An open thread, where at your weekend leisure, you can discuss anything you like.
Life, Culture and Politics from BrisVegas
Larvatus Prodeo was an Australian group blog which discussed politics, sociology, culture, life, religion and science from a left of centre perspective. more»
Today I saw Christmas things for sale in three different shops. At this rate it’ll be chocolate eggs and rabbits by November.
PC — that’s hilarious.
The agenda behind the Herald Sun‘s attack on conveyancing stamp duty (beginning with Thursday’s editorial may perhaps be inferred from the observation that the following letter, submitted on Thursday, has not appeared in print and no part of it has been accepted as an online comment.
—
STAMP DUTY UNCONSTITUTIONAL?
Congratulations to the Herald Sun for taking a stand against conveyancing stamp duty, which is not only regressive and inefficient, but also possibly illegal.
The Australian Constitution forbids the States to impose excise duties. The High Court has defined an excise as “an inland tax on a step in production, manufacture, sale or distribution of goods”. Various court decisions indicate that this definition covers any “sale” up to and including the last sale before the consumer, but not second-hand sales.
Houses are not classified as goods. But they certainly embody goods. A tax on the sale of a new house may therefore be construed as a tax on those goods at the last step before the consumer — in which case the stamp duty on new homes is unconstitutional.
Stamp duty could be made constitutional by (i) exempting new homes, or (ii) apportioning the duty to the increase in the land value since the last sale, thus excluding goods embodied in the building, or (iii) turning the duty into a capital gains tax with the usual deduction for capital expenditure, so that expenditure on goods embodied in the home is excluded.
Any one of these reforms would remove the burden on construction and thereby make housing more affordable.
Ahem… A closing parenthesis should have followed “Thursday’s editorial”.
Go Magpies!
tomorrow is referred to as “pirate comment day not sure why but my comment for starters is the pirate captain saying “there goes my best cut and slash man” as the hero in the movie the name of which eludes me, wins the sword fight and villans hench man goes over the side, a modern day analogy is teflon out to do the NBN in at therabbits prompting rather like walking the plank at sword point.
The Ernies.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-stars-at-sexist-awards-night-20100917-15eyc.html
As it’s unlikely that Herald Sun is promoting a social equity agenda with its campaign re stamp duty (the removal of which would probably see a surge in house prices, inflating the housing price bubble even more…) perhaps its just a wee bit politically manipulative? (Apart from being poorly thought through).
As stamp duty is a significant source of State government revenue, its removal would most logically be replaced by a lifting of GST to 12.5% or even 15% – a dainty dish for an ALP fed govt to take to the electorate next time. And therefore highly unlikely. But a usual whipping post for an “out of touch government who doesn’t understand how hard average Australians are doing it” hype.
Not forgetting that GST is a regressive tax – the battlers the Sun Herald might claim are the beneficiaries of its largess would in fact be worse off. Which suggests this is the opening salvo re a full and open romp through the Henry Tax Review – which is rather keen on wealth and property tax (of which stamp duty is the Ruprecht)
But since when did Murdoch’s media need to content with Planet Earth and those inconvenient little things called facts?
I don’t often have a bit of a moan about my personal circumstances, but … a week or so ago I had a very bad fall, tripped over myself, which I’ve been doing all my life, because of the cerebral palsy, and fell down face first on concrete. I’ve badly bruised my breastbone,but not broken anything. but it means its too uncomfortable for me to do my research lying down on me bed. I’ve had to sit at my computer desk, which plays havoc with my back muscles, which is why I prefer to work lying down. And, I haz teh Internet right in front of me all day. As I’m sure some of you will realise, that is not necessarily a good thing as it can be a mighty distraction. Also, my phone got cut off again by the work around Bunnings, which I wasn;t that impressed by. The Telstra bloke told me they’ll be finished soon, so it shouldn’t happen once the work is completed. Its back on but crackly. Should be entirely fixed up by Monday. This is the 4th time its happened. Not to worry. They managed to cut the Internet off for four days by ploughing through a cable a few months ago. Seems they don’t bother to check out where the phone/internet cables are laid.
On the plus side, I found a recent book on Governor John Hunter which should arrive on Monday or Tuesday, and another book on George Johnston which I’ll order next week. It means I’ll undoubtedly have to rewrite parts of chapter 3 and 5 of my book, because these new books have information in them I’ll have to integrate, but I don’t mind that, because you have to get things right.
