An open thread, where at your weekend leisure, you can discuss anything you like.
23 Responses to “Saturday Salon”
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As the recent bombing in Indonesia can only lead to culprit speculation,and, government needing quick results I dare say,wether both Indonesia and Australian interests are concerned the result of this action will be a load of speculative propaganda.Personally I think it is a diversionary tactic,to make us fear for the life of say Hilary Clinton and bog us down with a mindset about Afghanistan and Pakistan,and those terrorists amongst the moderate Islamic types wherever they are.At PrisonPlanet.com there is not so much speculation,but some supporting evidence that Israel has done a deal somewhere in the Washington precinct to attack Iran for the sake of Palestinian Rights,by the Israelis.A little bit of say borrowed or stolen or purchased weaponry from the U.S.A. and perhaps a spent nuclear rod head seeing the Russkis and America have done a deal to remove them from their weapons.Israelis are so heroic that the upset conscripted in their Army will march into the enemy Iran,and recognise every human rights violator bar none.After the U.S.A does some slum clearing itself for purposes of clean energy and depopulating..which the yanks are expert at.And Blair reviving the European Org.as President..the mosT human man the world has ever seen,China will be the new Israel as the slums are cleared in India to save the Taliban,Pakistan from the terrorists which are the Real IRA. wHO HAVE ABOS FROM nEW zEALAND IN THEIR RANKS AND mAORIS FROM wESTErN Australia.[ I mus tof been thinking of rising inflections as I typed that last bit.]
Scoened!
Damn you Travers, always on the ball!!!
Slime.
… now swimming with the spambots.
I fear I may be about to get the dreaded swine flu. My flatmate “has it” (i.e. he has persistent severe flu-like symptoms; the NHS is no longer testing) and I feel crap. So I fear by this time tomorrow I will be well under the weather…
Any truth to the report on AM that Jamar Islamia members in the dozens have been released from prison in the last months?
There’s a bit of a drama going on over at Blogocrats. Nevertheless, regular contributor Miglo, has written a very thought provoking article on the plight of aboriginal women in Australia.It’s a topic which I haven’t really seen aired for discussion before and is worth a read – http://guttertrash.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/black-women-in-a-white-australia/
I believe it is unfair to say that Mr Garrett is a hypocrit for changing his mind about the safety, and financial viability of Australian participation in the nuclear cycle.
I can accept that Mr Garrett has had a road to Damascus experience.
That he has been able to revise his former ‘immature’ ideas about the nuclear cycle, and that he is now more intune with that ultimate fantasy and destruction industry.
However, I believe Mr Garrett is wrong – dead wrong.
And many people’s lives will be compromised as a result of his now altered state of mind.
The road to personal salvation – usually in the form of ones’ own financial ‘security’ – is littered with the corpses and consciences of once honest and sincere people who – with increasing years – have cashed in their principles to become a part of a more powerful elite, and for their percentage.
But, never fear, becoming a hypocrit is the next unavoidable and logical step for Mr Garrett.
This will happen when he partakes in decisions that allows uranium and other important essentials in this cycle of death to be sold to India and China, but not to Iran or North Korea; to Russia and France, but not to Burma or Cuba; to the US and the UK, but not to Venezuela or Armenia, to Israel or Canada, but not to Zimbabwe or Somalia; to Indonesia or Japan, but not to the Solomons or Colombia; to Pakistan and Italy, but not to ………..
The hypocracy in this scenario could best be seen in the recently retired US Vice President, Dick Cheney.
It was Mr Cheney, after all, that was the salesman of western nuclear technology and supplies (including Australian uranium) to Iran – prior to the fall of ‘our’ former ally there, the pro-western dictator: The Shah.
But Mr Cheney has never shown any sign of having any principles, so he would have difficulty with the concept of ‘hypocracy’.
The nuclear cycle has been blighting us for some 70 years and in that time almost all of the countries that now have nuclear capablities either didn’t exist (eg Israel, Pakistan, India) or have been involved in very savage wars with large sections of their military urging their then enemy to be nuked.
That Mr Garrett could jump willingly onto the band wagon of these merchants of death, makes the self interest of Gordon Nuttal seem a very trivial stunt.
Shame on you Mr Garrett.
All the praise of the nuclear industry won’t buy you a good night’s sleep, or a worthwhile position in the future of this country.
But never mind, mate, John Howard and his ken will be smiling – irrepressibly.
Here’s a poem I wrote.
http://beingahistoryheadandotherthings.blogspot.com/2009/07/poem.html
Its going to be read at the NSW State conference of Socialist Alliance in Sydney in August.
Not going down now. After consultation with comrades decided its too risky for me with the swine flu as I have COPD. Apparently swine flu is rife in Sydney.
Hope youse enjoy the poem. (It’s in 5 parts.
