Why the Privileged Can't Have Nice Things So Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey isn't allowed to take up the entire footpath at his favourite pizza shop and that's a problem with government, not with him wanting more than is reasonable, not with the reasonable regulation of public space. Just another example of "Big Government" stomping all over the "little guy". Of course, in the same article you'll see that the cost of governmental red tape is nothing compared to the costs businesses impose upon themselves. I feel sorry for the neighbourhood that had to endure Hockey shouting and stamping his feet and waving his arms and berating the shop owner. This "Don't you know who I am", born-to-rule attitude is typical of the Liberals. When will the Australian public learn: the Liberals hate them, they hate everyone who isn't them or isn't rich. Get take-away, Joe, and shut up.

No Help to Women Of course Julie Bishop, Liberal Foreign Minister, is "not a feminist". I doubt she's done one damn thing ever in her life to benefit any woman other than herself. She won't use the term, won't describe herself as a feminist as a consequence, but also because she belongs to a party that has no time for women or equality. Julie Bishop cannot be a feminist or describe herself as such because if she was her party would not allow her a voice, let alone a seat on the front bench. She cannot be a feminist because that would mean valuing herself and other women equally to men. Her sneers at and contempt for women are evident. She might as well start wearing a blue tie. It's her only hope of getting to be PM.

Rock 'n' [Out]rage Best cover versions? What about Husker Du's cover of "Love is All Around", the Mary Tyler Moore theme song?

Pokies in the Eye Back when Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe took a majority ownership in the South Sydney Rabbitohs, they tried to get the scourge of poker machines out of the club venues. It didn't work. Today, James Packer, billionaire and casino owner, has bought out Holmes a Court. This is bad for the Rabbitohs, who already have far too close a relationship with gambling, and for the NRL, which is also far too invested in the betting industry. It's also bad because it's James Packer, scion of one of the most rapacious capitalist families in Australia, and whose casino in the Barangaroo development now being erected on the harbour foreshore is one of the finest examples of real estate and government collusion you could ever hope for; we may never know just how the approvals for this got done and the extent to which current and future modifications will continue to preference Packer and the developers over the rest of the city. Don't think for a minute that it's a coincidence that the public housing residences that overlook Barangaroo are being forcibly vacated and auctioned. As a long-time member, I am very sorry to see Holmes a Court leave, but even sorrier that it's come to this: selling out the club to the gambling machine of Australia. Sports gambling isn't the problem it's been in the States, or at least not the problem it's sometimes been. It happens, and players caught out get canned. But you can gamble on damn near anything in this country, so there's a lot of money in it, and therefore a lot of influence. It's still ethically challenging for South Sydney, though, as this is traditionally a club that prides itself on its community roots in an underprivileged and once-majority indigenous part of the city, with a history of social services commitment, and here they are playing into the hands of one of the most significantly socially damaging sectors of the economy. Every club needs money. They have to pay the players, the operation of the club has to mean the team can perform, and the NRL has to get its cut. Sure, the league has television, increasingly catering to the more moneyed cable end of town, at the expense of everyone who doesn't turn their hard-earned over the Murdoch's Foxtel, and the usual marketing gimmicks like home and away uniforms, variations on branding, etc. pull in plenty - you can buy a membership for your dog, you know, although he's not likely welcome at the ground - but it's still expensive, even with the salary cap. Russell can't support the club on his own forever, as he famously YouTube-ranted at us a few years ago. I still object. Packer is the last one I want with an ownership stake in the Rabbitohs. Well, one of the last ones. There are probably others I haven't even thought of. The Rabbitohs wear Crown Resorts branding, and Star casino, and it's wrong. They are promoting a social cancer that harms their base more than anyone else. All too late, of course. The money's there to stay.

Nobody Did It Gone Girl is a long movie, at 145 minutes, but worth all of it, and doesn’t feel long. It moves along at a good pace for a mystery that has no mystery in it, or at least not after you know the gimmick, after which it becomes a pretty good psycho-drama. It’s missing some exposition from the book that might have been helpful, but doesn’t suffer, and some of the emphasis was changed. Neil Patrick Harris was Supporting Actor Oscar-worthy, and the leads, Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck, were more than just well-cast. Definitely worth the price of admission and one of the best adaptations to the screen I’ve seen. Best Screenplay, too? Could be.