Also got series 2 and 3 of The Tudors and have watched a bit of it. (almost all of disc one of series 2.) I like it, but so far don’t think its as good as series one. I remember, tigtog, you made some comment about how you weren’t that impressed by series 3. Also I got the Tony Richardson DVD of The Charge of the Light Brigade. Not bad, but not as good as I remember it as a kid.
Ah, that’s made me feel much better.
PC @ 1 – You think that’s too early? Aren’t the January sales the favorite Christmas shopping time for some?
I am constantly disappointed by property development companies when they clear the land bare of all trees before they survey the land into house blocks. Firstly it is sad to see such beautiful hardwood being swept up into windrows and either burnt or turned into woodchip. This timber could be used for so many purposes and is very valuable. Secondly, it wouldn’t hurt to leave a few mature natives every 50 sqm or so. It just doesn’t make sense to clear the land of everything standing and then go and plant the streets with new trees which will take at least ten years to mature into good shade trees. Of course it will take a little bit more planning and will make surveying a little more challenging but the rewards will be great with more beautiful estates. I think they should also offer the timber to sawmills or contractors before just burning it or woodchipping it. There needs to be more responsibility by these companies to look after mother nature. I think we all understand that land needs to be cleared to make way for housing but it can be done in a way which is in harmony with nature. We are often hearing about how farmers are being criticized for clearing land but we rarely hear about the big developers who are eliminating everything from the land and giving very little in return. I think that it is very unfair.
Hi Paul,
I am sorry to read about your fall.
How long till the breastbone stops hurting? I hope, for your sake, its soon.:)
Paul @ 9.
Telstra at their incompetent best. Ploughing through cables and the like.
We wouldn’t want to trust them with something important like… broadband.
Paul, wish I could give you a hug and a cup of tea/glass of Laphroiagh (or both) and some home made Anzacs. Plus a pot of Tiger balm. As an inveterate tripper I sympathise with you and hope your bruises heal up soon.
Colm Tóibín reviews Angelo Quattrocchi’s The Pope Is Not Gay in the LRB.
Paul, sorry about your fall. I hope your breast bone heals quickly and that someone invents a chair well within your budget parameters that enables you to sit comfortably at your computer desk.
Paul, I think we’d better all promise to buy and read your book when it comes out, so keep us posted. I hope you’ve got some good medical and/or home care in the meantime. Seconded Helen re Anzacs, single malt etc.
It’s not surprising, given the content of the columns in question, although it does raise some freedom of speech issues:
The two columns appear to still be up on the net – you can find ‘em yourselves.
Re: Bolt being sued. Good. I work with numerous indigenous Australians none of whom conform to what that opinionated gubb would think of as legitimate Aboriginal appearance. Indeed, the expression of any opinion by non-Aboriginal people as to what qualifies as legitimate Aboriginal appearance draws directly from the official discourse of “breeding them out” pursued by commonwealth and state governments which drove the tragedy of the stolen generations; categorisation of those “at risk” of being “Aborginalised” by further “breeding” with Aboriginal people was all based on the physical appearance of Aboriginality.
Nothing quite like a court appearance to focus his attention.
Thanks, everybody for your good wishes. My chair is comfortable enough. The problem arises from the way the muscles in my back are weakened by the cerebral palsy. I can’t sit or stand for mor than about half an hour without being in a dull sort of pain. Have been like this since I was about 25, and its why I was put on the disability pension as the condition has got worse with age. Panamax keeps the worst of it at bay. And, because I’m so used to it I have a very high pain tolerance level. Coulda been worse. I could’ve broken some bones or hit my head on the concrete. Since I’ve been able to hop in and out of taxis, 4 wheel drives, push around loaded shopping trolleys, make beds, undress and dress for showers etc (not game to have me bubble bath bath accompanied by a dry white and chocolate biscuits, cheesecake, or whatever delicacy I have on hand, which I miss, yet, don’t think I could get out of it once I got in).
Fortunately, there was somebody trained in first aid on hand next door when I had the fall and she checked me out for broken bones. Apparrently it will take a few weeks before I’m back to normal. If it gets too bad, I’ll put myself in hospital. I’m pretty finicky about taking care of my health.
re the phone. It wasn’t Telstra. Contractors for Bunnings are laying a concrete footpath and they messed up the cables. I’m on prority assistance if something goes wrong with my phone because oif my medical conditions. So it gets fixed very quickly. So far Bunnings or contractors associated with them, have managed to cut off the water, cut off the electricity, cut the phone off four times and cut teh Internet for four days.
