somebody to maintain the information who might want to sell it or use it inappropriately, like by denying a claim, among other things. “Medical liability reform” is code for reducing by legislation the compensation you can receive through a lawsuit for malpractice, and potentially even your ability to initiate such a suit.

As for the “affordable, environmentally responsible energy,” coal isn’t “clean,” although it is affordable (especially since strip-mining is so efficient as it tear apart the land and lays it waste) so he must be using these terms exclusive of one another, despite the fact that putting them together makes it sound as if he means them to be inclusive.

I’ve got nothing against tax reform, but when he says “institutions that were created to meet the needs of an earlier time,” he isn’t just talking about income tax itself; he’s leading on to Social Security, and those needs are as current as they were when the program was created. Wait for it; he’ll get there soon.

“Guest workers” taking “jobs Americans will not take”? What, dangerous jobs? Filthy, difficult, nasty jobs? Well, some people won’t and some people can’t. But those Mexicans will, won’t they? They’ll fix up your lawn real good.

And here’s Social Security: “was” a great “moral reform”? “Was”? Still is, buddy. And it isn’t headed towards “bankruptcy” at all. That’s a fiction. And life expectancy in 1930 wasn’t so significantly different from what it is today – that’s not what’s at issue. Benefits were lower, but the money going into the system now is proportionately greater. Pretending otherwise doesn’t change the facts. The figures and dates presented are equally fictional. “Voluntary personal retirement accounts” are called IRA’s, KEOGH’s, and 401(k)’s. When you say that in the context of Social Security, you’re talking about PRIVATIZATION – don’t hide behind inane euphemisms. Say it loud, say it proud: say it honestly. It’s putting tax dollars into the hands of stock brokers and investment bankers, and it’s a bad, bad idea, in the long term and the short term. You think that’s going to last 75 years or more? Secure my children’s and grandchildren’s futures? You’re deluded by your trust-fund upbringing. The money doesn’t grow at the rate you claim, especially not in a “conservative mix of bonds and stock funds,” it grows at less than the rate of inflation, forever, or for as long as it lasts, whichever comes first. And not all of it is really yours, so you end up with 3%, maybe. Worthless.

A constitutional amendment on marriage is pointless, enshrining in a secular document religious principles best left to religions. Banning stem-cell research won’t reduce abortions, but it might unlock treatments for an array of disorders that would be a benefit to all mankind.

As for the “decline” in the number of “governments that sponsor and harbor terrorists,” that reduction is one, but while Iraq’s government no longer cooperates at any level with terrorists, the country is rife with them as a result of the Bush Administration’s actions there. Thanks for that.

“Providing our servicemen and women with the resources they needed” in Iraq, if anyone remembers, has been after the fact, rather than before deployment, and Bush should, indeed, thank Congress, since he did nothing himself to that end until it was already a problem.

“The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else,” but you don’t see us going into Nepal or Burma or Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates or Morocco or Jordan or many, many other nations presently absent of democracy, where citizens are subject to secret arrests, star chambers, trial without representation, torture, “disappearing,” and where terrorism is being fostered from such oppression. No, we go into Iraq, where no WMD existed, where no army had the strength to oppose us, where we thought we could get away with “imposing” ourselves. Afghanistan wasn’t enough: Bush had to prove himself over his father. And while advances towards a free democratic society in Afghanistan and now in Iraq can be claimed by Bush, he has no claims among the Palestinians or in Ukraine.

And when did we start “working with European allies” on Iran’s nuclear ambitions? It seems to me that the Europeans have been working with Iran, and we were complaining about it. Is this part of “working with allies and friends,” or are the European nations no longer counted in those groups?

Finally, it’s a little annoying, especially when he has only minutes previously spoken of his intention to decimate Social Security, to hear George Bush invoke Franklin Roosevelt, and then do so out of context, recasting the meaning. Isn’t there some greedy, selfish politician from his own party he can quote? Oh, no, of course not; I forgot the “greedy” and “selfish” bits.

