Security
More bombs in London, but two suspects arrested. That’s anti-terror law enforcement in action, although the police want more power yet. But frightening as these latest attacks were, calm and reason should prevail. Our societies have plenty of power, and not just in legal mechanisms, so great care should be taken in how we change, or if we change, our responses to hatred. International cooperation is working to good effect; let’s enhance that. Searching backbacks may seem prudent; it will certainly be an inconvenience, but there are still expectations of civil liberties to be managed. Each step we take toward infringing existing rights steepens the pitch of the “slippery slope.”

Leaps and Boundaries
Like many others, last night as I looked up at the nearly full moon, I thought briefly about the space race and Apollo 11. The promised wonders of the universe never seemed closer then, but they so much further now, despite Mars landing photos regularly updated in the pages of National Geographic. Looking at the Google map, marked for where the lunar landings were, it’s maddening that so very little of the moon was ever explored, let alone that we have no outpost there. We’ve got people holed up in Antarctica year-round, but otherwise stay as close to home as we can. The spirit of adventure and exploration seems to have shrunk.

(And look: Scotty's dead. What a strange coincidence.)

Who
I’d like to hear an actually persuasive argument in favor of a national ID card on the grounds that it would help counter terrorism. I’ve heard some people say the London bombers would have had one but that isn’t an argument against such cards, but the people saying that don’t go on to explain their thinking (if you could call it that – what’s an argument without an argument? Just orders.), so I’ve yet to hear anything particularly compelling. The idea’s been mooted in the U.S. and Britain as well as Australia more than once in recent years, and it’s usually shouted down or allowed to pass away quietly, often on privacy grounds. I do hear various authorities say that privacy’s not an issue, after all we let credit card companies collect more personal data than’s being suggested here, but that’s not terribly valid argumentation. Yes, credit card companies and other commercial ventures collect information, and we hand it over and end up on mailing lists and getting sales calls at dinner: the plain fact here is that we often don’t realize the extent and meaning of what we’re signing up for. What’s being touted in a national ID is a centralized government database of . . . essentially whatever the administration in power at the time or subsequently decides to collect. Interestingly, I have heard suggestions that in addition to my Medicare number and my tax file number and my driver’s license information (no, not yet; someday, after I’ve had the money and time for lessons), and my passport and visa, I could also have my banking and credit details encoded onto the little magnetic strip, or the embedded chip, or whatever. After the RFID-embedded passport flap in the U.S., the new Australia Card may not have an auto-detection feature, but it is already starting to sound like a lot more information than I want any government to have on file for me. I already know what the banks and others do with my personal data, what happens when the Feds have my medical history and it gets hacked, or passed along for research, or sold? Believing that bureaucracy is the principal safeguard over government-held data, can the trust barrier be overcome? Is a national ID just that one step too far closer to “papers” teutonic-accented agents will demand as they buttonhole me on my way to the train station? We had these scares over social security numbers in the U.S. when that program was initiated, and despite the abuses – retailers collecting the number illegally, for example, one of the key factors in the rise of identity theft – the effect overall has been mild enough. And what about national security and fighting terrorism? Is there really a link, or can we only expect to identify the presence of individuals or of forged documents? Will the cards include known associates? Political affiliation? Is there really any hope of these things being useful ahead of the crime? You’ll have to convince me, because right now it just sounds like another way to help reduce civil liberties.

Non-Abuse
On the assumption that the Navy report can be trusted, I’m most pleased to hear that David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib weren’t abused at Guantanamo. John Howard’s suggestion, however, that we mustn’t forget that the allegations against them were “very serious” – training with al Qaeda and joining that group post-September 11 – don’t excuse their treatment or, indeed, have anything to do with whether they were abused, especially, in Mr. Habib’s case, including rendition to Egypt for torture outside U.S. jurisdiction. The reports in last week’s New Yorker, where the participation of health care professionals in “breaking” prisoners, using torture-resistance training methods, was presented with disturbing corroboration from within the military, suggests that the Navy report would only ever have reached the conclusion it did, howsoever “cynical” that may be. If the methods are official practice, then they are not abuse, are they? Nevertheless, we’ve gone on from there to Abu Ghraib, and the military’s physicians and psychologists may be exceeding their ethical boundaries under new directives. This makes the report rather less than reliable as the basis on which to judge the treatment of prisoners.

Compromise?
Who wants a compromise on the Patriot Act? It’s one of the worst pieces of legislation ever enacted, developed and put in place by Ashcroft to entrench intrusive police-state powers in the Federal Government, exploiting a moment of fear for a power-grab. I suppose I’ll settle for an extension – nothing permanent, mind you – but I’d rather see the whole thing expire according to its original sunset provisions.