I had to ring a cab from there on Thursday morning to go into town to do my shopping, because the phone lines were down. They’re lucky I haven’t written a letter to the local paper about it. But they were very nice to me, to be fair.
And I ain’t even going to go into the connections with the local council and the awarding of contracts Ute Man will know what I’m talking about.
Oh, and re the book. Its called Lost Dominions. Have written the first 5 chapters bits and pieces of ch. 5 (on Bunker Hill) are on my blog, but I thought I better stop doing that. Have nearly finished the research for chapters 6, 7 (about the siege of Boston, 1775/6) and 8 (about the British in Halifax, Nova Scotia) and done a fair bit, but by no means completed research on chapter 9 (about an ex slave named Jack Manley who came out here as a convict, who joined the Ethiopian Brigade under Lord Dunmore in Virginia in 1776. Also done little bits and pieces of research for all the other chapters.
I haven’t tried to find a publisher yet. Be a while yet. But I will let you all know.
We all have a personal space surrounding us in which other people should not physically violate in order for us to feel comfortable and secure and this space is particular for each individual. An approximate estimate is given in the following link:
http://almostsavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/personal-space.jpg
Now have a look at the photograph by Mark Graham in the Punch website. Also, look at the expressions of Tony Abbott and that of Malcolm Turnball. It’s an superb photographic example of the decisive moment, as Henri Cartier Bresson coined it.
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-abbott-might-look-safe-but-for-how-long/
Sorry to hear about your cerebral palsy and back pain, Paul. I sympathise. Fortunately I suffer only from back pain, sometimes severe, and found Panamax absolutely useless for me. I occasionally take Voltaren Rapid 25 which helps, but don’t change unless you consult your doctor about this. Cheers.
Telstra cables are the bane of every other utility provider.
They only pay lip service to where and how deep the cables should be laid, and even when they come out and ‘locate’ them for you, they might be wrong. They never accept liability if someone cuts into a cable that they have laid in the wrong spot or that they have failed to identify. Every other utility provider has to play the game and put their services in the standard corridor, and advise inquirers where those services are. Telstra has some immunity apparently from the days when they were the PMG and a Fed Dept.
@ 20,
Correction. Jack Moseley, not Manley. I’ve been reading about the American privateer John Manley and wasn’t thinking. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s going to play much of a role in my book. I reckon he even beats John Paul Jones, who I will eventually be writing about at some length. Much more reading. Its never-ending, but fun.
There’s a cool article in the Guardian today about an aquatic nomad culture in Indonesia, complete with awesome photo of kid with pet shark. At the bottom is a link to the home page of the photographer who took the photo, which has many other very interesting pics.
The Pope sez:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/17/pope-visit-keynote-westminster-speech
Leaving aside the internal marginalisation caused by falling numbers in Christian communities, there seems to be a great disconnect within the Vatican in the causative effect of the paedophile outrages. These are being increasingly opened up to scrutiny, exposing more and more cover-ups and creating some degree of direct external marginalisation. It appears that we must be more “tolerant” of theistic perfidy.
Silenced only to the extent of drowning out theism claiming for itself a monopoly on morality, but to see this sort of whinging going on must be pleasing to a significant number of secularists and atheists.
Nobody opposes individuals of any persuasion/belief participating in political affairs but where the theistic institution itself starts playing in a political arena, then it must be fair game for marginalisation by prevailing secular political rules: free speech enabled criticism and holding it to account.
Certainly not to his authority.
The moral principles of the Vatican dealing with its greatest scandal reveals even more fragility I would suggest. That social consensus for democracy is based partly on traditional values and philosophy that pre-dated Christianity, Judaism and Islam; was in turn partly incorporated into those faiths, which again in turn became part of secular beliefs. A secular society would agree that they’d rather have some fragility in social consensus than celestially based dictatorships enforcing a consensus on pain of excommunication or other punishment.
Try globalisation and market forces which never operate primarily ethically if they can get away with it for a larger profit. What’s he saying here, that he should let his church’s bankers take over? Perhaps not. And by all means let’s tighten up laws holding corporations to account, make them operate ethically, but we don’t need this kind of moral posturing from an individual who has personally, and from within his institution actively sheltered and protected child molesters.
All in all, IMO, pleasing to see the bugger squirm, and whinge.