Neo Home Pagination
Remember when the internet was new and everybody got onto their Amigas and put up “home pages”? Pictures of the kids and the cats, what I did on my summer vacation narratives, updated on a descending scale of frequency from daily to weekly to monthly to every now and then to once a year to never this is just too much bother and nobody’s following it anyway I might as well just send out one of those photocopied family letters at Christmas summarizing what happened (usually post-divorce or some other such disaster). Whew. Thank goodness that’s over. Except for ‘blogs. (Which I’m the only one spelling correctly, pedant that I am.)

The media has a love-hate relationship with weblogs (see, “’blog” is an abbreviation; it needs an apostrophe, just like ‘net. Web, on the other hand is a shorthand derivative, so no punctuation is required), most recently and egregiously exhibited in the NY Times “Mommie (and Me)” article, in which they hurl soft-boiled eggs and porridge from their high chairs while dissecting a niche in the weblogging world.

Why bother? This “phenomenon” is old news. The technology has certainly improved, and there’s even money in it (for some; nobody clicks any paid links on my weblog), but the overall content isn’t so spectacularly different from what went before. There are some who make an effort, and others who don’t, and yet still others who wouldn’t know the difference, but from Live Journal to Blogger to Moveable Type, there are still inane quizzes, pretty kitty pictures, and updates on summer holidays at the beach, lake, mountains . . . wherever. I concede that these software improvements have made “home paging” more of a worthwhile activity, and I visit various other journaling sites frequently, whether they’re those of friends, family, or pure strangers whose thoughts or writing or humor I enjoy (or am infuriated by for that matter).

So why does the “old media” get their knickers twisted over weblogs? Because they get called “old,” I guess. Those trying to pursue using weblogs for serious purposes got up the noses of more traditional media outlets over the last four years or so, and the newspapers and cable news channels are fighting back. It’s silly, though, and only shows a lack of perspective, if not perception. It’s fun, it can be informative, and it can even foster a sense of community or at least of conversation among individuals rather increasingly lacking opportunities to connect with anyone outside their workplace or immediate family.

Meanwhile, Rana and Jill and ”Wolf Angel” have been having some fun coming up with Timesian descriptions for their own weblogs. I ought to get Rana to do one for me, too, but by this time she ought to be charging for the service.

“(Southern Cross) Words” purports to be an exploration of cultural differences and similarities between Australia and the United States, but shows an utter lack of perspective in its political leanings, while failing to provide cat-based content at the level of better web logs [sic]. Desperate for attention, its author has even resorted to selling out to Google, placing advertisements for products no one is interested in along with the traditional sidebar content. Note: Nick Cave is not personally for sale on eBay.”

Wet
I’d thought spring was the rainy season, but summer’s thunderstorms bring some pretty dramatic results now and then. Yesterday’s rain, here in the West at any rate, came in hard and fast, and by the time I left the office, the Parramatta River was nearly up over its banks. It had been running a bit high from the rain the night before, but this was a substantial increase. The sun was out again by 5 p.m., and the rain was headed for the harbour and the ocean thereafter; I understand the catchments took in 3 inches.

Because the World Needs More Nukes
Donald Rumsfeld’s gotta have them “bunker busters” if he’s gonna get them mullahs outta Iran, or how else can we get the Shah back in office? Bush has been looking for some new way to use atomic weapons, and eliminating Tehran’s uranium enrichment program before it gets too far along is the opportunity he’s been waiting for. Well, actually, Iraq’s WMD program was the opportunity he was waiting for, but the hue and cry over developing new nukes for actual use in the Middle East was enough to quiet things down for a little while. But that was before it turned out that Hussein’s WMD program didn’t exist. Iran’s does, albeit in an indeterminate state presently. There are those among the internet punditry who believe the use of nuclear weapons against theocratic Arab despots is appropriate, even desirable. There are, as always, some who have already been calling for a direct strike with an atomic warhead; none of this namby-pamby specialized, targeted usage: hit Mecca now, they say. This is Cold War thinking. So is the White House’s drive for new nukes, but that’s what comes from stocking your pool of advisors with old Cold Warriors and theorists. Is it any coincidence, do you think, that Rumsfeld is Secretary of Defense and Rice was National Security Advisor, now Secretary of State? The old hatreds, right along with the old mind-sets, are still at work, just applied to new targets. But, like George W. Bush himself is fond of saying, we need to use post-September 11 thinking now. New strategies for a new world. I have to agree; it’s just a shame the Bush administration doesn’t practice what it preaches. It will be worse if they ever use these things.

