Habitat for Humanity
Democrats Abroad Australia is hosting a fund-raising effort in Martin Place tomorrow, 16 September, at 6 p.m., in conjuction with Habitat for Humanity to collect donations for the relief efforts in the Gulf Coast states post-Hurricane Katrina. I suppose, with Ophelia currently flailing the North Carolina coastline, there'll be more need than ever for the charity. Everyone's welcome - this isn't an ex-pats-only event. Check the website for more information.
15 September 2005
13 September 2005
Wrap
Last night M. finished shooting on her short film. What? M. had a short film in production? Yes, and I didn’t say anything about it, but now that major filming has ended, there you have it: a 15-minute short soon to undergo post-production. There’s ADR for one of the actors, editing, and all that, at which point it’ll be ready for submission to the festival circuit. Production so far has been much longer than it might have been, but the co-producer (M.’s role was not limited to writing the screenplay; she also cast the actors and extras – including myself, the only non-professional in the bunch – costumed the men, and gathered sponsors to provide meals, clothing, and some of the equipment) had consented to using her own home as the set, and the availability of some of the other crew was limited, forcing everything to be done on weekends, a schedule that got further extended when the cinematographer turned out to have run himself out to a ragged edge and had to limit himself to one day a week. Editing, for which the services of a professional in possession of a credit on an Academy Award-winning film have been engaged, will begin in November.
And before I say anything more, I think the screenplay is right up there, one of the best things M.’s done, so if the finished product lives up to the potential, it’s going to get some good attention out and about. It’s based on some research she’d done for an article back in NYC that was published on Salon.com on fetish salons.
The evening work ended once the exhausted actors ran through the final scene one more time, then again, then slower, then had stills taken, then just did some quick outdoor night shots; and then we packed up the gear and sent out for some Thai curries and spring rolls, which were great (by that time, it might hardly have mattered, but the food really was good). We sat around the table telling stories, relaxing, and getting into a fully jovial state until after 11, at which point we all realized just how tired we were and went our separate ways home.
M., of course, will see the movie before me, or at any rate the rough-cut edit, but eventually, late November, I suppose, we’ll have a screening for cast and crew and all the extras and sponsors and various helpers-along-the-way. Since my boss consented to appearing in a crowd scene, I might be expected to feel some level of anxiety over what she’ll make of it, but it’s not like I didn’t tell her the basic plot going in.
Last night M. finished shooting on her short film. What? M. had a short film in production? Yes, and I didn’t say anything about it, but now that major filming has ended, there you have it: a 15-minute short soon to undergo post-production. There’s ADR for one of the actors, editing, and all that, at which point it’ll be ready for submission to the festival circuit. Production so far has been much longer than it might have been, but the co-producer (M.’s role was not limited to writing the screenplay; she also cast the actors and extras – including myself, the only non-professional in the bunch – costumed the men, and gathered sponsors to provide meals, clothing, and some of the equipment) had consented to using her own home as the set, and the availability of some of the other crew was limited, forcing everything to be done on weekends, a schedule that got further extended when the cinematographer turned out to have run himself out to a ragged edge and had to limit himself to one day a week. Editing, for which the services of a professional in possession of a credit on an Academy Award-winning film have been engaged, will begin in November.
And before I say anything more, I think the screenplay is right up there, one of the best things M.’s done, so if the finished product lives up to the potential, it’s going to get some good attention out and about. It’s based on some research she’d done for an article back in NYC that was published on Salon.com on fetish salons.
The evening work ended once the exhausted actors ran through the final scene one more time, then again, then slower, then had stills taken, then just did some quick outdoor night shots; and then we packed up the gear and sent out for some Thai curries and spring rolls, which were great (by that time, it might hardly have mattered, but the food really was good). We sat around the table telling stories, relaxing, and getting into a fully jovial state until after 11, at which point we all realized just how tired we were and went our separate ways home.
M., of course, will see the movie before me, or at any rate the rough-cut edit, but eventually, late November, I suppose, we’ll have a screening for cast and crew and all the extras and sponsors and various helpers-along-the-way. Since my boss consented to appearing in a crowd scene, I might be expected to feel some level of anxiety over what she’ll make of it, but it’s not like I didn’t tell her the basic plot going in.