The Pope’s attitude was summarized nicely at The Daily Mash yesterday.
That’s a good satire sg, it could also be summarised thus:
Shorter Pope: Whinge…whinge… we miss our old powers running the celestial dictatorship: the biggest con job of the last 2000 years has lost its mojo.
Your book should be well worth reading, Paul. I have not long finished reading a novelized version of that time in a book called “Washington and Caesar”. Caesar being a former slave of Washington’s who fights for the British against his old master and reaches the rank of Sergeant.
And although Telstra is not my fave it is that or nothing out here. Went shopping this morning because my mobile contract was up and came home with a 3-in-1 bundle (they had refused to bundle in the ADSL before now), a Blackberry Pearl and a T-Hub. Oh, and ADSL2. Need to read the instructions, methinks.
The 7th annual China International Small and Medium Enterprise Fair and China-Australia SME Fair (CISMEF) was great this week.
CISMEF, co-hosted by Australia, show cased a large number of Australian SME’s including the wine, education sector, green tech, fashion and services industries in Guangzhou.
The Guangzhou Convention centre is the size of 10 Brisbane Convention centres.
Congratulations to Vice Consulate-General, Senior Trade Commissioner for Southern China, Mr Jeff Turner and the Austrade team for organising a great event.
Thanks to Trade Queensland for providing us tickets – to the cocktail party, the Queensland trade talk with the Honourable Steve Bredhauer, the Mayor of Cairns and a Sunshine Coast Councillor; and to Australian fashion industry talk.
I suppose they couldn’t fit a few more precious stones on Pope Benedict XVI’s outfit. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is wearing a Patek Philippe watch
http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00106/pg-06-Pope-AFP-Gett_106606t.jpg
So the Pope wants to know to what authority do we turn to resolve moral issues? What an embarrassment.
Bill Posters and akn @18 &19 I recommend to you others an interesting read in wikip. about the history of this act- Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001- under which, I understand, the case against Bolt is being made.
Think Danny Nalliah for a start and Prisoner Fletcher, a convicted child sex offender, serving a 10-year sentence, a Wiccan who claimed in his suit that the ‘Salvos’, “posed a danger to his safety”,[6] and that the Salvation Army’s ‘Alpha Christianity’ course, offered in jails, discriminated against him on the ground of his Wiccan religion.
Andrew will just love that company, we can be sure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_and_Religious_Tolerance_Act_2001
Curious and curiouser. After a week of warning the Lib Party room to be very careful not to describe Gillard as lacking a mandate (someone worked out the same could and would then be said of a Coalition minority govt) it appears Abbott has had a great moment of unhingeing at a party function in Sydney this evening.
There is something uncomfortably shrill, reminiscent of would be right wing leaders prior to coups. How on earth does he think he can turn around and sell himself to the same Independents supporting Gillard? Or is this the latest tactical set to push for another election? The hubris of the man is unspeakable.
Cooked dinner tonight under the influence of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and a few margueritas. Cheap Woolworths fillet steaks barbequed and topped with garlic, chive and caper butter, accompanied by home made chips and tossed salad.
175g butter, 1 tbs chopped chives, 1 clove garlic crushed, 2 tbs chopped capers, rolled in clingwrap and frozen, cut into medallions. I tell ya they would make dirt taste good.
Gordon Lightfoot’s Sundown just finished and now into the Best of the Doors and home made vintage port. LG, Life’s Good.
Strange days have found us
Strange days have tracked us down
They’re going to destroy
Our casual joys
We shall go on playing
Or find a new town
Yes Bernice@34. He is a scary prospect and I note, right on cue, he picks up on the so called threat of “broken promises” line that Aunty had already manufactured for him.
“We have Prime Minister Gillard saying that she has a blank cheque to break promises,” he said.
http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/09/17/how-to-manufacture-anti-green-news/#comment-236438
Sorry to hear the problems of Paul Burns.My telephone is making a din tonight.I guess I couldn’t convince Paul to look for some relief from his problem outside the entrenched medical profession in Australia,unless they volunteer their email address to him,and what maybe able to be done.Spent the day from 10.00am. till approx. 6pm. pushing a broom in the grading shed.Except for a number of self created music breaks.Found almost harp type sounds on a industrial fan QT safety cage.Strumming it on both sides.Indulged in some throat singing to drown out cars etc. going past.Someone should encourage Paul to breathe in a manner that pulsates the muscles a bit.Lungs are pretty powerful organs,and singing whilst in pain ,maybe, maudlin,but a worthwhile skill to also sing the associated wordage of description.A recent Scientific American has some clarifications on mental activity,maybe recording thoughts by some recording device,to get some of the work more completely done.Anyone in Armidale who can help!?