Keeping Up
I've got to get out more, or something. For example, while we were at the Opera House Sunday, did I have my camera? No, of course not; which is only too bad because the NYE disco ball is still hanging off the Harbour Bridge. Why is that important, you ask, especially if you didn't think it was worth the effort in the first place? Well, it's huge, for one thing, much bigger than I expected, and the light show was still on. It also wasn't hung where I'd pictured it, but directly in front of the bridge, rather than under it (where it would have blocked shipping) or between the arches (where it would have been less visible). It would be nice if they could come up with someplace to hang it permanently, I think, but it's so big, I have trouble imagining where.

Meanwhile, I did bring my camera on a recent trip through Martin Place, which has a nice fountain, nicer than some of the ones out here in Parramatta, anyway.

Came So Far, But No Further
Last night was M.’s first inside the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House (my second time; the first having been to see Laurie Anderson – of all performers – two years ago), where we saw the Sydney Festival’s “Came So Far For Beauty,” an all-star tribute concert to Leonard Cohen, featuring Nick Cave; Beth Orton; Rufus Wainwright; Rufus’s mom and auntie, Kate & Anna McGarrigle (and his sister, Martha); Linda Thompson and her son, Teddy; Jarvis Cocker (son of Joe); and others, none of whom I recognized, even when I could hear their names announced or see in the program I’d read over the shoulders of people in the rows ahead. It doesn’t matter much, because I wasn’t particularly impressed, so won’t be going out to buy any of their albums any time soon.

The Opera House is probably just a bad venue for amplified music, but the sound was terrible. I don’t know if the technician they had on the board was a hack or doing the best he could with bad acoustics, but the band was mixed well over the vocals and the backup singers (often Martha Wainwright by herself or with Julie Christiansen and Pearl Batalla) mixed as if they were singing the lead. Martha Wainwright has to be among the most annoying singers of all, not just for her Joe-Cockeresque writhing and stamping, but for her abuse of her own range, spending so much time at the top her singing was coming out of her nose. When she toned things down she wasn’t half bad, but did that only rarely, much to the detriment of anyone she accompanied, including her mother & auntie. I’ve long liked the McGarrigles, but you couldn’t hear much from them all night.

Linda Thompson has lost her voice, if this concert was any indication; Beth Orton was lost in the mix for the most part; Rufus Wainwright gets a nice blues mumble going but too loud, overwhelming the melodies; does anybody here know the Handsome Family (or care?) Teddy Thompson, however, was very good whenever he came out on stage, but wasn’t given much to do. Jarvis Cocker was also good (but who was the guy whose contortionist routine looked like Jarvis’s dad?), and Nick Cave sang well, too (although I’m still convinced he was reading “Suzanne”), but spent most of his time on stage dancing around singing with his back to the audience – did the band pay for their seats, too?

After 3 ½ hours – on a school night – it was all more than we could take. Hal Wilner’s staging, which allowed the musicians to come and go without any discernable pattern and in configurations that didn’t always work well together, produced a messy concert experience, draining the songs of the pleasure they normally impart. I would have preferred, in the end, to have each act come out, perform a few songs, and leave the stage for the next singer, and with no large ensemble numbers.