Book Report
I’ve finished reading Kafka on the Shore, the latest novel from Haruki Murakami, and while it isn’t quite the grabber The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was, it’s still, as usual, really good. It’s a bit sexier than usual, and also a bit more brutal, especially about a third of the way in, when some distinctly unpleasant things happen to the cats, a plot element Murakami thankfully dispenses with thereafter. Neither of the two central characters are ever brought into direct contact, which suits the alternating, third-person/first-person narrations, but instead, minor characters are used to thread the story together. The story is a lot more explicitly magical than other Murakami novels, and that’s not something I’m entirely happy about. Although it’s translated from Japanese, what I experience as Murakami’s distinctive style comes through. Whether it’s because of his prose being so readily translated or the translator is so adept, the novel, as usual, manages to be highly worldly, distinctly Japanese, and unique to the environment it creates for itself all at the same time. I’ve read a few other Japanese novels, but Murakami shows how well he’s mastered the form, well beyond anyone else I’ve read yet (although I hear Amy Yamada’s supposed to be good).
I’ve finished reading Kafka on the Shore, the latest novel from Haruki Murakami, and while it isn’t quite the grabber The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was, it’s still, as usual, really good. It’s a bit sexier than usual, and also a bit more brutal, especially about a third of the way in, when some distinctly unpleasant things happen to the cats, a plot element Murakami thankfully dispenses with thereafter. Neither of the two central characters are ever brought into direct contact, which suits the alternating, third-person/first-person narrations, but instead, minor characters are used to thread the story together. The story is a lot more explicitly magical than other Murakami novels, and that’s not something I’m entirely happy about. Although it’s translated from Japanese, what I experience as Murakami’s distinctive style comes through. Whether it’s because of his prose being so readily translated or the translator is so adept, the novel, as usual, manages to be highly worldly, distinctly Japanese, and unique to the environment it creates for itself all at the same time. I’ve read a few other Japanese novels, but Murakami shows how well he’s mastered the form, well beyond anyone else I’ve read yet (although I hear Amy Yamada’s supposed to be good).
The Old Grey Lady's Retirement Fund
At US$50 a year, a subscription to the NY Times on-line would be cheap, except it's way more than I want to spend for on-line content. I'll make do with the stuff they post for free and look elsewhere for the rest.
At US$50 a year, a subscription to the NY Times on-line would be cheap, except it's way more than I want to spend for on-line content. I'll make do with the stuff they post for free and look elsewhere for the rest.
12 September 2005
Boycotts
The emails continue to arrive on the Day without Petrol idea (1 September in the States, as noted earlier). For Australia, it's going to be 22 September. I still don't think it will actually have a net effect, but why not do it anyway? With the price per litre going the way it is, it can't hurt.
The emails continue to arrive on the Day without Petrol idea (1 September in the States, as noted earlier). For Australia, it's going to be 22 September. I still don't think it will actually have a net effect, but why not do it anyway? With the price per litre going the way it is, it can't hurt.
11 September 2005
Spring
It's a half a month off yet, but spring has come, if today's weather is any indication, despite Australia's calendric demarcation of the seasons, let alone any equinoxial (if that's a word) focus. Last I looked, we were 22c in the shade, and although the clouds were large, they weren't thick, so at its height the afternoon was well up around the low 70's: pleasant, indeed. This is the biggest problem in my life, well, aside from all the more mundane issues of money and so forth, althought these are related, after all, because what I'm talking about is how much, having come to Sydney and experiencing on a sustained basis, beach life, I know now how ready I am to retire. Bring it on, I say, but after the lottery win.
Better keep working.
It's a half a month off yet, but spring has come, if today's weather is any indication, despite Australia's calendric demarcation of the seasons, let alone any equinoxial (if that's a word) focus. Last I looked, we were 22c in the shade, and although the clouds were large, they weren't thick, so at its height the afternoon was well up around the low 70's: pleasant, indeed. This is the biggest problem in my life, well, aside from all the more mundane issues of money and so forth, althought these are related, after all, because what I'm talking about is how much, having come to Sydney and experiencing on a sustained basis, beach life, I know now how ready I am to retire. Bring it on, I say, but after the lottery win.
Better keep working.
Looting and Profiteering
Both are war crimes. I mention them, however, in the context of New Orleans, where President Bush is blocking the Red Cross from the city while allowing Blackwater, the federal contractors acting as mercenaries in Iraq, to go in, assisting in disarming and relocating the citizenry. He's also suspended the law requiring federal contractors from paying their employees the prevailing wage for the type of work performed in the area where they're operating. So any locals hired for the clean-up won't get a decent wage and volunteers aren't welcome. Good thing ol' horse-show Brown's back in D.C.