Strange to read that there are no responses to this week’s news from the Productivity Commision about the parallel importation of Australian books. I had a wrap-up here including an animation of the report for those who are shy of the written word.
I half suspect that the K-Rudd will weigh in on this because it’s a middle-class issue that he can do soemthing about (unlike uranium mines or Copenhagen softness). Though maybe the publishing industry doesn’t represent a substantial voting block. Does make a mockery of the Prime Minister’s prize – a sop to authors and publishers who will soon lose their royalties to the tide of international remainders.
hackpacker, the report’s findings were that authors and publishers don’t benefit from the laws as they stand now.
Which doesn’t surprise me, because the Australian publishing industry is highly exploitative. Let them squeal!
Mervyn: I’d disagree, on two counts.
I very much doubt Peter Garrett’s personally changed his mind on the merits of uranium mining or nuclear power. For that matter, I doubt he likes Pine Gap very much either.
But as a Cabinet Minister, he’s got two choices – accept the policies of the government, or resign from Cabinet. As a Cabinet Minister, he gets more influence (arguably), but he has to toe the line in public.
The other, as I’ve argued at length in other posts and don’t intend to repeat, getting hold of uranium is the easy part of making a nuclear weapon. Turning it into a bomb is infinitely more difficult.
Robert
Doesn’t this cabinet solidarity argument just show the futility of joining the ALP to change the world. He joined them to ‘make a difference”. Some difference!
As my blog argues it looks like the host has taken over the parasite. And that was entirely predictable.
I suspect that not only will the soft greens move away from Labor now that they have seen Garrett’s destruction but that any who have ideas of bettering the world will resist following in his footsteps. All I can see is benefits organisationally and politically for the Greens.
They are perhaps now within shot of winning one or two inner city seats.
I assume many idealistic young people will shun the ALP even more than they do now and may look to the Greens.
Yes, but how much difference could Garrett have made as a) a Greens Senator, or b) outside Parliament?
That said, I’m coming pretty strongly to the view (even though I disagree with many specific Greens policies) that it would be good for the ALP, the Greens, and Australian politics if the Greens took an inner-city ALP-held seat or two.
Aren’t books and therefore the productivity commission report something that Peter Garrett will have to respond to as Minister for the Arts? Not that I am convinced that book publishing is something we want to relegate to questions of productivity, maybe we could substitute containers of recycled remainders for tins of yellowcake ?
Swimming with the Spam-Bots….how courageous can one be!I just turned off my bloody computer and got more sleep than the PM requires.But if he paid me the same amount of money he is earning lately,I will trial it..just for this site.Meanwhile, have any of you lot simply thought about using a tanning solarium for yourself and maybe the sufferers of Swine F.!?The same nasty tech. that produced afew deaths,can be helpful,but as Australians believe Humans like Aldrin actually landed on the Moon,it is probably likely,they cannot experiment for themselves,if,having a convincing degree,to suggest the same to medicoes!? This is Spam-Bot News signing off!
#1 and #15.
Eh?
We don’t understand philip either.
I do.
He invented Samuel Beckett.
FDB is asking for trouble in the Ruddblog thread, singing the praises of Chris from Masterchef.
I must get a pair of Smarty pants,so that if Makow.com sees me,he will know,I am past September!?
Robert Merkel@15 and John Passant@14
I agree, but I do wonder why the ALP were interested in Garrett at all. They handed himn a seat that the proverbial Drovers Dog was going to win and created some friction in the process. I also wonder why they handsed him a ministry first up when they could easily have begged off … first term an all that and made him a parliamentary secretary to someone on ageing … now that would have been delicious — or given him zip. Of course as a backbencher, he could have preserved some of his cred.
These days the Greens sound a lot closer to what most people think “traditional labor” is/was all about (minus the White Australia thing of course)
I wonder how many here believe that any good purpose is being served by the continuing occupation of the Pakistan/Afghanistan area by Western troops?
In the wake of the latest incident in Indonesia, the opinion shapers are out again doing their schtick. One can see the logic of the claim. Few people who care about the loss of human life like to believe that lives are being lost without good purpose and that goes especially for those who have lost friends and family in wars.
The sentiment that “it was for a good cause” certainly mitigates the pain and even those of us who know its bollocks would probably be reluctant to put it as baldly to someone who had lost someone, but some delusions are also pernicious because they lay the foundations for more wrongdoing. If someone died in Afghanistan fighting for some good cause that was only achievable through accepting the risk of death, then presumably more have to take that risk with all that implies, both for the risk takers and the locals who, despite being at risk of becoming collateral damage, don’t get a say in it.
What this underlines for me is one should refrain from getting entangled in military adventures that aren’t absolutely and plainly justifiable on the grounds of net public good. Sooner or later you will have to withdraw and if you haven’t won, then by definition almost everyone has lost.