Ghosts
For a few years back in my first NYC apartment in Queens, I used to experience episodes of sleep paralysis. I’d have the sensation of someone sitting next to me on the bed, invisible, oppressive, although not malevolent, and I would be unable to move or speak, certain, however, that if I could do either, the spectre would leave. Usually, after what seemed an incredible effort, I would be able to move, to roll over, and the spell would be broken. Because I was sleeping in an apartment full of second-hand furniture, including the bed, wherein someone may have actually died, and where the previous tenancy of the flat may have been suspicious, it seemed perfectly reasonable to believe there was indeed some undispelled ectoplasmic entity hanging about, but I was younger then and more inclined towards such fancifulness, in addition to which, I’d never heard of “night crushers” or the old hag. The phenomenon stopped after a while and hasn’t since recurred, about the time I moved to Manhattan. Perhaps my recollection of the timing, however, is just another mental lapse, and it had actually stopped earlier, as inexplicably as it started.

Howard Channels Mao
Yes, it’s time for Chairman Howard’s great leap forward. Those damn baby boomers are getting older, and as they age they’re getting persnickity, demanding things like health care and retirement security. In order to ensure that every Australian does his bit (not her bit; women need to stay home and have babies), the PM is relying on a new generation of wage slaves, workers who won’t balk at working unpaid overtime or giving up some of their holidays. It’s never been clearer what he’s after, and if you haven’t guessed, it’s to reduce your pay and your ability to obtain working conditions favorable to a work-life balance. What’s the term here? Sea changer? Forget it, your country needs you.

Work or Stay Home
I’ve seen the ACTU ads where the woman is called in to work and threatened with dismissal when she asks, “what about my kids?” I know the ads are meant to do exactly what ads usually do: manipulate my thinking over Howard’s industrial relations changes. (He calls them “reforms,” but I’m not falling for that. I’ve worked in human resources long enough to understand what he’s really selling.) Now, after the unions’ ads, the government has pitched in their own sell, with full-page advertisements in the major papers extolling the benefits and attempting to refute the claims made against their proposals. If you’ve been willing to buy the Howard line all along, or got your back up against the unions’ claims, or just don’t know what to think anymore, Ross Gitins has a handy analysis of the current state of the argument that’s worth a look. Before you sit back and let Howard’s newly increased majority go to his head, have a look. You may not suffer, but others will, and your turn may come before you know it. Block Howard’s Industrial Relations Reform.

Tarnation
This documentary feature probably isn't going to feature in the next Academy Awards, but it probably should. Largely complied from old home-movie footage, it's a small, personal story, but nevertheless deeply affecting and wonderfully executed. Tarnation relies on imagery even more than images to convey its story, creating a sensual cinematic experience unusually in a documentary, let alone a (auto)biographical film. None of the people are otherwise remarkable, but the movie's tag line - "Your greatest creation is the life you lead" - is realized. These are remarkable people whose greatness lies in how ordinary they are. Tarnation is one of the best 90-minute movie experiences I've had in a while.

After our evening of Australian Film Commission promotional shorts, we had a leisurely dinner out at our favourite Lebanese restaurant and then hailed a cab for the trip home. Even before we had opened our mouths to request our destination, our driver told us the news. While my first thought was for my friend, S., he’s up near Birmingham, and out of the immediate range of the attacks. Through him, we have acquaintances, however, in London, and of course many of the people I work with and whom M. and I know travel or have family and friends there, so unlike some other parts of the world where violence is nearly more expected than not, we have cause for concern and care, and the immediacy of the danger is greater than it might otherwise be. And while it is not unexpected, it is still unanticipated. Britain has a long history with terrorism, and seems to be coping very well with the situation, but they and the rest of Europe have been expected targets since 2001. Surely participation in the Iraq war has raised Great Britain’s profile among the barbarians who have now acted so brutally, but only insofar as other, neighboring nations were perhaps less prominent for not joining Bush’s coalition. Preparedness and alert levels only take us so far, however; little could have been done to prevent these attacks. Even in a country where the culture of suspicion for the unattended parcel has long been ingrained it was possible for terrorist bombers to act. Expanded police powers, such as those under the USA Patriot Act, those granted to ASIO, and those not long ago debated in Britain’s Parliament, were of no value, as anyone whose mind was unclouded by fear or revenge fantasies could have told you. These attacks, as much as they represent the savage hatred of the perpetrators and their own irrational fears, also shows the failures of our present course, the lack of imagination at work at the highest levels of government. The war on terrorism cannot be conducted as tank battles and air raids; this isn’t World War II. While states may be opposed in such a fashion, ideologies are not similarly overthrown. We suffer and will suffer more for our continued failure to address the root causes, for treating the symptoms and not the disease.

Can’t Steer
Can’t do it in Iraq, can’t do it on a bike. I’m glad the cop’s all right, but the story does remind me that bicyclists often write into the paper over the riding-on-the-sidewalk debate saying, “I always wear a helmet.” This doesn’t help the people they run over, of course. Bush, who apparently didn’t learn to ride a bike when he was a kid, was also wearing a helmet, although I might have wished for something to knock some sense into him. Ride safe, kids.