Both are war crimes. I mention them, however, in the context of New Orleans, where President Bush is blocking the Red Cross from the city while allowing Blackwater, the federal contractors acting as mercenaries in Iraq, to go in, assisting in disarming and relocating the citizenry. He's also suspended the law requiring federal contractors from paying their employees the prevailing wage for the type of work performed in the area where they're operating. So any locals hired for the clean-up won't get a decent wage and volunteers aren't welcome. Good thing ol' horse-show Brown's back in D.C.
Australian Cinema
Next, we'll go see Look Both Ways, but rather than attending in chronological order of release, we skipped off to see Little Fish, the newest offering, starring Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Sam Neill, Martin Henderson, and Noni Hazlehurst, and marking the Australian debut (and for all I know return to screen acting) of 21 Jump Street's Dustin Nguyen. It's a remarkable cast in what might have otherwise been a small, intimate movie, but the quality here, not just in the performances, but generally,, is tremendous. Neill's always good as quietly evil, and Weaving is better in this than in pretty much anything I've seen him in before. It goes without saying that "our Cate' is excellent; she never disappoints. As M. pondered as we queued for entry, it will be interesting to see how this does overseas. It's right up there with Lantana, if not even better, more proof that when Australia gets it right, it does it up big. Rather than the slapstick and/or suburban comedies, Australian drama is unlike anyone else's, probing into ordinary lives in ways that Hollywood is too often too busy to bother over. This is one to be sure not to miss.
Next, we'll go see Look Both Ways, but rather than attending in chronological order of release, we skipped off to see Little Fish, the newest offering, starring Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Sam Neill, Martin Henderson, and Noni Hazlehurst, and marking the Australian debut (and for all I know return to screen acting) of 21 Jump Street's Dustin Nguyen. It's a remarkable cast in what might have otherwise been a small, intimate movie, but the quality here, not just in the performances, but generally,, is tremendous. Neill's always good as quietly evil, and Weaving is better in this than in pretty much anything I've seen him in before. It goes without saying that "our Cate' is excellent; she never disappoints. As M. pondered as we queued for entry, it will be interesting to see how this does overseas. It's right up there with Lantana, if not even better, more proof that when Australia gets it right, it does it up big. Rather than the slapstick and/or suburban comedies, Australian drama is unlike anyone else's, probing into ordinary lives in ways that Hollywood is too often too busy to bother over. This is one to be sure not to miss.
09 September 2005
Deterrence
The PM is proposing some new laws to prevent terrorism in Australia, including sticking up surveillance cameras everywhere like they have in England, increased powers of arrest and detention, jail time for incitement, and fines or jail for leaving your bag somewhere. Other than the obvious decrease in overall civil liberties, which is especially worrying in the case of the arrest and detention proposals, I don’t think the cameras are an effective deterrent – they’re more likely to serve an investigatory purpose after the fact than to provide any particular utility beforehand – and the new luggage laws are, as Kim Beazley points out, ineffective – more likely to snare some harried family member trying to shepherd the kids through to the boarding area than anyone intent on wiring themselves up as a bomb. The net effect of these laws will mean more harassment of ordinary citizens and less interruption of business operations at airports and railway stations.
So it’s a jobs program. No, really: you'll need operators behind those cameras, first of all, then more lawyers for all the arrested citizens, more guards to cover the shifts for the longer detention periods - not to mention the increased handling requirements will mean building programs for more jails and a volume-based increase for service providers to law enforcement - and the airlines and railways will be able to handle more traffic because they're not so frequently disrupted by having to address lost luggage problems. The benefit to the economy will be immense, especially once the labor law changes go into effect and employee turnover goes into hyperdrive.
The PM is proposing some new laws to prevent terrorism in Australia, including sticking up surveillance cameras everywhere like they have in England, increased powers of arrest and detention, jail time for incitement, and fines or jail for leaving your bag somewhere. Other than the obvious decrease in overall civil liberties, which is especially worrying in the case of the arrest and detention proposals, I don’t think the cameras are an effective deterrent – they’re more likely to serve an investigatory purpose after the fact than to provide any particular utility beforehand – and the new luggage laws are, as Kim Beazley points out, ineffective – more likely to snare some harried family member trying to shepherd the kids through to the boarding area than anyone intent on wiring themselves up as a bomb. The net effect of these laws will mean more harassment of ordinary citizens and less interruption of business operations at airports and railway stations.
