It's Your Party
The Democratic Party has a new look to their website. It's very up-to-date looking.

No Nukes
How are the nuclear missiles in the U.S. stockpile tasked? Do we aim them still at Russia and Eastern Europe, or are they exclusively targeted at China? Do we have any preset for Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, France, or any other country with nuclear weapons technology? Is there really a need for new nukes?

With the end of the Cold War, many of us expected the “peace dividend” we never got to include at least a substantial reduction in the nuclear weapons ensiled around the country, maybe even the golden age when we wouldn’t have any at all and the atomic threat would largely have ended. With China, however, maintaining its stockpile, neither was going to happen right away, and the threat from various so-called rogue nations having increased, the excuse to keep ours continues. Of course, there’s little deterrent apparently, at least to terrorists, who very likely would detonate a radiologic device just about anywhere they could, if they could.

The threat today is more generally considered to be from unsecured radioactive material and weapons technology making its way into the hands of non-state actors more so than from the rogue nations, at least for the U.S. North Korea threatens Japan, Pakistan and India threaten each other, Israel threatens the Arab Middle East, who would themselves threaten Israel if they could develop the capacity to do so. France just blows off nukes to annoy everyone else, especially Greenpeace and people in the Pacific islands.

The space aliens aren’t coming anytime soon, it seems, and even with what we’ve got it would take some doing to address any asteroid collision problem, so what are the new weapons being proposed for? For use in “conventional” warfare. The purpose would be to attack and destroy “hardened” targets, deep underground bunkers and so forth, especially built to defy even the weightiest explosives we can presently deliver.

This is, presently, the way the world is addressing its problems, just prudent. Of course it would be better to improve the world, improve international relations, work for peace, but there doesn’t appear to be anyone at the head of any nation I can think of offhand who makes that the first priority. Yeah, maybe the Scandinavians, and various little countries around Europe. The world, however, is too small a place for such small, short-sighted thinking, and we’d be better off if we invested our efforts and our money in projects other than building a better bomb. Nationalism is pretty much an outmoded concept now, causing more problems than it’s fixing, as it’s usually done. Maybe we should be forging inclusive relationships outside geographic and political boundaries that aren’t purely trade-based or militarily opportunistic. That way there’d be less to be afraid of and fewer places we’d want to nuke.

Tomorrow’s History
And you can read that headline as a contraction or as a possessive, either way, as of July 1, selfishness will begin its rule in Australia in a way not seen for more than a generation. With control of the Senate, John Howard will push forward with his industrial labor relations alterations, gutting the power of unions, and making a fair wage and a fair go less likely (not to mention further marginalizing the Labor Party). Don Watson’s right: it’s about greed, the same greed that only listened to Howard chanting “interest rates, interest rates” last October and gave no thought to the future beyond the term of their mortgages, the same greed that has pushed away from awards and collective bargaining to AWA’s and individual contracts. This is the culmination of ignorance, and while the ignorant will snicker and sneer, secure in the knowledge that nothing bad will happen, at least to them, slowly and surely, their rights in the workplace will disappear, one worker at a time, first to the guy down the street, then to a neighbor, then maybe their son or daughter getting a first job out of school or university, and then to themselves, until they finally see what it means to abandon the principles that built modern Australia. When Australia’s got American-style private health and a decimated safety net, it’ll be even harder to fight back to what was achieved over the last 25-30 years, if it’s possible at all.

Recommendations
While I’m at it, trying to generate a cent or two from spending my time on weblogging, I’ve signed up as a Barnes & Noble affiliate. Now, I really like Amazon’s wishlist feature, and I put stuff up there that I want to keep track of, but they give most of their political donations to the Republicans, so I can’t in good conscience spend my money there buying books online. Instead, when I link to books, I’ll use a B&N link, and if anyone actually uses that to buy something, not only will a company that supports Democrats be rewarded, so will I, and everyone – assuming you like the book you buy – will be happy. If B&N put up a wishlist, I’ll move over there entirely; otherwise, if you wanna know what I’d like for Christmas, let me know, and I’ll add you to the wishlist list. (I got the idea from Rebecca Blood, who’s an Amazon Associate, and was recently discussing disclosure issues.)