Baghdad Ballots
Despite mortar attacks and at least 36 dead, Iraq has reportedly achieved a 57% voter turnout in yesterday’s elections, and many among them are hopeful of a resolution to their present situation. Me, too, whomever gets elected. (I wonder if finger-ink would help towards a smoother process in the States?)

Editorial Policy
In the previous post you might notice that I've linked to Barnes & Noble's on-line listing for A Confederacy of Dunces rather than Amazon's, which would once have been more the norm, and is often the site to appear at the top of a Google search. That's because Amazon's 41% red, and I try to buy blue. (B&N isn't on their list, but I recall seeing them elsewhere as being substantially blue. Can't find the link, but if it turns up, I'll post it.)

How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Actually, only Australia Day, but it still counts. M. & I went up to see Sideways, and you know any movie that can successfully reference A Confederacy of Dunces is o.k. by me. O.k., sure, yes, there was more to it. It's very character-driven and very much a writerly movie, which latter I guess makes sense, given that it's an adaptation of a novel. The characters were people I could see in my own life, not least because I have friends like Jack and often feel like Miles in dealing with them. Mostly, though, I just enjoyed the dialog and the humor. It should probably get at least one award, most likely adapted screenplay, but Thomas Hayden Church is a deserving candidate for supporting actor, too.

Study Them, Learn Them, Live Them
Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in Nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page, let every stage
Advance Australia fair!
In joyful strains then let us sing,
"Advance Australia fair!"

When gallant Cook from Albion sail'd,
To trace wide oceans o'er,
True British courage bore him on,
Till he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England's flag,
The standard of the brave;
With all her faults we love her still,
"Brittannia rules the wave!"
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

Beneath our radiant southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

While other nations of the globe
Behold us from afar,
We'll rise to high renown and shine
Like our glorious southern star;
From England, Scotia, Erin's Isle,
Who come our lot to share,
Let all combine with heart and hand
To advance Australia fair!
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

Shou'd foreign foe e'er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We'll rouse to arms like sires of yore
To guard our native strand;
Brittannia then shall surely know,
Beyond wide ocean's roll,
Her sons in fair Australia's land
Still keep a British soul.
In joyful strains the let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

Does anyone ever sing the whole thing at national events and so forth? What do all the Italians and Greeks think of the Brittania stuff? Nevermind. Happy Australia Day. Now, let's watch the cricket.

Local Weather Update

Last night a series of thundershowers rolled through, drenching the city periodically from about 6 p.m. late into the night. There were high winds and some power lines down. Summer in the sub-tropics.

Self-Referential Medium
‘Blogging’s fun. No, I mean it; I really enjoy this – the technical stuff not so much, maybe, but writing every day, trying to be clever, to be up-to-date, to release information into the wild for others to enjoy, to keep up with friends and family. But it is really only about me, in the end, regardless of the subject of any one post or set, and that’s largely true of most other ‘blogs. So I don’t think I’ll be attending Blog Talk Downunder, particularly as the topics to be presented in the papers they’re calling for don’t have much appeal. Perhaps that’s unimaginative. I do this from the office enough that I ought to be considering ways of doing it for a living, right? The hotel they’re booking for visitors, however, is just around the corner, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for social events to hobnob with my brother and sister ‘bloggers. Maybe I’ll do a education-themed paper on the use of apostrophes in weblogs.

But, Mom . . .
Make your bed, make your bed. . . . Morning after morning, and now? A good reason to leave the bed unmade. Dust mites are an allergen and have been linked to asthma. Improve your health by being a slob. Excellent. (And if this works, eternal thanks to Dan Lyke.)

New Local Celebrity
Getting a bit of radio air time around the country, "Dream on Black Girl" is a new 'blog on the Australian scene, authored by a young Aboriginal woman in Sydney. I'm checking in periodically, and getting an earful, and recommend others do the same.