So it’s a jobs program. No, really: you'll need operators behind those cameras, first of all, then more lawyers for all the arrested citizens, more guards to cover the shifts for the longer detention periods - not to mention the increased handling requirements will mean building programs for more jails and a volume-based increase for service providers to law enforcement - and the airlines and railways will be able to handle more traffic because they're not so frequently disrupted by having to address lost luggage problems. The benefit to the economy will be immense, especially once the labor law changes go into effect and employee turnover goes into hyperdrive.
Breaking Quarantine
If there’s one food I love, it’s tomatoes, and if there’s one kind of tomato I love above all others, it’s one that actually tastes like a tomato. Whoever invented that ripening gas did a real disservice to the world, so I’m on the lookout for a way to grow my own heirloom tomatoes. First: get the seeds into the country. . . .
If there’s one food I love, it’s tomatoes, and if there’s one kind of tomato I love above all others, it’s one that actually tastes like a tomato. Whoever invented that ripening gas did a real disservice to the world, so I’m on the lookout for a way to grow my own heirloom tomatoes. First: get the seeds into the country. . . .
Free PC
Malcolm Turnbull, millionaire-turned-politician, would like everyone in Australia to have a free, lifetime email account. Of course, most of us already have one, at least if we’ve heard of Yahoo!, Hotmail, or Google. What we don’t have is free internet access, regardless of how “cheap” broadband is. And a lot of us don’t even have a computer. Yeah, it’s an “innovative” idea, but I don’t think Mal’s going to buy me a PC. I can picture him, however, as the next “Dell dude.” (If he is going to hand out computers, can I have one of these?)
Malcolm Turnbull, millionaire-turned-politician, would like everyone in Australia to have a free, lifetime email account. Of course, most of us already have one, at least if we’ve heard of Yahoo!, Hotmail, or Google. What we don’t have is free internet access, regardless of how “cheap” broadband is. And a lot of us don’t even have a computer. Yeah, it’s an “innovative” idea, but I don’t think Mal’s going to buy me a PC. I can picture him, however, as the next “Dell dude.” (If he is going to hand out computers, can I have one of these?)
Day of Prayer
While the Red Cross manages to provide relief to the Katrina refugees, and FEMA dithers, the Right Reverend George has announced a day of prayer next week, reinforcing his government’s two-pronged disaster-response themes: delay and empty promises. While the rest of the country – and much of the world, generally – has already included the Gulf states in their prayers, and have already moved into direct action, Bush and Cheney continue to make speeches and avoid answering pointed questions. I’m sure a lot of people will be comforted to know that people are praying for them, and it’s unworthy of anyone to question the power of prayer during times like these, but a lot more people would be a lot more comforted if they could get their hands on those debit cards or enrolled onto Medicare and Food Stamps and so forth. If independent aid organizations are managing the business of providing for these people better than the Feds, then I’m with Senator Reid: skip FEMA. Cheney’s answer on Michael Brown’s appointment neatly side-stepped the issue of qualifications, but I’d still be interested in what favors were being returned that put a horse-show manager in charge of such an important post. And what’s behind gas prices - which are growing even as far afield as Australia? Is this price-gouging, profiteering? With two oil men in the top spots, can the Federal government answer that? Maybe, if we can get an independent inquiry, we can find out. It would be a more worthwhile investigation than anything we got out of Ken Starr.
While the Red Cross manages to provide relief to the Katrina refugees, and FEMA dithers, the Right Reverend George has announced a day of prayer next week, reinforcing his government’s two-pronged disaster-response themes: delay and empty promises. While the rest of the country – and much of the world, generally – has already included the Gulf states in their prayers, and have already moved into direct action, Bush and Cheney continue to make speeches and avoid answering pointed questions. I’m sure a lot of people will be comforted to know that people are praying for them, and it’s unworthy of anyone to question the power of prayer during times like these, but a lot more people would be a lot more comforted if they could get their hands on those debit cards or enrolled onto Medicare and Food Stamps and so forth. If independent aid organizations are managing the business of providing for these people better than the Feds, then I’m with Senator Reid: skip FEMA. Cheney’s answer on Michael Brown’s appointment neatly side-stepped the issue of qualifications, but I’d still be interested in what favors were being returned that put a horse-show manager in charge of such an important post. And what’s behind gas prices - which are growing even as far afield as Australia? Is this price-gouging, profiteering? With two oil men in the top spots, can the Federal government answer that? Maybe, if we can get an independent inquiry, we can find out. It would be a more worthwhile investigation than anything we got out of Ken Starr.
