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Life, Culture and Politics from BrisVegas
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Perhaps I will at last be first!
I imagine I will because the site is very quiet tonight, not much action, and here I am in WA having finished my first comment for Crikey – on Possum’s brilliant contribution on refugees today – and the password they’ve given won’t work any which way I use it! I’ve even copied and pasted it. So it will have to be dear old LP again.
Message from Oz to Boat People
You’re welcome in Australia,
Land of the young and free,
We offer hands of friendship
Unless you come by sea.
We know your stories one and all.
Widow, orphan, soldier amputee,
However did you get this far
Beyond the Arafura Sea?
New Zealand’s not so far away
They’d listen to your plea
If you can travel that bit more
And cross the Tasman Sea.
Why try to get here anyway?
You’ll just become a detainee.
Why not stay in Lombok where
You won’t feel all at sea.
This is a harsh and arid land
Our borders lack security
You wouldn’t feel at home at all
Entirely girt by sea.
Shun the people smugglers
Who ask a hefty fee,
Cos Aussie ships may tow you back
Across the Timor Sea.
In our cities it’s impossible
To rent or buy a property.
This wide brown land is clearly full.
Why can’t you bludgers see?
Congratulations to the Perth Wildcats the 2009-10 NBL champions. Outstanding achievement by the Wollongong Hawks to make the Grand Final series this year on a shoestring budget, losing their best player halfway through the season and almost folding prior to the start of the season. They have had such great community support in their region this season too.
Well done Patricia, you’ve encapsulated the obsession with sea immigration! I too am renewing my crikey acquaintance, but am still too busy giggling at First Dog than any serious reading.
Although I will point out another Murdoch whine about those luxurious ABC types, courtesy of Mark Day, complete with spurious comparisons as pointed out by the comments.
Still writing chapter 4 of my book. Here’s a brief extract (with one or two minor inconsequential alterations) that I’ve put on my blog.
http://beingahistoryheadandotherthings.blogspot.com/2010/03/young-robert-ross.html#comments
Its going well and I hope to have the chapter finished by the end of the week, after which I’ll go straight on to chapter 5, which is about the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Well, I got to tell some one.
Congratulations to the Perth Wildcats the 2009-10 NBL champions. Outstanding achievement by the Wollongong Hawks to make the Grand Final series th8s year on a shoestring budget, losing their best player halfway through the season and almost folding prior to the start of the seazon. They have had such great community support in their region this season too.;
According to Sharman Stone in this weekend’s Australian Financial Review the Liberal’s parental leave scheme will offer six months on replacement wage or the minimum wage, whichever is the higher, with superannuation.
“….and the password they’ve given won’t work.”
Patricia WA, the Crikey password thingy has given me so much pain I probably should be over at the condemn thread. I gave up on the one they provided last time and just relied on their email reports. I set up a separate log in arrangement to make comments on their site.
Ps luv the pome
Paul @ 4 who else to tell but us at LP? By the way I do visit your blogspot but being an IT dummy can never get my comments accepted. So today I wanted to say that, thanks to you, on my walk this morning I was thinking about Robert Ross and others like him who live their lives in ‘subordinate obscurity’ as ultimately do we all. So I was able give him ‘the passing tribute of a sigh’ and enjoyed reading again Gray’s Elegy.
Patricia WA,
Just to know that my writing has inspired you to re-read Gray’s ‘Elegy’ is reward enough. I quite love the rolling cadences and word usage of 18th century primary sources and literature. As you can imagine, I spend my life steeped in them, especially the former.
From 16C:
Favourite historian: Gibbon. (Who else?). Favourite Novelist : Smollett, though I love Richardson’s Clarissa. Favourite poets: Burns, Blake, Cowper. Favourite Letter writer: John and Abigail Adams beat everybody hands down. Favourite Journal Keepers: Fanny Burney; Lt. Ralph Clark; favourite Essayists: Addison and Steele, though its years since I’ve read them.
Re commenting on blogs, if you register with Google you should be able to do it. (It stumped me for about 6 months, maybe longer.) (If I’m wrong, can somebody say, please?)
Trouble is, Paul, I’m not inclined to do that because of Google’s cavalier attitude to its users privacy (Google Buzz, and wondering what they’ll come up with next.)
Helen,
I tell them nuffin’ and am so obscure that on their search engine I come up after an orthopaedic surgeon, a barrister or some kind of lawyer, a bloke who writes lives of the saints, some entrepreneurial Wunderkid and one or two other assorted PBs. Reckon its pretty safe.People might mistake me for the bloke who writes lives of the saints, but not anybody else.
Interesting – I do have a spreadsheet, but I couldn’t paste it properly here.
It seems as through the natural party of government in Australia is the ALP. Since 1983 they have been in office, on a aggregate basis, for 6 out of every 10 years.
Time in Office
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
ALP LNP
Overall 62% 38%
Federal 61% 39%
ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP
ACT 77% 23% ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
NSW 75% 25%
ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
NT 36% 64%
LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
QLD 71% 29%
LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
SA 68% 32%
ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
TAS 54% 46%
LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
Vic 71% 29%
ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP
WA 43% 57%
LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP LNP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP ALP LNP LNP
@aguayo.