They Stand Above the Rest Rabbitohs vindicate their fans' faith, over 43 years, and the 2000-2001 fight for reinstatement to the competition, with a decisive win over the Canterbury Bulldogs. Glory, Souths, indeed, a magnificent effort. Valiant Sam Burgess will go down in the annals for his determination and courage. Lote Tuqiri will the grandest "old man" of Rugby League for years to come. Greg Inglis has his first "legitimate" premiership and it couldn't happen to a better player ever. Chris McQueen stepped in at just the right moment to make a terrific difference. Adam Reynolds is a champion beyond price. John Sutton captained the team through a tough season and a convincing win, 30-6. We all wish David Tyrrell a swift recovery and most welcome return in 2015. Sad to see Sam Burgess off to Union in the UK, but wishing him all the very best success regardless and sending him with our thanks for his years of service, along with his brothers, whom we hope to retain, George, Luke, and Thomas, all bringing us to this fantastic result. Sad also to see retire Nathan Merritt, one of the most exciting players in the game, but wishing him great good fortune in the future, whatever next path he takes. Everyone contributed, everyone deserves praise and thanks, tonight and across the season and the years that have led to this. Glorious, and privileged to have been there.

Glory, Glory South Sydney Rabbitohs are in the Grand Final, taking on the Canterbury Bulldogs (boo, hiss). An historic occasion, as they are here for the first time in 43 years (41 if you discount for when Rupert Murdoch - boo, hiss - kicked them out of the competition for two years; there were riots in the streets!). It's gonna be a night to remember.

Dear Tony Do you have any of those fridge magnets left that prevent terrorism? I lost mine and now there's women in burqas everywhere!

The Nanny State Becomes the Police State When the USA Patriot Act went up, we knew it was a bad job. Sure, mostly because John Ashcroft was part of it . . . o.k., not mostly, but don’t discount the influence of evil. But bad. The whole NSA scandal came straight out of the this act, among other things. And now Australia, the ten-years-later me-too nation, is headed into the same error. Laws passed today, without significant dissent, will allow the Federal Attorney General to issue warrants for Australian police and spy agencies to tap phones, internet usage, and conduct searches, without judicial oversight or even, effectively probably cause. These police will be exempt from prosecution for any misdeeds – except, incredibly, torture, by the specific concern on one Liberal Party member at the concession of the AG, as if the rest of what abuses may occur are irrelevant. Why? Because some Syrian blowhard recommended killing, among others, Australians, on behalf of the so-called Islamic State. Naturally, some weak-minded moron proceeded to attempt exactly that, was shot and killed for his efforts, and the whole nation is in an uproar of fear and loathing. It’s gone so far that there are police with assault rifles patrolling the halls of Parliament House and more weak-minded morons saying Ban the Burqa (as if wearing a veil was a common tool of suicide bombers even in those countries where it’s commonly worn, among which Australia is not). “Less freedom for some for the protection of the rest” is the mantra we’re being conned with. More freedom reduces risk, especially if it can be grown in those countries where freedom is severely restricted , but it isn’t really about suicide bombers, beheadings, or what threat IS actually poses here or abroad to anyone, let alone Australians. It’s about power. And as we saw in the States, once power is gained it is not easily relinquished, even by those professing more high-minded ideals. Obama has not closed Guantanamo. He has not curtailed warrantless wiretapping. He has stepped up the use of assassination-by-drone, including against US citizens. The powers Bush established for himself and his administration have not been ceded by Obama, and any expectation that he would do so was always delusional. Why should he? Especially if, in doing so, he armed his opposition with tools to use against him? The same is true here. Howard instituted laws following the 2002 Bali bombings that were a USA Patriot Act lite. Rudd and Gillard, achieving government in 2007 did nothing to dismantle them, and while the spying on Indonesia is likely to have commenced under Howard, it was certainly escalated under Rudd/Gillard, to the point of tapping the Indonesian president’s wife’s phone. Abbott caught the flak on that one, but he didn’t back off it. And now we have more laws, more extensive spying, domestic and international, with plenty of exemptions to keep the spies from answering to any abuses they inflict, either procedural or physical. They may stop short of torture, but we know from the Bush Justice Department how easy it is to redefine torture. These laws are wrong, but they’re never going away. What a mess.