No, akn, Bolt being sued is not good, and again demonstrates that that Act is bad law.
Paul
Aside from the opportunity for interaction that shopping out brings, do you have delivery style shopping (we have Banana Blue in Adelaide) very reliable arrangement.
Look at Text Publishing.
If you want a proofreader for nix – can do a couple of chapters. Others here might be able to assist I’m sure. Take care ok.
Paul Norton – mate, hope you heal rapidly.
Get some ice on to it as much as possible for the first 3 days – 20 mins every 2 hours.
I know things are tight but if their is anyway you can get to see a physiotherapist and get some ultra sound etc. to assist then do it. Also talk to your GP about getting some NSAIDs or similar if you are able to take them.
Good luck.
I can see, Robert Merkel, from the wiki-p article linked by joe2 above that the legislation hasn’t exactly been a roaring success and has indeed been used by at least one fruitcake to seek redress for perceived wrongs. Nevertheless, the law is on the books and the plaintiffs have a case against Bolt. They may not succeed but they’re entitled to try it on and my guess is that they’ve chosen to because they’ve had enough of non-Aboriginal people slaggin’ em off about not appearing “Aboriginal enough” to satisfy the sorts of racist stereotypes that inform people like Bolt. Good luck to ‘em.
It’s probably useful to keep in mind that it wasn’t until 1961 that the Bulletin removed “Australia for the White Man” from its masthead. Bolt’s views are offensive in the extreme and hark back to those old Bulletin ways. With the sort of racist history this country has, who could blame these people for seeking a remedy by whatever means they can given that taking a whip to journalists seems to have gone out of style?
Peter Kemp at #26 . Couldn’t agree with you more. But we need to go much further and get rid of tax exemptions for the purple economy. http://www.iheu.org/node/1973
After what has happened in Germany the Pope has much to be worried about: “Recently, the German government has had to grudgingly concede that it was inappropriate that between eight and nine per cent of atheists’ incomes was garnisheed from their incomes and given to churches. The situation now is that citizens can write to the government telling them they no longer belong to a church which ends the direct deduction of the sum from their taxes. As a consequence Germans have been deserting their churches in droves.”
I agree with Robert at #38. Akn is again demonstrating one of the very worst aspects of much of the modern left. Thanks to indigenous exceptionalism, there is a material advantage to be had by claiming one is indigenous, and it is a bald arse fact that people with red hair and orange freckles are now in on the act, as per the artist Bolt mentioned, Danie Mellor.
Ken Parish, who has as much claim to aboriginality as Mellor, dealt with this BS in a post entitled “Monetising a Touch of the Tar” at Club Troppo – http://clubtroppo.com.au/2009/08/15/monetising-a-touch-of-the-tar/
Paul B- a big cuddle from wd40. Get well soon!
I exemplify only one of the worst aspects of the left? FMD, I’m slipping. I try to embody them all.
@WD40,
Seeing as red hair and freckles are carried on recessive genes, it is perfectly possible for someone who has those features to be born into a family where everybody else looks “obviously” indigenous. I’ve met a couple of them and their families. Is that person, whose parents and sibs are acknowledged as indigenous, whose other relatives are acknowledged as indigenous, to be told by you or by the government that they are not indigenous just because their phenotype doesn’t fit your stereotype?
2010 and a left of centre blog debates imposing non-Indigenous definitions of who’s really a blackfella and who isn’t…. does it not occur to anyone that perhaps Indigenous Australians are quite capable of imposing those definitions themselves? That if people, sorry Indigenous people, were concerned about Mellor’s identity, it would have been raised by now? Given that’s he’s been exhibiting for almost two decades, he wouldn’t be winning the 2009 National Indig Award if he was not kosher.
But no of course it takes whitefellas, non Indigenous Australians to sniff out who’s got the black blood eh? Who’s really a quadroon, mulatto, bit of the tar brush. Not that they’re really truly Indigenous – no, they’d have to live in a remote community for that ( and then they need the Intervention to control their lives, because being black they can’t do themselves)How wonderful to see that all is right with the world when white men are happy to decide who is Indigenous and who isn’t.