What’s your opinion on the fact two major cities in Australia, including the most populous Sydney, don’t have an NBL franchise? Ironically Qld has three teams but none in Brisbane.
My concern is that the NBL is dying a slow painful death…
Daniel, I have a feeling that one should be directed to me
IMO the NBL is far from dying a slow death and is sctually on the way up. The Sydney Kings folded because their then owner Tim ‘Firepower’ Johnston abandoned the team and fled overseas because of his Firepower scams and the Brisbane Bullets folded because they were being propped up by Eddy ‘ABC Learning Centres’ Groves, losing a ton of money fielding a team their small fanbase couldn’t afford (much like the A-League soccer which is propped up by Frank Lowy and loses money hand over fist) and when the whole ABC LC thing hit the fan he quickly dumped the team.
In about a week or two an announcement will be made by the NBL that is expected to see a Sydney team re-enter the league and it is expected to be the Kings. A consortium in Brisbane has been trying to get the Bullets back up but it doesn’t look likely they will be ready to go next season. It might be a straight swap the Kings back in for the Cairns Taipans who have really been struggling to survive for the past couple of years now.
Crowds were up this season on last season and the TV ratings were up too despite no Sydney or Brisbane presence this season and Fox Sports have already put in a bid to broadcast the league next season and supposedly One HD have also.
Things are starting to look a whole lot better for the NBL now that it is run by Basketball Australia with team community ownership models as opposed to previously being a private league with private team ownership prior to this season.
One for Paul. Viva Venezuela! From the Guardian no less. My – how the mighty icon has fallen. I always said this would end in tears, but there is a way to go yet.
Pilger writing about Australia as the first Murdochracy.
http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2010/03/pilger-australia-murdoch-media
No Australian PM (unless by some wondrous electoral accident we one day get a Green Government) will ever indite his predecessor for war crimes (even if that predecessor grabbed a pistol and executed people on his visit to the battlefield, which I hasten to say, Ratty did not). If only because they realise that there is alway a possibility they might commit war crimes while in office. If you don’t believe me, read between the lines of Pilger’s article.
CSIRO: Climate science “beyond doubt” http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/15/2845519.htm
Lefty E, Jeez about time. What took Megan Clark so long to come out?
Don’t miss 4Corners tonight, Turnbull: Abbott’s climate stance pure politics.
They even had it on ABC2 Breakfast. (Methinks, finally, a bit of political arm-twisting behind the scenes, which suddenly made the RWDB on the ABC realise, “Oops! We’ve gone too far.” Or maybe they hadn’t received their daily instructions from Rupert and the CSIRO guy got on by accident.)
Paul I don’t get your argument @ 17. Surely the same logic would apply in the US and UK.
And Pilger’s point is about debate. We don’t even talk about these things in Australia. Why not?
“And Pilger’s point is about debate. We don’t even talk about these things in Australia. Why not?”
Using the Chilcot Inquiry, as the perfect example, SBS reported on it and Aunty largely ignored it. You need such matters drawn to people’s attention.
If the national broadcaster avoids such issues because they might make it’s chairman feel uncomfortable, for instance, debate is never likely to open up, because commercial media is going to be more interested in the Lara Bingle bum.
My point is it won’t even get didcussed here because of any potential political repercussions. Hence the deafening silence in the Australian media.
P.S.I rather like Laura Tingle’s bum. In fact I like Laura Tingle. I think she’s pretty gutsy. (Liked the finger she gave to TV media at Bondi a few days ago, especially.) But, she shouldn’t be headline news, you’re right there.)
Joe2, thanks for that link.
Agree Adrian, how can we ever become a civil society if we cannot debate and learn from these ethical failings in high positions. Take the Australian Wheat Board scandal, what happened, collective amnesia, what does that say about us? In politics there is always a bipartisan argument for the Machiavellian reality of affairs. I would argue though, that the Howard Government has taken us well out onto the moral slippery slope, which could set dangerous precedents. High time to debate and to set clear boundaries of responsibilities.
Paul, my point is what about the political repercussions in the UK and US?
Why does it apparently matter here and not there?
And why are the claims that the language the US has used in response to Israel’s announcement of the intention to build a further1600 homes in East Jerusalem being described as too ‘over the top’? Rings terribly hollow when seen beside the siege of Gaza and after the war on Palestinian citizens [Indiscriminate use of phosphorus bombs].
Yes Paul, John B has this terrific case mix system that Kennett invented, apparently, that he would not want to give away, even if all the hospitals are making up stories about their service numbers to get more money from him.
And despite the fact that the states have been palming off every other thing difficult, that moves, to private enterprise, for ages.