PAC
Some additions to the on-line political resources I’m tracking: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Swing State Project are websites devoted to promoting Democratic candidates for re-election or to supplant Republicans, each a great place to help get people like Rick Santorum, that moral abyss, out of national office. Progressive Punch, along with Progressive Majority, are websites to assist in tracking and supporting progressive candidates as well as the voting records members of Congress and the Senate. And of course Democracy for America, the site Dr. Dean turned over to the greater good.
Some additions to the on-line political resources I’m tracking: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Swing State Project are websites devoted to promoting Democratic candidates for re-election or to supplant Republicans, each a great place to help get people like Rick Santorum, that moral abyss, out of national office. Progressive Punch, along with Progressive Majority, are websites to assist in tracking and supporting progressive candidates as well as the voting records members of Congress and the Senate. And of course Democracy for America, the site Dr. Dean turned over to the greater good.
08 September 2005
Old Man
When I read Jason Kottke’s Popcorn Hacks, I soon realized that I am an old, old man. Why does popcorn work? Because there’s a bit of moisture inside the kernel that, when it turns to steam, cooks the corn and bursts and outer membrane. Why does microwave popcorn work? Because it does the same thing as the application of heat: turns the liquid into gas. So for you kids playing at home that never cooked up popcorn on the range-top, you don’t actually need to “stir the kernels around with a spoon so they don’t burn”; just keep the pot moving, shaking the kernels. And you don’t need “protective eyewear so that when the first kernels pop, you don’t get hot butter-like liquid in your eye”; you just need a lid for the pot. The rest of the instructions are just like what we used to do as kids.
When I read Jason Kottke’s Popcorn Hacks, I soon realized that I am an old, old man. Why does popcorn work? Because there’s a bit of moisture inside the kernel that, when it turns to steam, cooks the corn and bursts and outer membrane. Why does microwave popcorn work? Because it does the same thing as the application of heat: turns the liquid into gas. So for you kids playing at home that never cooked up popcorn on the range-top, you don’t actually need to “stir the kernels around with a spoon so they don’t burn”; just keep the pot moving, shaking the kernels. And you don’t need “protective eyewear so that when the first kernels pop, you don’t get hot butter-like liquid in your eye”; you just need a lid for the pot. The rest of the instructions are just like what we used to do as kids.
Ol’ Mess
Forced evacuation of the entire city of New Orleans is now underway. The mayor cites his power under martial law and claims the risk of fire and disease is too great to allow anyone to remain in the city, even in undamaged homes. Only 10,000 people are left, other than rescue workers, law enforcement, and Halliburton. Nothing Bush could have done – other than to have funded the damn levees – could have prevented this situation, it seems. I’ve heard reports that only the French Quarter, out of all the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans, may come through with its character intact. Rebuilding, getting the thousands of displaced residents back in their homes, is urgent.
Aid to the region is set to increase from $10 billion to nearly $52 billion, some of which is being distributed directly to refugees in $2,000-debit cards, to “get them some cash in hand, which allows them, empowers them to make their own decisions about what they need to have to restart their lives,” according to disgraced horse-manager and present head of FEMA, Michael D. Brown. Mr. Brown’s statement is expressive of the President’s attitude toward the situation and poor people in general: help yourself, because we don’t think we should have to; only morally weak people don’t have money. (For an example of this kind of thinking, both specifically within the Bush administration, and in the United States historically, last week’s issue of The New Yorker included an article on the health care system by Malcolm Gladwell that provides some great insights.)
Well, $2,000 isn’t going to get anyone very far toward rebuilding their lives. It won’t even pay for the period of time they’ll be homeless, let alone recompense them for lost wages. These people are going straight on the dole, many of them for the first time, and many will stay there for a very long time to come. Inquiries are all well and good, and while Bush can’t magically rebuild New Orleans or the devastated businesses that have supported the city, he can ensure that every effort is made to pump out the water, rebuild the levees, clean up the mess, restore the infrastructure (public and private), and subsidize the return of jobs. I only hope $52 billion will be enough – and that it’s actually spent where it needs to be. Aid packages are often more promise than substance, and the money often ends up boosting some corporation’s price-earnings ratio or lining some CEO’s pocket rather than feeding someone or putting clothes on their back.
