Sweet Words

I wrote to Terry Sweetman about his article. His reply? "Thanks for the interest". There's always next time....


Dear Mr Sweetman

I am writing to you with reference to your article in The Courier-Mail dated 8 October 04. I have taken the liberty of selectively editing your argument (see below). I hope my treatment preserves the integrity of your intent for this article.

As such, I am glad that I do not share your family's cherished love of tolerance and diversity if this is what it produces. The same allegations you make against Family First can easily be made gainst yourself IN YOUR OWN WORDS. It is a sad day when you are blind to the hypocrisy of your own position. Unless you deliberately set out to be provocative or populist, I find it hard to understand how you can hold such glaringly obvious self-contradictory opinions. I am not a member of any political party, but this one-eyed and biased piece of journalism intrigues me as to your political sympathies.

If however, I have simply misunderstood you, please accept my apologies for my ignorance. I shall read your column far more carefully in future.

Yours sincerely

Stephen []

Sour Words

Just browsed into this interesting item from the Curio-Mail. I may take the time to have a better go at it. I may not.

Intolerance put first
by Terry Sweetman

[snip]

"...the Family First Party, a righteous bunch whose robes of tolerance are slowly being stripped away to reveal some of them as little more than small-minded bigots. "

[snip]

"...these high-minded standover tactics... "

[snip]

"... a bunch of fundamentalist happy clappers. "

[snip]

HERE'S THE PUNCHLINE:

"... in my family...we have learnt to cherish tolerance and diversity. "

AND THIS ONE WITHIN THE SAME SENTENCE:

"Family First has a right to express its beliefs and to lobby accordingly, but I worry that legislation might be judged on its narrow and unrepresentative framework of beliefs and value judgments. "

SOME MORE JUST TO FINISH OFF:

[snip]

"It seems that Family First is suffering the same sort of delusions of adequacy that afflicted One Nation in its heyday ..."

[snip]

AND NOW THE KING HIT:

"Family First is just another group pushing personal prejudices and sectional interests.

Its claims to special family or Christian credentials seem somewhat presumptuous, if not spurious."

Spooky vote-hunting robots

Having been the recent recipient of a promotional call from the PM BEFORE the election, I thought I would go one further. Reply to the man himslef using the same means. Don't know what I am talking about?

See this ABC Radio AM transcript:

TONY EASTLEY: The next time your telephone rings, it could be the Prime Minister calling. In the remaining days of the election campaign, the Liberal Party is mounting a blitz of automated mass calls in a number of seats across the country, in the hope that a message from John Howard, urging people to vote for the sitting Liberal MP or candidate, will have a positive effect.It's a new strategy from the Liberals, as both major parties mount a massive advertising effort in the last week before polling day.But as Alexandra Kirk reports, what the Liberals call "advocacy calls" from the Prime Minister aren't always welcome.

The actual text of the phone call went something like this:

Hello, this is John Howard. I've taken the unusual step of contacting you with this recorded message to support your local Liberal candidate in Moreton, Gary Gardgrave. As part of my Federal Liberal team, Gary Hardgarve will immediately start work on his detailed plan for your seat of Moreton. I know Gary Hardgrave and I know he will get things done for Moreton. This is John Howard, on behalf of Gary Hardgarve, thanking you for your time.

Yes, Gary Hardgrave retained his seat of Moreton (no thanks to such phone calls, methinks). But I also think it is time to return the favour. How about making a recorded message of my own to send to the PM?

It would go something like this:

Hello, this is [me]. I've taken the unusual step of contacting you with this recorded message to ask for the support of my local Liberal MEMBER in Moreton, Gary Gardgrave. As part of your Federal Liberal team, I hope that Gary Hardgarve is immediately starting work on his detailed plan for my seat of Moreton. Gary Hardgrave is a vague shadowy figure to me, and it's about time now he got things done for Moreton.This is [me], on behalf of [myself], thanking you for your time.