Slow clap clap clap clap
And one might point out AGAIN that those recessive genes for red hair/freckles come from an overt Government policy in the previous century to “breed out” Aboriginality and remove indigenous people from the country.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that entitlement to the benefits governmental and otherwise arising from being indigenous should be restricted to those who merely look the part.
But at the very least a freckled redhead is only ever going to have to put up with being called a ranga all his life. He or she is not going to be racially discrimated against on a daily basis and is therefore not in need of those initiatives which are designed to ameliorate the effects of said discrimination. Economic disadvantage can be dealt with by other means.
And yes, I’m upset that I don’t qualify. The very thought would have my Methodist forebears spinning in their graves.
Not quite, Helen.
The miscegenation that produced the first generation of half-bloods occurred within a regime of racism that expropriated Aboriginal lands and denied Aborigines legal protections and legal rights.
Overwhelmingly, half-bloods had Aboriginal mothers and white fathers, not vice versa.
After having been presented with this new generation of half-bloods living in the degraded vestiges of traditional lifestyles, the authorities, especially in the NT, WA and SA, decided to remove the half-bloods with the intent of Europeanising them them.
Meanwhile, the authorities hoped and expected, in time, with the serial removal of half-bloods from their communities, full-blood aboriginality would dwindle and die away.
Voila! No more Aborigines!
I didn’t know that was the reason Nana Levu @ 43, I thought it was a reaction to the ongoing scandal, could be a lot of both, but it makes sense.
Meantime the Pope has apparently slandered non believers:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515
The British Humanist Association is rather pissed off:
PZ Myers at Pharyngula has a relevant list of Hitler’s writings:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/09/list_of_hitler_quotes_in_honor.php
One that is rather succinct:
Some atheist.
(One also cannot forget the Reichskonkordat signed in 1933.)
What a disgraceful speech from a thoroughly discredited god botherer.
As Pope, can Benedict XVI abolish Godwin’s Law?
Yes, you’re right, Katz, it was not a policy until later.
This has already been tossed around here I’m sure, but for people like me who are a bit busy and only able to dive into news/internet for short bursts. (I’m trying nested blockquotes here, hope I don’t ‘splode the computer!)
Via Lefty E on Facebook:
Today I saw Christmas things for sale in three different shops. At this rate it’ll be chocolate eggs and rabbits by November.
Hang Easter Eggs on Christmas trees. Job done!
Telstra at their incompetent best. Ploughing through cables and the like.
The warning tape laid above cables but below the ground should read…. “Warning… dead buried Coalition Broadband Policy here.”
You must have led a very sheltered life if you think an indigenous person with recessive red hair/freckles genes is not going to face racial discrimination, unless you are proposing that they disown/reject the rest of their family and live a life “passing” as white* instead of living with their family. You don’t think their neighbours/local employers are going to know that they’re indigenous, and that those neighbours/local employers aren’t actually going to be more suspicious and judgemental of someone whose looks confront their stereotypical prejudices?
*which some white-appearing indigenous people no doubt have done, but at what psychological cost?
No, I’d expect that in today’s mobile society they may well be living some distance away from their immediate family. And if they’re not, then their status would be well known to everyone and no problems with that. I’m talking about the casual racism that non-whites suffer daily.
Society has a way of paying out on anyone who is in some way different. Try growing up as the 5 foot 8 inch, athletic, IQ 150 plus daughter of a teacher in a small country town where difference from the norm of any kind will get you bashed up regularly. Try escaping from that town and ending up as the first woman ever in your new job and treated like a mascot. Try falling foul of your in-laws because you’re the wrong religion. Try dealing with the whispers as you walk down the street because you were hit by a car and were walking with a cane.
Life sucks. To the extent that government can redress real disadvantage it damn well should. But manufactured disadvantage is a waste of taxpayers’ money.
bmitw @ 29,
Sounds like the novel you read was based partly on the story of Washington’s slave, Harry Washington. He ran away to Lord Dunmore in 1776, fought with the Ethiopian regiment, then went to New York as a Black Pioneer for a while. (Basically they did all the heavy labouring work.)Eventually, he ended up as a refugee black Loyalist in Nova Scotia. There also seems to be a touch of Colonel Titus Tye, a somewhat romanticiseed figure who was an escaped slave who fought with Dunmore in 1776, later re-appearing as a fearless Loyalist guerilla raider who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 and around northern New Jersey in 1778-1780.
