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.)