I sometimes wonder what politicians get up to. Well, it seems as the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, these have been Mr Hardgrave's MAJOR initiatives (according to his website):

Citizenship Day (September 17 - must have blinked and missed THAT one)

Living in Harmony, incorporating Harmony Day and the 'All of Us' Postcard Competition (by the waym, these are listed as SEPARATE initiatives. BTW Living in Harmony awarded forty-two grants from 529 applications, totalling some $1.5 million. Definately the BIG BISCUITS)

2030 (which basically involved "the production of a kit of classroom resources to help teachers and students explore immigration and population issues"...from a Right Wing ;-) perspective )

Mr Hardgrave is also the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister. Far me it from me to criticise, but I am wondering where exactly does he spend most of his time? John Howard's phone message assured me that Gary had "a plan" for Moreton. Am I to assume that Gary's plan is subsumed under John's big plan? I suppose so. Would someone please disabuse me of the notion that almost NOTHING is being done for the electorate?

And as Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural affairs, is anything being done for children in detention centres, although not technically "citzens" (albeit wannabes) they are all certainly very "multicultural". Not a lot of "Harmony" there as far as I can see.

Wayne Swan (ALP) labelled the call from the PM a message from "a spooky vote-hunting robot." I disagree. Instead, I believe that the Member for Moreton is a better candidate for such a title. Gary Hardgrave, thank you for your time.

Found Photos

Beware of the file share! Those pictures in my pictures may find their way onto the web unbeknownest to you!


Most people who use file-sharing networks are looking for music. Rich Vogel uses them to find photos, many of which were never meant to be shared with the world.

One day while searching for new MP3 audio files, Mr. Vogel, a 31-year-old musician in Grand Rapids, Mich., browsed through a user's shared folder on the Soulseek network. He was surprised to find some photographs. "It was like landing in the middle of someone's life," he said.

He began searching other peer-to-peer, or P2P services, using the phrase "my pictures," and found that thousands of photo folders had been made available to the public, most of them, he suspects, inadvertently. He selects the more interesting examples and exhibits them at his site as found photos www.10eastern.com/foundphotos.html). More than 300 have been posted there so far. The photos - of parties and their aftermaths, wounds, kisses, infants - reflect Mr. Vogel's sensibility but also offer a window into the lives of the P2P generation.

Family First

Heard on ABC radio this afternoon:

South Australian documentary filmmaker Bruce Rodmand is making a documentary about the Family First party. The following are some paraphrases:

On the allegations that a family first volunteer suggested that lesbians should be burnt at the stake:
"I did a bit of research and asked around about this and it seemd that this was the response after severe goading by someone from the Greens. The party did not attampt to sweep this under the carpet but said they were not about this kind of thing."

"Family First are very financially astute - these people are not idiots - and have funded themselves through voluntary contributions."

"They are here for the long haul - not just the next election but 5, 10 even 50 years ahead."

"Family First play the role of Jesus and try and do the right thing. They are different from the Frd Nile group. It's almost a matter of 'How Would Jesus Vote'" (discussion drowned out by snickers and funny voices from ABC DJ Spenser Howson saying "What Would Jesus Do?")

COMMENT:
I can't wait to see this documentary. It sems to be a fair-minded attempt to interpret the Family First Party to the genral Australin public and dispel some myths before they develop.

In The Courier-Mail 11 Oct 04:

Page 6: Newspaper takes pole position for precision
Gary Morgan, pollster:

"He said the new party had 'flown under the pollsters' radar.' 'We have now seen the return of right-wing conservatives and religious-aligned parties and it will be one of the biggest problems facing Labor,' he said."

COMMENT:
Labor has traditionally relied on preferences from the Democrats and the Greens, but with the Democrats failing at the polls and the Greens under Brown crowing about heir electoral success as a separate party, Labor is in strife from its own side of politics.