Fascinated @0,
The offer of proof reading is much appreciated. Several people do it for me already, chapter by chapter. (And then I do minor and major rewrites of the same chapters and they have to go through it all again. I’m a hard person to proof for because of the number of rewrites I do of each chapter. (Sometimes quite out of the blue.) And at some stage I have to decide to leave it alone and get on with researching and writing the next chapter. One of the big problems I’m going to have when the book is finished for the final draft is going through the footnotes to ensure they are consistent. Already its a a nightmare, but I’m the only person who can fix it. And, of course, the work progresses dreadfully slowly, as good history does.
Text Publishing had crossed my mind, along with a couple of uni publishers and a publisher in North America. But I’m a long way from that stage yet. (In the past I’ve found you usually have to try three or four publishers before you get an acceptance. Just the way it goes I suppose, so one can’t afford to be too impatient.)
I’m a bit of a fan of Olive Pink and the conversation above about ‘half breeds’[horrible term] led me to check out her biography “The Indomitable Miss Pink” by Julie Marcus Pub. UNSW Press.
During [and for that matter before and after] WW2 Olive Pink was concerned about the impact on indigenous people adjacent to the military camps in the centre and the impact of VD, prostitution, rape and [I don't like this term but its perhaps appropriate for the era] mixed pregnancies all of which as issues were actively swept under the rugs in bureaucratic offices.
She made a right pest of herself in pursuing these matters.
Quite a woman!
The book is interesting, I recommend it.
Oh and the Olive Pink Nature Reserve [whatever, I forget the official name] just outside Alice Springs is worth a visit if you go to Alice. aAs all Aussies should sooner or later.
FYI, I’ve put up a post about Bolt being sued.
Bolt may be a nasty piece of work, but the law is the wrong instrument to deal with him.
akn @ 42:
It could be argued that that particular use of the phrase “white man” was a legacy of the language of the Bulletin’s origins in the 19th century as “The Bushman’s Bible”, when the phrase didn’t necessarily refer to race.
For example, the following quote from Lawson’s poem The Shearers:
And though he may be brown or black,
Or wrong man there, or right man,
The mate that’s steadfast to his mates
They call that man a “white man!”
Paul Burns @ 58
The author of the book is Christian Cameron. Caesar is expelled from Mt Vernon for the sin of laughing at his master, evades some pretty nasty slave traders and links up with the British and it goes from there. What was interesting for me was the realisation (hadn’t thought about it before) that GW was not as lily white as I had believed. But then in a society where slave ownership was the done thing why would he need to be different.
Hope you are feeling better now.
Wonderful contribution by Stephen Fry to a debate which includes interesting insight into Cardinal Ratsinger, now Pope. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbvr0m_shortfilms
bmitw @ 62,
No. Washington was by no means the heroic figure he’s often made out to be. IMO, one couls safely argue he verged on the militarily incompetent, saved by the occasional inspirational strategy/tactic. He was a grasping land speculator always seeking to enhance his property portfolio with apparently little respect foe Native Americans (not surprising as he more or less started his career as an Indian fighter.)One of the reasons he joined the Revolution was he deeply resented the limitations placed by the British Parliament upon his ability to acquire Indsian land beyond the limits of settlement. (Forget the carry on about taxation without representation. That’s more and more of a furphy the deeper you look into the motivations of the early American Revolutionaries.)
If you’re interested, the latest bio of Washington, which has somewhat enraged American right wingers, is a soundly-evidenced, matter of fact expose. It is John Ferling’s The Ascent of George Washington, The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon.
On my reading of him, (and I’ve read quite a bit of his work) Ferling is of the centre in American historiography, and not part of what is termed the American New Left, which to my mind makes his revisionist reading of Washington even more forceful. The book is easily available. (He’s also a joy to read.)
Ta for repost Helen.
Worth seeing PB’s post for the quotes he has collected of LNP figures and journos who peremptorily claimed otherwise, and now look like GEESE. Its an enjoyable read:
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2010/09/17/final-2pp-50-12-49-88-to-labor/
Paul
Did you come across Olive Pink in the research for your Brisbane Line book?
Apparently she corresponded frequently with Eddie Ward and VP of the Labor Council of NSW Tom Wright as well as other major politicians of the time both on the left and right including Paul Hasluck.
And look after yourself mate, we value you here.