While Bush couldn’t run an oil company or a baseball team (and hasn’t done much of a job with the national economy or a war, unsurprisingly), and Michael Brown couldn’t run a horse farm, they’ve got to run this reconstruction – not just for themselves, but for all the people of the Gulf coast. Lives were at stake before the storm; they’re still at risk.
Forced evacuation of the entire city of New Orleans is now underway. The mayor cites his power under martial law and claims the risk of fire and disease is too great to allow anyone to remain in the city, even in undamaged homes. Only 10,000 people are left, other than rescue workers, law enforcement, and Halliburton. Nothing Bush could have done – other than to have funded the damn levees – could have prevented this situation, it seems. I’ve heard reports that only the French Quarter, out of all the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans, may come through with its character intact. Rebuilding, getting the thousands of displaced residents back in their homes, is urgent.
Aid to the region is set to increase from $10 billion to nearly $52 billion, some of which is being distributed directly to refugees in $2,000-debit cards, to “get them some cash in hand, which allows them, empowers them to make their own decisions about what they need to have to restart their lives,” according to disgraced horse-manager and present head of FEMA, Michael D. Brown. Mr. Brown’s statement is expressive of the President’s attitude toward the situation and poor people in general: help yourself, because we don’t think we should have to; only morally weak people don’t have money. (For an example of this kind of thinking, both specifically within the Bush administration, and in the United States historically, last week’s issue of The New Yorker included an article on the health care system by Malcolm Gladwell that provides some great insights.)
Well, $2,000 isn’t going to get anyone very far toward rebuilding their lives. It won’t even pay for the period of time they’ll be homeless, let alone recompense them for lost wages. These people are going straight on the dole, many of them for the first time, and many will stay there for a very long time to come. Inquiries are all well and good, and while Bush can’t magically rebuild New Orleans or the devastated businesses that have supported the city, he can ensure that every effort is made to pump out the water, rebuild the levees, clean up the mess, restore the infrastructure (public and private), and subsidize the return of jobs. I only hope $52 billion will be enough – and that it’s actually spent where it needs to be. Aid packages are often more promise than substance, and the money often ends up boosting some corporation’s price-earnings ratio or lining some CEO’s pocket rather than feeding someone or putting clothes on their back.
While Bush couldn’t run an oil company or a baseball team (and hasn’t done much of a job with the national economy or a war, unsurprisingly), and Michael Brown couldn’t run a horse farm, they’ve got to run this reconstruction – not just for themselves, but for all the people of the Gulf coast. Lives were at stake before the storm; they’re still at risk.
06 September 2005
Qualifications
Suddenly faced with a second Supreme Court nomination, compounded by the vacancy being the Chief Justice’s seat, the President went for the unexpected and named John Roberts, previously his choice to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, as his selection for the Rehnquist robes. I know the ABA has rated Roberts as qualified for the original appointment, but I’d seriously question his nomination as Chief Justice, so I’m glad to hear Senator Harry Reid calling for more time and additional scrutiny. The guy’s been a federal judge – a judge at all – for only a couple of years, before which he was an ideologically suspect government counsel and trial lawyer, albeit with Supreme Court experience. It seems a mighty big step up to make him the top dog at this stage. Of course, it represents an easy choice for Bush: he doesn’t have to attempt a more polarizing nomination either to the additional vacancy or separately to the position of Chief Justice, and by not naming Scalia to the post, as I suspect was probably the more generally anticipated option, he makes an end run around at least some of the opposition. Bush still needs to fill an empty seat, but he may think he can put up one of his wing-nuts without generating a filibuster, Attorney General Alberto Torquemada, for example.
Meanwhile, as the fallout from New Orleans continues, every effort is being made to minimize the damage, unlike the administration’s actions before the storm. Fresh from shoe-shopping, that death’s head Condoleezza Rice, along with fellow ex-Cold Warrior Donald Rumsfeld, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Bartlett, are touring the area in advance of Bush’s second visit, with everyone staying mum on any criticism levelled at them from the Democrats, but alongside a concerted push towards blaming the Democratic administrations of the city of New Orleans and State of Louisiana. While these latter are not without blame, we shouldn’t forget the mismanagement of Bush’s federal government. This is the administration that claimed to recognize the need for greater coordination between agencies, but which has, as much through cronyism in its appointments as in its fundamental antipathy towards direct government management of infrastructure and services, consistently failed to put in place the conditions necessary to ensure smooth operations, whether in military deployments or in response to natural disasters. It’s past time the “age of spin” came to an end; we cannot trust these people.