Weimar on Walsh Bay
Last night was supposed to be dinner with friends, but out of nowhere, two free tickets to the Sydney Festival’s production of The Black Rider turned up. At first it appeared they’d go begging, as one after another combination of us in attendance was proposed to take the seats, all of us more intent on a leisurely meal after our working day than on three hours in the theatre, despite the production’s reputation, one with which I have a bit of a history. Some years back, The Black Rider was the big draw at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave festival. Although no big names were actually performing, unlike the Sydney event’s early promise of Marianne Faithful, who withdrew due to illness well before the start, I was keen to go. Prevented, by one thing or another, I convinced a friend to take my ticket. She hated it, wouldn’t talk about it, and pretty much never spoke to me again. It must have been terrific, was all I could figure. So, it seems that once again, I had to come to Australia for fate to catch up with me, because after some negotiations over the phone, I ended up in a splendid orchestra seat.

The music, by Tom Waits, I’ve heard on CD, and although it was played well and sung with verve, I do think I prefer still that canned version overall. Still, we are talking about Robert Wilson at the acme of his German abstract expressionist fascination, so the combination of that with the Waits songs and libretto by William S. Burroughs, is a big draw, and in the end quite a successful theatrical collaboration. Wilson’s work isn’t going to show up on Broadway any time soon, but wouldn’t be entirely out of place. I wonder, however, what audience he has in mind with these productions, which, in this case, and in his collaboration with Lou Reed, The Raven, look like a melding of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Cabaret, and very Weimar in sensibility overall. Do younger audience members get the references, or do they think it’s all very new and hip? For those of us over, say, 30, we’re perhaps too familiar with the content, whether the look or even so far as the content itself, in this instance drawn from a German folktale.

I enjoyed it; I’m glad I finally got to see it; Marianne Faithful would have been terrific in the role of the Devil, so I’m sorry she got sick; and despite a later night than I’d been prepared for, it was a terrific night overall.

Trust Me
Mark Fiore’s internet filmstrip, “The Office of Truth Enhancement,” tells you everything you need to now about how the Bush Administration is ruining the government. I mean “running,” running the government. Now that that consummate liar, Condoleezza Rice, has been confirmed in committee, you can see how well it’s working.

Takeover Fallout
Oracle’s announced 5,000-employee layoff, reduced from an originally projected 6,000, will most probably reach that higher figure sooner rather than later; it’s how layoffs happen. That the PeopleSoft customers gobbled up in the takeover haven’t defected en masse as yet is neither a surprise nor a positive indication of future trends, despite Oracle’s historical customer loyalty. It’s a bit soon to abandon multi-million dollar investments and on-going projects, especially when the alternatives aren’t yet entirely clear. I’m still surprised the court overturned the DOJ’s antitrust suit, based as it was on the objections of PeopleSoft customers, among whom were both state and federal agencies in addition to private and public companies, but it’s done now, and the results are only beginning to be seen.

Hateful Propaganda & Dangerous Myths
George II’s next Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has promised to restore the image of the United States where it has been damaged by “hateful propaganda and dangerous myths,” but she is one of the primary architects of precisely such propaganda and myths that have put America in the position it now faces, one where allies are more inclined to be former allies, where the unaligned feel more inclined to find their alliances elsewhere, and where the threats and insecurities of the present have increased rather than decreased. Only Barbara Boxer - again - has stood her ground in the face of Bush’s walking death’s-head, and I’d have loved to hear sharper retorts to Rice’s complaints of how her reputation is being impugned. Her reputation? It isn’t that she lied or is dishonest, except intellectually, it’s that the extremists in the White House and their supporters have relied on race and gender to promote a dangerously unqualified individual into a position of such significance as National Security Advisor and are doing it again by trying to make her Secretary of State, repeating the pattern that put that neo-con lapdog, Clarence Thomas, on the Supreme Court. Too often I hear conservatives criticize liberals for their “racism” when concerns are voiced over Dr. Rice or Justice Thomas, and it burns me up. These too are excellent examples of individuals promoted to the level of their incompetence – and beyond. They are qualified, up to a point, but that shouldn’t have resulted in their elevation to where they are today. The only hope is that Secretary of State should prove as uninfluential a position under Rice as it has been under Powell, because that’s the only way it would be worthwhile to allow her into the job.