Media Profile
I post and post and while my profile sinks ever lower I realize Microsoft doesn't want me for a rainbow, I mean 'blogger. This is not to say, of course, that I wouldn't 'blog for them, but I only heard about this accidentally (because I have no journalistic ambitions). But the Google Adsense ads aren't going to get me US$100 even this year, let alone any kind of regular income, and the various survey services and so forth to which I subscribe and respond faithfully are garnering even less. So, hey, MSN: I'll write about Tom Cruise and what kind of frocks get worn at the red carpet events, and I'll even be nice; sign me up. What's all this bandwidth for? Pictures of the cat?

Look for the Union Label
I remember the ILGWU song from when I was a kid and the women would promote their union in television ads, and as many times as I heard stories of union corruption and misuse of power, I heard the stories of the struggles they made to benefit all workers. Power relationships are always troubled, especially when the balance of power between labor and management is weighted too far in favor of one or the other side. In the case of unions, this too often resulted in infiltration by organized crime, while on the other side of the equation, you got sweatshops and moving factories into Third World labor markets and CEO’s lining their own pockets at the expense of the company and its workers. Government, to the degree that it has attempted to ensure fairness in the relationship, has instituted various controls to make such problems less attractive to the greedy, whether by enacting laws or pursuing investigations and prosecutions of offenders. For the Ayn Randers and the selfish individuals over the years espousing what’s now called the neo-con line, unions are always corrupt and must be abolished, while insider trading and limitations on executive power are unwarranted government intrusions. This is the kind of thinking that’s put George Bush and John Howard into office. While in the U.S. Bush is busy reorganizing how the Department of Labor defines overtime eligibility and planning how Social Security can be put into the hands of stock market investment banks, in Australia, John Howard will on Friday take majority control of the Senate and begin his push to alter the industrial relations controls that have served to protect workers for many years now, an agenda he’s been pushing since at least 1996, but can only now realize. Many here among the Howard supporters will tell you that unions are out-dated and that the Labor party has lost any purpose in the political landscape, but while the latter is true insofar as Labor needs to assert itself in the public policy discourse, the former is only true to the degree that you do not believe in a fair wage, an assertion Howard’s minions would dispute, because to them, fair is what they get, not what anyone else is paid. They disgust me, and if you, too, deplore their attitudes and actions, there’s more you can do about it. Find out what’s happening, stay up-to-date, and make sure you’re heard: The Last Weekend, at Sydney Olympic Park, 11 a.m., Sunday, 7 August (gotta love the caricature of Howard in the poster – are those stink lines or is he supposed to be radioactive?).

Why is Robert Novak Free?
Now that the Supreme Court has decided to continue its partisanship by declining to review the civil contempt cases against Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper, free speech is effectively under assault in the U.S. This case should never have gotten this far, but if Miller and Cooper go to jail, how is it that the man who publicly revealed Valerie Plame’s cover is not only not being compelled to reveal his sources, and not going to jail, but isn’t even under investigation?

The Goebbels Golem
Bush is taking Rove off the leash, and he's making the most of it, fomenting hatred with every syllable uttered, now more public than ever. Tim Dunlop's spinning Rove's newly raised profile as a boon for the Democrats, and I suppose he's got a point. If Rove continues to spew his bile directly, he may be seen more for what he is: a hate-filled propagandist, bent on the destruction of every kindness, every freedom, and - to get all Freudian - probably because he never had the benefit of them himself. Like the monster of Kabbalist myth, he may now prove as destructive to his creators as he has to those they've seen as oppressors. It couldn't happen to anyone better.

Miyazaki Mass Transit
Like something out of Spirited Away, Japan’s newest bullet train features cat’s ears. Yes, they’re brakes, but only Japan could produce an anime train.

Getting It
“South Park Conservatives” is a hilarious misapprehension of satire that just goes to disprove every bit of shallow analysis in Brian Anderson’s book of that title. He argues the show, in sending up political correctness, Hollywood bleeding hearts, and air-brained educators, represents a new respectability for conservative values. He’s wrong, but only because he deliberately ignores the parts of such entertainments that equally skewer people of his own political persuasion, which are as plentiful and as well-targeted. I don’t know the individual political allegiances of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but they don’t seem particularly devoted to the “moral values” that are supposed to have put Bush in office any more than they are to any other dogma. Instead, like many other of the “liberal elite” working in entertainment, they strive to be humorous, to be comic, and get more laughs, and higher ratings, as a result. Let’s keep in mind that these shows are only entertainment, not anybody’s manifesto, so when Richard Gere’s earnestness is lampooned, we laugh just as much as when the (ahem) "gun enthusiasts" are.