Suddenly faced with a second Supreme Court nomination, compounded by the vacancy being the Chief Justice’s seat, the President went for the unexpected and named John Roberts, previously his choice to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, as his selection for the Rehnquist robes. I know the ABA has rated Roberts as qualified for the original appointment, but I’d seriously question his nomination as Chief Justice, so I’m glad to hear Senator Harry Reid calling for more time and additional scrutiny. The guy’s been a federal judge – a judge at all – for only a couple of years, before which he was an ideologically suspect government counsel and trial lawyer, albeit with Supreme Court experience. It seems a mighty big step up to make him the top dog at this stage. Of course, it represents an easy choice for Bush: he doesn’t have to attempt a more polarizing nomination either to the additional vacancy or separately to the position of Chief Justice, and by not naming Scalia to the post, as I suspect was probably the more generally anticipated option, he makes an end run around at least some of the opposition. Bush still needs to fill an empty seat, but he may think he can put up one of his wing-nuts without generating a filibuster, Attorney General Alberto Torquemada, for example.
Meanwhile, as the fallout from New Orleans continues, every effort is being made to minimize the damage, unlike the administration’s actions before the storm. Fresh from shoe-shopping, that death’s head Condoleezza Rice, along with fellow ex-Cold Warrior Donald Rumsfeld, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Bartlett, are touring the area in advance of Bush’s second visit, with everyone staying mum on any criticism levelled at them from the Democrats, but alongside a concerted push towards blaming the Democratic administrations of the city of New Orleans and State of Louisiana. While these latter are not without blame, we shouldn’t forget the mismanagement of Bush’s federal government. This is the administration that claimed to recognize the need for greater coordination between agencies, but which has, as much through cronyism in its appointments as in its fundamental antipathy towards direct government management of infrastructure and services, consistently failed to put in place the conditions necessary to ensure smooth operations, whether in military deployments or in response to natural disasters. It’s past time the “age of spin” came to an end; we cannot trust these people.
05 September 2005
Grey Power
If the NSW Health Department is really concerned, there’s a simple solution to reducing the potential problems of recycling grey water: eliminate phosphates and salt from cleaning products. Growing up, I remember when Suffolk County banned phosphates, and half the housewives drove into neighboring Nassau County who hadn’t joined the ban (and where the water table ran downhill into Suffolk, making the ban somewhat less effective) to buy foamier soap. That didn’t last, as the inconvenience wasn’t really worth it, and, in the end, the non-phosphate stuff did the job anyway. The quantity of fecal matter entering the environment through grey water recycling would be negligible, and the e coli danger along with it, not to mention that it only requires the filtration of 3 meters of soil to clean out pretty much everything in a litre of water. I don’t have enough plants on the balcony to manage the run-off from my washing machine, or I’d be watering the plants a lot less often (and yes, M., I know I’m supposed to do it more often already).
If the NSW Health Department is really concerned, there’s a simple solution to reducing the potential problems of recycling grey water: eliminate phosphates and salt from cleaning products. Growing up, I remember when Suffolk County banned phosphates, and half the housewives drove into neighboring Nassau County who hadn’t joined the ban (and where the water table ran downhill into Suffolk, making the ban somewhat less effective) to buy foamier soap. That didn’t last, as the inconvenience wasn’t really worth it, and, in the end, the non-phosphate stuff did the job anyway. The quantity of fecal matter entering the environment through grey water recycling would be negligible, and the e coli danger along with it, not to mention that it only requires the filtration of 3 meters of soil to clean out pretty much everything in a litre of water. I don’t have enough plants on the balcony to manage the run-off from my washing machine, or I’d be watering the plants a lot less often (and yes, M., I know I’m supposed to do it more often already).