Page 7: Failed Liberal blames sexual preferences

Re: Ingrid Tall, Liberal candidate for Brisbane:
"Her sexuality became a talking point in the campaign when the family First party and nationals candidate Nick Withcombe attacked her stance on family issues. Family First, the new Assembly of God-backed party, was criticised after one of its electoral workers said the party supported lesbians 'being burnt to death'. With counting continuing, the Greens have not given up on winning the Senate position, but are infuriated by the probable outcome after claiming they were targeted by a deceptive Family First television advertising camapign in country Victoria."

COMMENT:
The tussle of the minor parties (in urban Brisbane) - the Nationals, Greens and Family First. It strikes me that Family First are closer in social values and economic ideology to the Nationals.

Page 12: Opinion & Letters

Barry Welch:
"A rampant and unfettered John Howard in league with the ratbag religious right. Australians should be afraid, very afraid."

(Barrry Welch is an organiser of the Quensland Teachers Union)

COMMENT:
The most virulent attacks on Family First will not come from labor directly - they will come from leftists similar to the one above and from the Greens more directly. Similar to the Chinese political tradition of using relatives and supporters to slander opponents to preserve the face of the key figures.

Page 13: The reason Labor's poll stategy went wrong
John Black (a former Labor senator and campaign strategist)

"Error 5: There were no attempts by Labor to draw a line between themseleves and the Greens, or to attack Family First like John Howard attacked the Greens. Family First seems to me to be like One Nation at prayer. I was horrified to read the comments of some Family First workers about lesbians getting burned at the stake, or lumping synagogues and mosques in with brothels. Yet there were no attack ads on this sort of this, and this group largely escaped scrutiny as a result."

COMMENT:
Reminds me of the post by Tom which sugggested the Uniting Church was the Australian Democrats at prayer. Perhaps I can order a re-post? Tom?

In the footsteps of Genghis Khan

Just been reading up on Genghis Khan. Get an eyeful of this quote from Genghis Khan: Conquerer of the World:

"In the summer of 1219 Genghis Khan gathered his army together on the Kara Irtish River. He took his young Merkit wife Qulan and his minister Yeh-lu Chu'u-ts'ai with him on this campaign. His youngest brother Temuge-otchigin remained behind in Monglolia as 'the guardian of hearth and home'. In the autumn he moved forward over the Altai and Tarbagatai mountains to Qayaliq (the present-day Taldy Kurgan south-east of Lake Balkash), where Arslan, the khan of the Qarluqs, Barshuq, the idiqut of the Iughurs, and Sugnaq Tegin of Almaliq joined him. It is known that Arslan brought 6,000 men with him and the Idiqut a tumen."

Cop that for a mouthful!

To keep up with a real adventurer, check out Tim Cope, who is travelling across the steppe by horse and camel, and as of now has just hit Kazakhstan and is on his way back to Ulan Bator...

John Safran Vs God (Mon 4 Oct 04)

Just caught the last few minutes of John Safran on Monday night (I got distracted by a political special on the ABC - and I thought he would appear but he's actually on SBS)

johnsafranvsgod

He was interviewing politicians on the door step of Parliament House in Canberra to determine if they were vampires - and was casually ignored by most, but was neatly put in his place by Kevin Rudd.

John's interpretation of this has caused me to rethink his approach.

He cut to a scene outside Parliament hill (the grassy knoll) where he said that he wished he had a witty comeback for such moments but wasn't able to think of one on the spot.

Cut back to Kevin Rudd entering Parliament and John indeed attempting to throw a funny line which fell rather flat.

It seems Safran is well aware of his own comic shortfalls. Originally I had him pegged as a Denton wannabe, but he really is in a class by himself.

He is a true ingenue - a master of artless innocence. He also has a wicked eye for contradictions and hypocrisy (witness his excoriating attitude to Australians who dismiss Americans for being ignorant yet would likely fail
John's geography test on the location of Zaire - actually the Democratic African Republic of the Congo)

John - prove that I'm not a liar! Keep up the good work! And someone, please SMS me on Monday night so I don't miss him again.