The Guardian has a trailer on their website for a re-release of the 1912 film of Scott’s Antarctic Expedition.
hannah’s dad,
I recognise Olive Pink’s name and have heard of her. Did somebody, some time ago do a TV doco on her?
Re Ward’s papers. I don’t recollect anything in them or the NSW Labor Council Papers. But, then again, I was only looking for material directly related to home defence and/or the Brisbane Line, so I may not have examined or remembered files in which her letters are kept though I went through all files from c.1931 to 1949. It was a while ago. Nor do I recollect seeing anything about her in the documents I saw on the role of traditional Aborigines in the defence of Northern Australia against the Japanese. There was almost certainly nothing in the Spender Papers, (which are almost unreadable), Shedden Papers, Menzies Papers etc, etc, and my trawl of the various sets of papers in all archives in Sydney and Canberra was very thorough.
Thanks for the tip, Paul. I might see if I can get hold of that book, especially as the events of the past few years have caused me to wonder about the forces that have made the USA and its citizens the way they are.
And it might be time to give my medieval history obsession a rest, especially as Sharon Penman doesn’t have a book out at the moment, and good authors for that period are hard to find.
hannah’s dad,
Mind you, Ward was Minister for Territories after the Brisbane Line scandal, so my examination of those files was very cursory, and I imagine they would be the relevent files for Olive Pink. More to see how much he was hassling Chifley than anything else.
bmitw @ 69,
No worries. In that case, another book I strongly recommend (from the American New Left) is Gary B. Nash’s The Unknown American Revolution. The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America.
I suspect it has the kind of treatment you might be wanting to read. It is a very good history from below as well as a history of the elites.
It should be available in any good bookshop.
And you don’t find these kind of arguments coming from the American right. My impression is they’re terrified of them.
Tigtog says:
“Is that person, whose parents and sibs are acknowledged as indigenous, whose other relatives are acknowledged as indigenous, to be told by you or by the government that they are not indigenous just because their phenotype doesn’t fit your stereotype?”
I understand that because it is a recessive feature the red hair would have to be on both parents’ genes and the child would be less than half indigenous. I have no problem with someone claiming to be whatever takes their fancy, but I do have a problem if it involves tax funds.
The demographer Bob Birrell points out that the last census shows 80% of indigenous women partner with someone not indigenous and the number who do so has increased greatly with each succeeding census See People and Place, vol. 17, no. 1, 2009.
This is the main reason why so many of us today have at least some indigenous heritage. The racism argument is a red herring.
“The Australian’s delusions” is well worth a look over at Public Opinion. There is a link to an editorial that needs to be seen to be believed in the context of The Great Unhinging.
http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/09/the-australians-8.php#more
The best black humour belly laugh I’ve had all week:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/opinion/columnists/why-you-all-buggering-off-to-airport?-20070904381/
Why you all buggering off to airport?
04-09-07
By Azam Al-Maktar, shopkeeper, Basra
MY dear British friends, why you leave? You come here four year ago and say all will be great now that fat Sunni bastard in Baghdad is down hole. I stand in street and cheer. I look very much forward to being free and having aspirin and CNN. But it no happen…
Four year ago I say to my friend Nouri, I say: “British are hard men, they no take any piss from Mehdi bastard. They show Mehdi bastard how it is now.” Nouri say to me that Mehdi bastard have many trick up sleeve and British boys not even know why they here anyhow. Turn out Nouri right. Turn out Nouri not total shithead. Turn out Nouri is Mehdi bastard too….
…Then shithead Saudi bastards fly plane into banks and funny little Bush blame fat Sunni bastard in Baghdad…
So Americans come and British come and they flatten post office. I no like man who work in post office but still I say, post office come in handy. Next night they come and flatten Uncle Karim’s house. We found his foot. I keep shoe. Come in handy.
….
So goodbye my dear British friends and thank you for killing fat Sunni bastard in Baghdad and turning my home into big stinking bag of shit. One day you come back and tell me what it all about? Yes?
Paul Burns (on 9):
Things are sure to improve.
Pavlov’s Cat (on 1):
Merry Christmas!
Graham Bell @ 75,
And they have. Am feeling a wee bit better today, but Telstra still hasn’t reconnected my phone. Goodness knows what they’re doing.
It’s probably just Telstra’s Cunning Plan to coerce you into getting a mobile phone, Paul.
Won’t work, DI (nr). I can be a stubborn old bastard.