Raptor Attack
Peter Costello recently spent a little time foaming at the mouth in one of the more blatant revisionist episodes of the Liberal Party's efforts to demonize the left, historically and currently. Bob Hawke has set him straight. As the locals say, Good on ya, Bob.

At the Sandringham
One of the venues that hosted Sydney’s independent music scene in the 1970’s and ‘80’s, the Sando, as it’s known, was, along with so many other hotels (by which I mean what would be a pub elsewhere), taken over by the pokies, poker slot machines, that is, eventuating a bit of a musical doldrums. Evenutally, however (and I couldn’t say when, but before I got here, anyway), and again like a few other of the one-time hotspots, the Sando found a bit of space where they could host a live band of an evening. And that’s where we spent part of our evening last night, upstairs at the Sandringham, listening to Sandrine (no relation). She’s in the process of developing her next album, so the gig was just a warm-up, but she’s got a good, slightly raspy voice, with a good bit of blues phrasing, and a really nice way with a lyric. We got to know her a bit when M. cast her as the lead in her 3-minute screen assignment for Project Greenlight, after hearing her first album, which we like rather a lot. Knowing she was working on new material, this was our first opportunity to hear her perform live, and even though it was a solo outing, alternating between guitar and Wurlitzer, it was a satisfying evening, all up. The new material sounds good, and there was no disappointment in any of the songs off the old record. Once she’s touring, though, with a band behind her, we’ll have to go again for the full show, which will surely be that much more, and more likely in a more amenable setting.

Prizes
Andrew McGahan’s newest novel, The White Earth, has won the Miles Franklin Award, and I’m here to tell you it deserves it. I’ve been telling everyone I know around here they’ve got to read it, though nobody’s taken me up on the recommendation. I hadn’t seen the short list previously, but I’ll keep an eye out for and try to eventually read the other 5: Salt Rain, by Sarah Armstrong, The Submerged Cathedral, by Charlotte Wood, The Gift of Speed, by Steven Carroll, and Sixty Lights, by Gail Jones. I’ve never seen anything by any of these others, unlike McGahan, whose novel Praise I’d read and the movie adaptation of which I’d seen, so I will still approach with caution.

Memepsychosis
It’s pretty much pointless for me to participate in the music meme making its way around, but if the Counsellor’s going to make me part of that circuit, who am I to refuse? He’s the elder brother, after all.

1. Total Number of Records (CD, vinyl, cassette): like Bill, at this point I’m measuring in meters rather than actually counting. Although some years ago I did catalog everything other than 45 rpm singles into a very basic cross-referenced database using MS-Access, there’s been a fair bit of change since then in all formats, largely as a result of integrating the remnants of M.’s damaged-in-storage collection, not to mention the intermittent acquisitions via gifts and have-to-have or it’s-on-sale purchases. So: about 5 to 6 meters of CDs, which probably tops 500, half a meter of 7” singles, 2 to 3 meters of 12” LP’s, and no prerecorded cassettes worth mentioning. It’s a lot of prog-rock, new wave, and post-punk, with a decent sampling of jazz, country, and a little blues.

2. Total Volume of Music on My Computer: damn little. When Project Greenlight awarded M. an iBook for making the top 10, I started downloading a few CDs, managing in the end to copy across about 50-70 CDs. Then Microsoft signed on as a sponsor, so we had to give back the Apple in exchange for a Windows workstation, and we’re trying to sell that. The Powerbook’s got a few albums on it, largely in conjunction with M.’s screenplay development. A couple gig, maybe.

3. Last Record Purchased: I really don’t remember. It was probably a gift, rather than a must-have. Maybe Nick Cave’s double Abattoir Blues & The Lyre of Orpheus, which I think M. picked up around Christmas.

4. Last Record Listened to: By and large these days, we listen to music while we’re doing the household chores, so it’s often the Marvelettes or Dusty in Memphis or something else lively, fairly upbeat, sing-along-ish, and otherwise acting as an incentive to M., who deals with that end of the apartment. Since I’m running the vacuum, I don’t listen much. I put Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels on a Gravel Road on not long ago while M. was out and I preferred something other than mindless television.