And SBS - put this man on DVD. NOW!

Are your personal moral values Liberal or Labor?

Just made a quiz on Quizllia based on the Christian Values checklist:

Are your personal moral values Liberal or Labor?

Unfortunately Quizilla isn't as smart as I would like and doesn't allow a one-to-many relationship when figuring out its matrix.

I will find something better

Sex Sells

Just logged off hotmail and got redirected (automatically, of course!) to the NineMSN website.

Some articles caught my eye:

Two child porn suspects commit suicide - about pedopghiles caught as part of Operation Auxin.

Child detention is legal: High Court - how 4 Afghani children must stay in detention with their parents

Child killers on the loose. - how diseases are rife and killing kids in 3rd world countries

All thre provide some insight into how children children as regarded in Australian society. But the first one in particular made me think: why anyone would get into child pornogrpahy? But I suppose the bigger question is how prevalent sexual messages are in today's society, and how frequently people seek sexual gratification (legal or otherwise) outside of God's gift of marriage.

I wonder if the images on and articles NineMSN's homepage have anything to do with it:






Sexy lingerie!

Sexy Seafolly swimsuits

Huge adult toy sale!

Browse for a new bra

Meet the Babe finalists

Sexy wallpapers for $4!

Improved manhood

And this is just on ONE day. On a "mainstream media" website. Are we as a culture that depraved or deprived that we can't measure that which we have already become? Time to get NineMSN to take these messages away.

Christian Values Checklist

Scored this one as a link off the Triple J website. Got lots of potential for an online quiz... Hmmm.

Christian Values Checklist

"This summary of the positions of major parties on issues of concern to Christians is provided as a service to the Christian community which makes up 68% of the Australian population as of 2001 Census. It has been compiled after an exhaustive search of party platforms, voting history and statements, including in some cases the state voting record of some parties."

Minority Report

Iraq had no WMDs, says US inspector

The US said they had it, The Brits and Aussies agreed, but UN said there wasn't enough evidence.

Now US weapons inspectors have found there are no WMD's, but say that Saddam "intended" to develop them and they "might" get into terrorist hands, and even the evidence for these being "circumstantial".

Sound like the plot of Minority Report: In the future, the intention of murder is able to be detected before time (flawlessly? see the film) and potential murdererd are arrested and incarcerated before they can do the deed.

What place for due process here? None.

Bid to allow women bishops in Anglican Church voted down

Read the transcript of Archbishop Peter Jenson's interview on the ABC:

Bid to allow women bishops in Anglican Church voted down

QUOTE:

DAVID WEBER: How do you think this decision will be viewed outside of the
church?

PETER JENSEN: Some people will just be astonished. Egalitarianism, the idea that men and women are identical has taken a strong root in our society, and people will talk about glass ceilings and the rest, but what we're discovering also is that as feminism has lost its way a bit, people are beginning to remember that men and women are not only equal but we are different, and that difference shows up in different roles within family life.

:UNQUOTE

LETTER FROM THE PRIME MINISTER

Today by very great fortune - or mass mailing machine - I received a personalised letter from The PM. I have not yet heard the telemarketer-style phone calls - but may, as I think I must be in a marginal electorate. I am receiving election material from both major paries at least daily and minor parties weekly. I'm not sure but it almost seems to qualify as stalking. All I need now is some pin-striped suited politician sitting in a hotted up Torana across the road at midnight.

Anyway, read what the Prime Minister had to say. I shall interpret the Liberal Party's positions as I go:


Dear Your Name

[Dear voter estranged from the impersonal party political machine, here is a mass-mailed letter sent to your name and address in an attempt to ingratiate myself with your personally]

I am writing to you because as we get closer to election day it's important to remember what we believe this election is all about.