Yes, it is an established fact that the only decent health system in Australia exists in Victoria. I have heard it so many times on the ABC that it must be true.
adrian @ 25,
Beats me. Here politicians would be just as afraid of losing power and perks. Here both Labor and Libs were pissing in each others pockets over Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism. Maybe, as suggested above, we have just accepted the lower ethical standards championed by Ratty and his cronies; maybe it was not something we ever really thought about because believe, ultimately really bad (in the sense of evil) will eventually work themselves through the system and we can forget about them; maybe we Pollyanaerishly believe after the bad always come the good and they’ll fix up the earlier bad; (but that doesn’t work, of course, eg we still have the intervention; we still have Xmas Island and detention for refugees; we still have Howard’s terrorist laws, despite the fact lots of us sent our fridge magnets back.
I just don’t know the answer to your question.
Ootz@24, you are welcome. It says it all, that the Pilger article will unlikely be published in the country it is written about. I had not been aware of this little gem of information…
The books were incorporated and now they share much of the news. My suspicion remains that Aunty will be sold off in part or whole when the Liberals return to office, probably, to you know who.
Aye, forgot about that “partnership” deal. Makes me think, something is adrift. I read Jonathan Holmes piece in the drum and then all this speeches of the Murdoches re BBC and ABC. Then suddenly this meme of selling the ABC. An other one like TELSTRA – how would the Liberals, or Labor for that matter, get away with it, joe2?
Couldn’t resist bringing this to peoples’ attention.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/mar/15/shakespeare-lost-play-double-falsehood
Dr Obstinate
In “Effective Field Theories of Magnetism” (Saunders, 1966) by J. Samuel Smart, appears this dedication:
Unlike those myriads of other wives who have been extolled in dedications, my wife did not encourage me to write this book, nor did she help me to improve my prose style, nor did she assist in the reading of proof, and, in fact, she steadfastly refused to have anything to do with it. Nevertheless, I would like to dedicate it to her.
Having had to fact check a perhaps waspish remark pertaining to the good Senator Fielding for a comment elsewhere in LPLand, I notice upon the masthead of the good website HMS Fielding:
http://www.stevefielding.com.au/
a coat of arms.
The nation’s coat of arms.
Correct me someone, (and I know someone will) but is it not a tad unseemly to just plonk the roo & emu wherever you please? Don’t you have to be apply for the right to use it? and then follow protocol? aka this well laid out and equally well edited collection of documents from DPMC?
What is worse, Adrian, is that this “only decent health system” is built on case- mix management introduced in the Dark Ages by the (spit) Kennett Government (aka Fascist regime). It’s been eleven years since the masses swept the fascist regime away so why haven’t they swept his fascist case mix management system away?
Maybe they find it works.
But you appear to have different evidence. If so, please share it with us.
Sigh…since you appear to be not very good at reading for meaning GregM, I’ll explain it to you in simple terms.
I was not claiming that the Victorian health system was the best, worst or second best in Australia. I was making the point that reporters on the ABC keep making this point, but have never felt the need to produce one shred of evidence to substantiate this.
If the Victorian health system is the best in Australia that’s fine, I would just expect professional communicators to make an effort to explain why, rather than just repeat an opinion as though it were fact.
Got it now?
Adrian
Perhaps they have made diligent inquiries (as we expect ABC reporters to do in every circumstance, for they are the very epitome of objectivity, balance and professionalism, as we all know, every time a right-wing politician criticises them) and they’re right about case-mix management and you should make your own enquiries if you think they might be wrong.
What are you asking them to do is to spoon-feed you.
3. to provide (a person) with ready-made opinions, judgments, etc., depriving him of original thought or action
Umm, no, GregM. adrian is clearly saying it’d be nice if the ABC could refrain from their ever-increasing tendency to spoonfeed. If they’ve been diligent, then they can and should demonstrate how. It’s called reputable journalism.
Sophie Black speaking of Chris Mitchell and “The Australian” in the latest editorial from Crikey.
WTF is going on over there?
Has she lost her mind?
Have finished chapter 4 of my book. Just sayin’.
Spare a thought for the people of Fiji tonight. No power, no light, the fridge/freezer is thawing, the only clean water in buckets.
The most amazing thing just after a cyclone is the eerie apparent silence. It frames the bizarre reality one finds oneself surrounded in. An entire shed can be blown apart, but then there is that one beer bottle on top of a shelf left standing. All the vegetation stripped, massive street trees uprooted and leafs plastered all over building walls. Water everywhere, every creek, every drain flooded and choked with debris, bath tub sized pot holes, everything dripping wet. Your worst worries, is the family ok, your neibours, mates, how did the next place go, did anyone get hurt? Usually it’s people trying desperately or belatedly to secure something outside, on a roof and getting blown off. Or a kid running on an errant to Auntie next door gets hit by airborne sheet of iron. No ambulance, as the road is blocked. It can be tragic, though most losses are psychological. The terror of having just spent the night in the smallest and safest room of the house, the bathroom; the whole family and the dog and the cat and the pet chook, while your house is literally shaken by its foundations, is a somewhat a lasting experience. That deafening roar, the helplessness one feels by so much brute force, the uncertainty – will I, will we all be alright.
Well the people of coastal Queensland are facing the twin brother of Severe Tropical Cyclone Tomas.