04 September 2005
Rehnquist Requiem
It's just one disaster after another: with Chief Justice William Rehnquist dead, there are now two open spots on the Supreme Court, one of them paving the way for Scalia to don the stripey robes. Roberts' nomination is sure to reach confirmation, even though he's pretty much a right-wing ideologue in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, and having supported, if not openly espoused, a variety of policies and political entities, including the former apartheid government of South Africa, and we've seen a lot lately of the kinds of extremists the Bush Administration wants to put forward for federal judgeships, as well as their callous indifference to the rule of law and international standards of justice. If their neglect and mishandling of New Orleans is any indication at all, and I think it is, we can only expect Bush to thrust the Supreme Court back into the judicial dark ages. I hope the Democrats in the Senate are getting ready for a fight.
It's just one disaster after another: with Chief Justice William Rehnquist dead, there are now two open spots on the Supreme Court, one of them paving the way for Scalia to don the stripey robes. Roberts' nomination is sure to reach confirmation, even though he's pretty much a right-wing ideologue in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, and having supported, if not openly espoused, a variety of policies and political entities, including the former apartheid government of South Africa, and we've seen a lot lately of the kinds of extremists the Bush Administration wants to put forward for federal judgeships, as well as their callous indifference to the rule of law and international standards of justice. If their neglect and mishandling of New Orleans is any indication at all, and I think it is, we can only expect Bush to thrust the Supreme Court back into the judicial dark ages. I hope the Democrats in the Senate are getting ready for a fight.
How Not to Apologize
The Coalition now has two methods of apology: none at all, as pioneered by John Howard, and without even a veneer of sincerety, as practiced by Tony Abbott, who, after openly mocking John Brogden, then went on to pretend to offer offering an apology. How do people continue to take these creeps seriously?
Update: Leaving a message on the answering machine - when it's public knowledge the guy you insulted isn't even home, particularly - isn't an apology; it's a cop-out. Mealy-mouthed acknowledgements that what you did was "tacky" don't get the job done either. Didn't Tony Abbott's parents teach him any manners?
The Coalition now has two methods of apology: none at all, as pioneered by John Howard, and without even a veneer of sincerety, as practiced by Tony Abbott, who, after openly mocking John Brogden, then went on to pretend to offer offering an apology. How do people continue to take these creeps seriously?
Update: Leaving a message on the answering machine - when it's public knowledge the guy you insulted isn't even home, particularly - isn't an apology; it's a cop-out. Mealy-mouthed acknowledgements that what you did was "tacky" don't get the job done either. Didn't Tony Abbott's parents teach him any manners?
02 September 2005
Since landfall, New Orleans has been a disaster area. It was already, of course, with its endemic poverty, and waiting to happen, too, with the reduction in funding for levee maintenance, not to mention that the evacuation plans relied on an every-man-for-himself scenario, leaving the poor to fend for themselves, a situation that has resulted in huddled masses in the Superdome and convention center, where there is no support to speak of and crime is running high, right along with all the other failures in services, such as fresh water and food supplies that the looters are working to supply, well, all right, some of them.
But where are the 30,000 troops? And will the $10 billion actually reach anyone who needs it? While some are callous enough to suggest not rebuilding, we are talking about people's homes, people's lives, that they've spent years trying to build up and maintain. Stories of the family that drove off to Disney World because they couldn't go home right away are poignant and heartwarming at the same time, but they don't give the true picture of what's happening back where the chaos continues its reign.
12,000 National Guard are on the way, but that's still a long way from being where they're needed now, let alone being the 40,000 requested. The Red Cross and various other aid agencies are doing what they can, but they're few in number, and we are talking about the richest, most powerful nation on earth, aren't we? We can do more than show up a day late and start spouting platitudes, offering fly-over assessments as if they meant something. I know Bush and Hastert didn't create the hurricane, but they're not helping; they're standing still and looking for ways to retreat. Compassionate conservatives? No such thing.
But where are the 30,000 troops? And will the $10 billion actually reach anyone who needs it? While some are callous enough to suggest not rebuilding, we are talking about people's homes, people's lives, that they've spent years trying to build up and maintain. Stories of the family that drove off to Disney World because they couldn't go home right away are poignant and heartwarming at the same time, but they don't give the true picture of what's happening back where the chaos continues its reign.
12,000 National Guard are on the way, but that's still a long way from being where they're needed now, let alone being the 40,000 requested. The Red Cross and various other aid agencies are doing what they can, but they're few in number, and we are talking about the richest, most powerful nation on earth, aren't we? We can do more than show up a day late and start spouting platitudes, offering fly-over assessments as if they meant something. I know Bush and Hastert didn't create the hurricane, but they're not helping; they're standing still and looking for ways to retreat. Compassionate conservatives? No such thing.
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