[We believe this election is about us winning]

I believe there is no more important issue facing Australians today than the economy and interest rates.

[So I will scare you with some rubbery figures and neglect to tell you I have almost no control over interest rates and will be the first to blame forces outside of my control for rises - like the IMF, the World bank, the WTO, the US economy or the price of oil]

The risks of bungling our $800 billion economy are very real. Not only would there be less money to spend on local health, education, roads and defence, but people could lose their jobs, poverty could increase and interest rates could rise, putting real pressure on families' budgets.

[Although I will still enjoy a nice salary and superannuation and gold card while everyone else wallows in misery if it does, I am concerned abot you, the voter. Really.]

A few days ago I announced a number of initiatives to assist families and older Australians:

[That I haven't been bothered about until the election, and suddenly I found all this money sitting underneath the Hansards in Parliament House]

. Introducing a rebate of 30% for out of pocket child care fees for families and, for families with only one main income, an increase in Family Tax Benefits;

[Throw some chickenfeed around and see what the chooks scratch up]

. Grandparents responsible for caring for their grandchildren will get better access to child care and, for those on income support, higher child care benefits;

[ibid]

. New technical schools, toolkits, scholarships, access to the youth allowance and better training for new apprenticeships in areas of skills shortage; and

[Although if you get a job you won't be getting a real wage and you will be at the mercy of your employer while you are told you have more "options" and your working conditions are is "flexible" - code for more options and flexibility for the employer]

. More support for after hours Medicare, delivering services "round the clock" where and when they are needed.

[Medicare offices will be open longer? There will be more medicare offices open? More people will be employed at Medicare so you don't have to stand in those riduculous cues like a Russian babooshka queueing for bread]

So our focus, our first priority is to continue helping families in what we believe is the best possible way - keeping interest rates low and the economy strong.

[We will "free up" the economy and the labour market so that all those at the top of the economic pile can get further ahead, and leave everyone else at a loose end as we abolish services like health and education - so that YOU can pay for them]

By continuing to take responsible decisions now, we can have continued financial security to have the money to pay for our new programs that strengthen Medicare, apprenticeships, and defence and national security into the future.

[Just throw in that line about defence and national security just so we don't forget that you were in Washington during September 11, and you have caught the knee jerk panic bug that plagues our US Allies. John, you forgot to mention interest rates again. Shame on you]

Yours sincerely,



John Howard

Prime Minister

[Buffalo Spammer]

Bizarre and Evil Real Estate Agents

Ancinet Chinese Confucian society regarded merchants as merely parasites on society, merely moving goods arounds from hanmd to hand rather than actually producing anaything of worth. As such they had a low status. The same could be siad of today's real estate agents. Witness the bizarre story coming out of Sydney

"The family that agreed to pay $800,000 for 6 Collins Street, North Ryde was not told their dream home had remained unoccupied for three years because Sef Gonzales had murdered his family there. "

Not that his is especially unusual - people do murder other people, and they often choose to do so in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. What gets my goat is the fact that the buyers were NEVER informed by L.J.'s (the responsible agency) about the incident.

Apart from the usual concerns about the spirits of the dead, the buyers say all the generations of the family are scared about feng shui.

Bad feng shui. Ok.

How does The national president of the Real Estate Institute, Kareena Ballard feel about that whole situation?

"I suppose a murder is something between the people living in that property."

Yes. Yes I suppose it is. Rather like a private contractual arrangement, such as the one you enter when buying a house. And like the victims, the buyers didn't expect to get ambushed when they put the key in the front door.

THE FINAL SEASON

Back in 1998-99, a rumour went about that - with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in its 7th year, and with Star Trek: Voyager nearing that mark, and thus reaching the age under which, according to the Prime Directive, they must face an ancient rite our people call "THE FINAL SEASON" - Rick Berman, Michael Piller & co were planning a 5th Star Trek series that would star none other than Kevin Sorbo as the captain.