Point of Order
Parliamentary politics is not a system I’m particularly familiar with, so although I’m not surprised that Mark Latham is stepping down as the leader of the Labor Party (and from his position as Member for Werriwa), I have been fascinated to watch the drama unfold since last year’s election. Latham had been touted as the brash, young up-and-comer Labor needed to repair the party’s dismal prospects under Simon Crean’s leadership, particularly because Kim Beazley had failed twice to take the role from Crean. And why not? For all the beat up over beat up cab drivers years ago and what a appeared to be conflated arguments over the Liverpool council’s condition, he seemed to have the energy Crean could no longer muster, the willingness to try on new ideas and push them hard, and – most importantly – the backing of his party, a new-found solidarity mustering behind him. Then came the campaign, and the brashness was gone, replaced by the newly statesman-like Latham; and while the ideas weren’t gone, they weren’t being pushed. No argument was forthcoming, either for Labor’s policies or against Howard’s. Instead, all we heard about were the requisite position papers and documentary filings available on the website. And the party support didn’t seem to materialize either. Once Howard had gotten his re-election, Labor began to disintegrate. Various members of the party started coming forward to voice their dissatisfaction with the results, laying the problem out as entirely Latham’s fault, back-biting and back-stabbing even among the front-benchers. The press was not behind in ensuring a very public debate over Latham’s continued leadership, although they were little more coherent than a pack of hounds with too many scents to follow. By the time the tsunami hit, and Latham’s office didn’t put out a press release, the writing was on the wall. It didn’t matter that the man was ill, suffering the debilitating pain of a second pancreatitis, and there’s some legitimacy in the criticism that his staff could have fronted up for him – and didn’t – the press and the party were now out for someone’s head on a block, and Latham was the only candidate. Howard’s “if” regarding Latham’s health made it clear to the nation that Mark was dogging it, a puerile tactic that should haunt the PM (but won’t), further sinking in the flood waters any hope of political recovery. Nevermind that it’s the role of government – hence, Howard – to express Australia’s condolences, Mark Latham failed his last leadership test, and now he’s gone. Kim Beazley may now finally have his chance, unless Kevin Rudd can mount a successful leadership campaign, but Latham’s ill health is now also a metaphor for the condition of the party. While the former MP can now retire into private life and hopefully better health, the party’s got a lot of treatment ahead to repair its prospects. In three years’ time, we’ll see how well they can become.

My Life as Roger Ebert
Project Greenlight has come to Australia, offering a million dollars to produce an original screenplay to aspiring directors. This is a program developed by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon back in the U.S., where at least two movies have been completed so far. Once a winner is selected, the filming begins, and Project Greenlight follows the progress for a documentary series presentation on HBO. The completed film premieres at Sundance.

It took some convincing, but M.'s gone ahead and submitted her feature to the contest, which now requires her to join the ranks of the peer review panel. Everyone who submits must review at least 3 scripts, but you don't have to enter to be a reviewer. To see what her competition is like, and what she's going through herself at this stage, I signed up as a reviewer myself. I've now completed 2 scripts, and have one more to read to complete my commitment. While M.'s reports of what's come her way have been pretty dire, my own experience has been less troubled, at least insofar as the overall content goes. The stories have been cliched, but the biggest problem has been the language. Does no one writing a screenplay understand basic English? The first script read like it had been badly translated from the Japanese, and the next as if it had been written by a year-8 dropout. I'm more convinced than ever that M. will go far.