This Will Play Well with the Base
End farm subsidies, says Bush, to the European Union member nations, and the U.S. will reduce theirs. Fine, says I, although recognizing that there are still small-holders out there likely to lose everything as a result, at least insofar as they are forced to sell out to the conglomerates. But if we’re going to help the Third World nations build their economies to feed themselves and grow industrially, this is part of what has to happen. We might want to work on keeping rapacious multinational corporations from exploiting the situation, however, whether in the U.S., the EU, or Africa, Asia, et al., unless we feel we’re ready for genetically modified food. Free trade, like communism, works well in theory, but in practice sometimes causes more harm than good. We haven’t heard much of a “giant sucking sound” as promised from NAFTA, but these things are more incremental than immediate, a condition that is all too easily exploited in the rhetoric that flies around in the lead-up to implementation. As much as we cannot afford not to act, we cannot afford to act rashly.

I do wonder just the same how this announcement will be received in all those “red” states, where “moral values” were the purported basis for Bush’s majority.

The Fault Is in Our Selves
Or maybe not, when "Deep Impact" drops a washing machine-sized probe into the comet Tempel 1. It won't change anything, really, not the trajectory of the comet or it's five-and-a-half-year cycle through the solar system, so don't expect anything untoward in your horoscope this month. I'm not expecting Gamera or Ghidohra, either.

Bush's America
In Bush's America, torture may be authorized by the President, extra-legal prison camps are acceptable, and secret detention on ships at sea is taking good care of prisoners. Where are the congressional investigations? If a Democratic President had done these things, there'd be an impeachment underway already.

True?
Then an investigation is warranted, because he wouldn’t know in the usual course of business.

Tylenol
The Mars recall reminds me, as it would anyone (well, anyone old enough), of the last big product tampering incident, and I’ve got to hand it to MasterFoods in how they’re handling it. Good public relations, responsible, forthright. I don’t eat the stuff, but if I did, I’d feel just fine doing so once the all-clear is sounded.

Barnabas
One of the Twelve Apostles has gone the way of all, um, stone. These natural limestone monoliths have lost from their company before and will again, of course, although I’m still sort of regretful that I have yet to travel along the Great Ocean Road to see them. Meanwhile, it does bring to mind some nice New Testament thoughts, like: must have been Judas, or upon a different kind of rock, and so forth.

Brought to You by
Although previously committed to allowing the 13 root servers to pass into the hands of an international internet control body, the U.S. has now decided to keep control itself for now. It’s an understandable move, what with having created the internet in the first place – and as a defence department service – and faced with the variety of security threats from terrorists and criminals (and, naturally, because SkyNet is really the internet), so I’m not overly critical of this non-development. It’s long past being a U.S.-centric service, however, increasingly the domain (can I still say that, or is it confusing) of commercial enterprises to near-exclusivity. Educational institutions and charities use the internet much the same way as Citibank and Morgan Stanley and so on, and webloggers and people posting cat photos (or combinations thereof) aren’t so populous or popular as to make much difference. Already much of the scientific community and internal governmental operations, particularly in defence and intelligence, are using separate versions, so it really comes to a question of regulation and revenue. If a model can be developed which generates taxes and which can also be policed, there’d be some incentive to let go, but not yet.

Appointments
What with the last few Federal judgeships doled out to ideologues, it’s not hard to imagine Bush tapping someone to replace Sandra Day O’Connor who’ll push the balance of the Supreme Court where only the graduating class of Patrick Henry College really wants to see it. We can hope that he’ll listen to the conservative calls to forego Alberto Gonzales as his nominee, but who else is up? And looking back, not only Presidents but the public at large and the pundits have sometimes been surprised by the performance of SCOTUS appointees, Sandy included, a Reagan appointment who didn’t pan out as the disaster predicted. On the other hand, Thomas has lived up to his foreseen assessment as the worst of the present court, if only because Scalia’s smarter.

8
We didn’t watch much more than the news reports of the Live 8 concerts, but that doesn’t mean we don’t support Sir Bob and aid to Africa. We do what we can when we can, and wish that was true of more people – and more governments, for that matter. Aid to the Third World and Africa in particular often turns out to be money poured into a gaping abyss, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helping and isn’t necessary. There’s much more to the analysis than that. First, much of what’s promised is never delivered – look at the Tsunami promises and then look at what’s actually been spent so far, for example. And certainly, better aid, too, is called for, such as opening the trade barriers and assisting in set-ups like the Global Fund for Women. There are many ways of helping, and Sir Bob’s pleas shouldn’t be derided or denigrated out of hand. People claiming that aid is useless without the reform of corrupt governments or that rock stars aren’t in a position to lecture anyone or aren’t giving away their own millions are just creating excuses for themselves to do nothing. The rock stars are giving away money, just like many rich people already do, and if they have used their leisure time to study and reflect on conditions outside their immediate environment, they deserve a hearing. Reforming corruption is undeniably necessary, but isn’t going to happen quickly if there is no relief from poverty. Sir Bob’s right: “don’t let anyone tell you this doesn’t work”: it does, if only because we’re all talking about it. And let’s keep in mind, Plan B is that there is no Plan B.