5. Five Records/Songs I Listen to or Are Meaningful to Me: It’s not so much that I listen a lot to any of these, but that they are records that have resonance from the point in time when I first heard them. There are many others, of course, some more obvious than others, and there is a certain snob appeal in this selection. Nevertheless:
a. Another Green World, Brian Eno
b. All Things Must Pass, George Harrison
c. Entertainment, Gang of Four
d. Army Arrangement, Fela Kuti
e. Second Edition, Public Image Ltd.

6. Tag 5: It’ll be interesting if any of these pick this up (if they haven't already and I missed it): Beth, who will surely have some good travelling music to report; Suki, who has better things to do but could maybe use a break; Bee, if she ever comes back or starts ‘blogging again; Andy, ditto (the latter clause); Betty Sue, who needs something to do while she’s ill.

Confusion in Purgatory
I've long enjoyed Cardinal Sin, if not as a clergyman, at least as a paradox, and he had some fun with the contradiction in his title and surname, too, by all accounts, welcoming guests to his home as the "house of Sin." By 1986 he became instrumental in the removal of Ferdinand Marcos, following years of "critical collaboration." If not exactly liberation theology, at least he worked to the benefit of the general population. Now if there's a bishop out there named "point" or "number" ("virtue" would be too easy).

E!
Hugh Jackman in a Woody Allen movie? And from the sound of the plot, I'm guessing he'll be the hero, too, which makes perfect sense, although no claws. No wonder he's such a trusted person.

Slow to Anger
Billy Jack’s been stewing since 1971, and may be about to make a comeback. You know the times are bad when Billy gets mad.

Activation
I’m not going to say too much about it, although there are some commenting negatively about factionalism and other intriguing issues behind the site, or otherwise, but I think keeping an eye on Labor First via their website may be worthwhile. There’re similar efforts going on over in the States with the Democrats, and I prefer working within the party rather than anything else, but a good idea is a good idea, so if positive value can be achieved here, I’ll take it. Meanwhile, I like the gecko.

Coal
Along with the on-going drought, there’s a lot of discussion over Sydney’s energy needs and plans to meet demand, which largely rely on additional coal-fired power plants. Back during the energy crisis, Jimmy Carter had us turning the lights off in rooms as we left them, and that saved us plenty, especially growing up on Long Island, where the local power company was the most expensive in the country. At the same time, appliance manufacturers were making televisions that didn’t need to warm up: even though they were turned off, they were constantly drawing electricity to reduce the time necessary for a picture to form. Right now, that’s costing consumers US$3 billion annually, eating 5% of overall electricity consumption in the States. That isn’t just televisions, of course, not anymore, and in Australia, as in many other countries, you can turn off an electrical outlet at the wall (but who goes to the power point to shut off the t.v.?), but there’s still a point to be made here. We can reduce our demands on the environment without significantly infringing our quality of life. If you switch on the t.v. and miss a few seconds of Andrew G. introducing the elimination round on American (Australian, etc.) Idol while the picture tube warms up, what have you really lost? Other than fewer brain cells? We need to demand more from ourselves and the rest will follow. (Thanks to Rebecca Blood, who got it from Curt Rosengren.)

Coal
Along with the on-going drought, there’s a lot of discussion over Sydney’s energy needs and plans to meet demand, which largely rely on additional coal-fired power plants. Back during the energy crisis, Jimmy Carter had us turning the lights off in rooms as we left them, and that saved us plenty, especially growing up on Long Island, where the local power company was the most expensive in the country. At the same time, appliance manufacturers were making televisions that didn’t need to warm up: even though they were turned off, they were constantly drawing electricity to reduce the time necessary for a picture to form. Right now, that’s costing consumers US$3 billion annually, eating 5% of overall electricity consumption in the States. That isn’t just televisions, of course, not anymore, and in Australia, as in many other countries, you can turn off an electrical outlet at the wall (but who goes to the power point to shut off the t.v.?), but there’s still a point to be made here. We can reduce our demands on the environment without significantly infringing our quality of life. If you switch on the t.v. and miss a few seconds of Andrew G. introducing the elimination round on American (Australian, etc.) Idol while the picture tube warms up, what have you really lost? Other than fewer brain cells? We need to demand more from ourselves and the rest will follow. (Thanks to Rebecca Blood, who got it from Curt Rosengren.)