Although these plans went nowhere, they did generate a few rather frightening script possibilities...

• Kev-baby accidentally mistakes a Class 1 phaser for a Remington Ultrasmooth and slices off the lower half of his jaw on camera, just after stepping out of a silver Saab.
• Episodes featuring Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln will no longer be time-travel or holodeck stories - instead, the script will be claiming that they did actually live in the 24th century
• Special 30th-anniversary tribute to TOS' classic "Who Mourns For Adonis?" has Apollo explaining, resentfully, that "ZOOSSE killed mah family".
• Trill Symbiosis Commission orders Xena and Gabrielle to cease re-associating with each other.
• Kevin sits in Quark's Bar muttering bitterly about how "ZOOSSE killed mah wife" until a Wormhole Alien who has taken the form of Simonius observes: "The Sorbo is not thinking in linear time!"
• Kevin S whips out a huge double-bladed Kull axe and tells Worf "THAT's not a knife; THIS is a knife!"

Shark Tale Trailer (big)

Re: [youthmultimedia] Synod Wireless Access

To paraphrase John Lennon:

Imagine . . .

Imagine there's no e-mail,
It's easy if you try,
No 'net to link us,
And definitely no wi-fi,
Imagine all the people

Writing it by hand...

Imagine there's no mobiles,
It isn't hard to do,
No-one to phone or text to,
No ring-tones too,
Imagine all the people

Speaking face to face...

Imagine no television,
I wonder if you can,
No need for radio or newspapers,
Abolishment of ads,
Imagine all the people

Sharing of themselves...

You may say I'm a Luddite,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will meme* as one.

<>

Cheers

Stephen

BACKBLOG 02OCT04:
The word "meme" in the final line replaced the original "live". What is a meme?

Men in Frocks...

Strange, err, bedfellows... That bible of capitalism the Wall Street Journal today (29 September) runs an op-ed entitled “What Would Jesus Spend? Christian virtues won't hurt the economy”. All standard Michael Novak-style doctrine, except for one intriguing detail -- the writer, Professor Deirdre McCloskey, used to be Donald McCloskey, until she né[e] he underwent a surgical transformation:

In October 1995, Gary Fethke, the dean of the College of
Business at the University of Iowa, ran into a colleague, Donald McCloskey, in the hallway of the business school. McCloskey, Fethke noticed, was wearing gold ear studs – small, but on both ears. “What’s this, Don?” Fethke asked jovially. “The earrings! Have you turned gay?”

“You want to know, Gary?” McCloskey asked. When Fethke nodded yes, McCloskey, a renowned free-market economist and married father of two, motioned him into his office and shut the door. He then unburdened himself of a startling secret: At age fifty-two, after years of closeted cross-dressing, he had come to the conclusion that he needed to become a woman. And so, the economics professor explained to his astounded dean, he had embarked on a course of hormone therapy, designed to swell his breasts and alter his voice. Over the course of the next year, he intended to become a physical woman: full beard electrolysis, eyebrow bones ground down, gender reassignment surgery. At that very moment, McCloskey confessed, underneath his sensible brown oxfords and argyle socks, his toenails gleamed candy-apple red.

Dean Fethke sat stunned for a moment, then rushed to put McCloskey at ease. “Thank God”, he exclaimed. “I thought for a moment you were going to confess to converting to socialism”...

The 2004 Federal Election Online Poll

"The only poll that counts is the one on election day"

But still interesting to do, and to see the results of your own inept political reasoning (ah, the joys of democracy - mob rule!)

See https://www.wizardpolling.com.au/

NOTE: Lots of registration and personal details required. Takes about 10+ minutes.

Andrew Haigh in India

Andrew Haigh is going at it hammer and tongs on the Indian subcontinent following the Aussie team around as part of www.wavingtheflag.com and micro-monitoring their every move - check out his cricket punditry for the insider's view at:

andrewsindiantour.blogspot.com