Shark Net
Sunday morning M. & I took a trip out to the beach nice and early. We were on the sand by about 8:30, maybe 9:00, and in the water not too long after that. After an early pre-departure weather disappointment scare, when a brief shower pattering on the steel awning beneath our windows presaged a postponement, we ventured out all the same, premised on my promise that it would clear off by the time we got there, which it pretty much did. (I could have gotten a few more "p" words in there somehow, maybe by using French: "sur la plage"?) Harbour beaches are, of course, distinctly different from the surf beaches of the Eastern suburbs, there being no surf, first of all, but also because there's often a bit of shade to be had nearby and, in this instance at least, i.e., Nielsen Park, a big ol' shark net. The harbour is, after all, still open water, and there are plenty of fishes in there, including sharks sometimes, although I wouldn't expect any of the big 'uns to turn up, and there hasn't been an attack inside the harbour in a long time. It's still a matter of no little fascination to me. Bondi's got one, although you can't see it (or I haven't anyway), and I suppose there's one at some of the others. By lunchtime we were home again, refreshed and more ready to face the heat of the day with a bit of a nap, but it would be a fine thing to live just a little closer to the water than we presently do, if just to avoid getting up at 6 a.m. for a sojourn on the sand.

No photos this time, because as is more usual with me I forgot the camera. (I'm not put off by the prosecution of the creep at Bondi who was snapping topless sunbathers either, although I don't agree with the restriction implied. It seems unenforceable to me, if only because there's little privacy in public places.)

Guantanamo Abuses
Four more Britons and one of the Australians captured in Afghanistan three years ago are being freed. None of them are going home to charges under laws existing at the time of their detention or having gone into effect since, although Philip Ruddock has stated that Mamdouh Habib will be subject to ongoing scrutiny by ASIO. John Howard has complained to the U.S. about having taken so long, but he did little enough up until now to secure the man’s release, so it’s a bit too little too late, although he’s not going to apologize for his inaction. Meanwhile, David Hicks is still awaiting trial.

I know George II said there’d be covert operations and anti-terror actions we’d never hear an outcome of, but has there been anything worthwhile out of the indefinite detention of anyone in Cuba? I mean except for the Supreme Court deciding the detainees can have access to the U.S. legal system. Has anyone actually been prosecuted, convicted, or has anyone provided substantive information that’s lead us to Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar? Yet Bush wants to build a permanent detention center there, with the sole purpose of holding prisoners for the rest of their lives; no charges to be brought, no trials, no burden of proof. Lock ‘em up and throw away the key. (A situation Mr. Habib now faces in another sense, as his repatriation becomes a kind of home detention, guilty for the rest of his life.) Except . . . one by one, they’re getting out and going home, often enough it seems as a result of formal allegations of abuse or torture. Is there any give-and-take on Habib’s release, as Amnesty International’s inquiry would suggest? I don’t expect to ever find out.

Bondi
While I was out at the beach this weekend, I thought to bring the camera. Although overcast, it was a fine day, as these images attest.

I especially enjoyed the tarted-up camper van. Very superhero.

Best
In the past, WCA and I would pick up a copy of the Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays year by year, a practice extended to Best American Sports Writing at least once on my part, probably more by WCA, although in later years, as the series extended itself to Mystery Stories, Travel Writing, Spiritual Writing, Recipes . . . it exceeded my interest. Best American Poetry is independent of these others, and I’d be interested in seeing it, although some of the reviews have been less than positive. Before we relocated, M. and I went down to the poetry café on the Lower East Side and read as a farewell to the East Village literary scene, and reading about what’s been included in the 2004 Best, I’m reminded of the experience, as I am when I look at the photo of the six performance poets appearing in the Sydney Festival’s “Slammin’”. Dude, the orange hair doesn’t make you an artist. O.k., that’s unfair. Maybe his poetry is actually good. But I don’t think anyone will ever find out by going to a “Slam.” These performances are an extension of rap into literature, nothing more than playing the dozens, really, although the content is probably a bit more elevated than “yo’ momma” insults. I must be getting old, but I do want more substance from poetry than format, and more content than performance.

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?