Believers Yesterday was the People's Climate Mobilisation, and around the world, people gathered to let their politicians know the time for action is now, not later. BBC coverage includes the gathering in Glebe, where we formed a "human sign": Beyond Coal & Gas". Now that China has reduced its imports of our brown coal, we can hope they will make further progress towards emissions reductions, but also that our Prime Denialist, Tony Abbott, will take renewable energy production seriously, regardless of whether Treasurer Joe Hockey finds wind turbines objectionable intrusions on his aesthetic sense while driving between Sydney and Canberra, or not. (What did we do to deserve these lunatics as our government?)

No Contrition So former Prime Minister John Howard was ”embarrassed” there were no WMD in Iraq? He bought the American line without question, tens of thousands of people have died, and that’s as close to an apology as we’ll ever get from that man. It also makes every subsequent assessment he makes more than a little suspect. He didn’t have the nous to evaluate information then, and he doesn’t now. He lied then, he’s lying now. He is, as he was famously dubbed within his own party, a lying rodent. Shut it, Howard, you creep.

Perspective Down to Melbourne over the weekend, for the Anywhere Festival, in Frankston, a series of theatrical events of one kind and another, set in unusual venues, such as, and specifically, Affinity Circus, featuring some spectacular acrobatics, and set, cleverly, in a skate park, with the audience perched along the rim of the bowls, for a most unique vantage. Highly enjoyable, with an enthusiastic crowd, and seasoned professionals performing. Would definitely make a point of this again.

Seriously I'm not sure who has less shame, the Republicans and their racist supporters or the media for reporting on such stupidity. The suit looks o.k., I thought. Creeps, cretins, idiots - and this is what passes for international news? Lift your game, morons.

Comics Is Guardians of the Galaxy as good as the trailers, or even the music on the trailers? Yes, it is (and so's the soundtrack, which I picked up as soon as it was available). It is, of course, a movie adaptation of yet another comic book franchise, and a fairly marginal one at that, one I'm not familiar with more than to know the name of the raccoon (Rocket, if you hadn't heard), or that it involves the Marvel universe's intergalactic characters, notably the Kree. It's full of little unreconcilable anachronisms and loose ends, not least being the nearly unintelligible Kree/Thanos subplot, but then again, so what? Sure, Peter Quill, Starlord, has access to spacecraft capable of taking him back to Earth, but why would he do so? Sure, Rocket is a raccoon, but he's smart, fairly talkative, and good with a gun; what's not to like? Groot, Gamora, Drax, well, maybe in the next movie we'll get more out of the latter two. The tree-guy's going to be the tree-guy and apparently not develop much further in his vocabulary than an additional pronoun. And we have the prospect of Awesome Mix volume 2 comprising the sound track in the sequel! Very entertaining, well-performed, very good to look at. Can't really ask for more in a movie and not be churlish, can you?

Bushwalkers Not a Ned Kelly among them. Oh, that's bush rangers. Never mind.

They Might Be Giving It Away They Might Be Giants are giving away music to their fans. I count myself a fan from the early days of Dial-a-Song. Thanks, Giants.

Fishing Out for whale-watching season to the Botany cliffs, where we saw no whales. Too choppy. Just when you'd think "thar!" there was none. Or maybe, but probably just spray, not spume. Still pretty. And still a working port.

Mountains Up to the Blue Mountains for a weekend get-away. Very brief. Stayed at the old Carrington, ate at Leura Garage and Niagara Cafe, walked along Evan's Lookout to Govett's Leap, with not much view due to the dense cloud cover. It was like walking in front of a blank movie screen sometimes.

X-Notes Xmen-Days of Future Past" over the Queen's Birthday long weekend. A nice return to form, although I would have let it end more ambiguously. From the stinger after the credits, it's clear where they're going next, so I only wonder at the composition of the Four Horsemen, Death in particular, originally Angel, only a very minor character in the third of the film series, and last I saw still in possession of his wings. So, 2015 or 2016? Bryan Singer or someone else? Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy was never in my rotation, but how can it be bad if it's got Rocket Raccoon?

End of Life Planning So our Federal Treasurer thinks we should work until we die, because life ends at retirement. No, Mr. Hockey, you bullying creep, life does not end at 65 or 70 or at whatever age we retire. Work does not define life. The economy is not society. We are not your serfs. Who voted for these jackasses?