Save the Muppets!

As referred from Planet Joel, Walt Disney wants to have multiple muppeteers doing work for the same muppets. This is a crime against humanity! Sign the petition NOW! Save the Muppets!

Van Nguyen

Ok - i'm going to go out on a limb here. Apparently, a one-minute silence is being proposed for Friday, for Van Nguyen's execution.
Whilst i'm vehmently opposed to the death penalty, particularly in this circumstace, I don't believe it is appropriate, or right to "honour" him with a minutes silence. The one minute silence is traditional reserved to commemerate those who have made great sacrifice, or to recognise the passing of people who have contributed to our history. Nguyen is neither. Remember, Singapore may be imposing a dispropotionate penalty (from our perspective, anyway) but at the end of the day, Nguyen is a drug trafficker, regardless of his motives. Do we really want to hold a minute silence for a drug trafficker? Doesn't this just cheapen the notion of the one-minute silence?

Whatever we think of the penalty, lets not forget the vigour with which we clamoured for the execution of the "Bali Bombers". Although, from our perspective, the crimes don't have parity, we must remember that people percieve the 'wrongness' of something different under different circumstances. More importantly, if we are opposed to the death penalty, then we are opposed to the death penalty regardless of the crime. We can't choose when and where we apply our sensibilities.

I certainly don't support Singapores decision - and that part of their legal system is (from my opinion) reprehensible. Hanging is NOT an acceptable method of execution. Preventing his own mother from a farewell hug is terribly cruel. But lets not get carried away and forget the facts of the matter. He smuggled drugs. Unfortunately, he will pay the highest price.

Peter Garrett... a new man?

I just saw last weeks Lateline "Friday Forum" - in which they interviewed Peter Garrett and Malcolm Turnbull. I was amazed at the transformation that Garrett has undergone! I remember the slightly fringe-extremist outbursts he used to have, but now he has polit-speak down to a tee. In fact, I was surpised at his deft handling of questions, with sensible, policy oriented language. It seems he has really taken to his political posting with vigour, and has broadened his outlook well beyond his previously narrow scope. Definitely one to watch within the Labor ranks. You can see the interview (in RealPlayer format) here

Internet withdrawal

Sorry all - i'm just getting rid of a nasty case of body ache and tremors, after my cable modem was replaced today. It sorta exploded on Saturday morning - leaving me cut off from civilisation for 2 days. But its all good - bit stream is back up - and I feel fine :)

Further defilation of Higher Education

Brendan Nelson has brought up a further suggestion of changes to Australian Higher Education. He is now proposing a two-tiered University system, similar to the United States, where students initially go to regional Undergrad Universities, where they will do generalist degrees (such as "Arts" or "Science"). The next tier will be an, "Ivy League" style group of elite Postgrad Universties, primarily with full-fee paying positions. Exceptional (-ly rich) students will be able to get Postgrad positions to obtain higher specialisation.

Firstly, what do you think will be the quality of the "Undergrad" degrees? In preventing specialisation at that level, those degrees will end up like most Asian country degrees - not worth the paper they're written on. It will be like an extra 3 years of "higher High School". Then, if you want a professional qualification, like a Doctor, Lawyer, Dentist, any respectable level of science, or an Engineer, you have to fork out full-fees.

So, Nelson envisages a system where those with the means ($$'s) will have the opportunity to further their earning capacity. Those without will end their education on a lower rung, limiting their professional attainment (depending, of course, on their chosen career). What is this OBSESSION with creating seperate classes? The beauty of Australia and the Australian University system is (was) that it offered relatively universal opportunities for all - based on intelligence (theoretically - the argument about the HSC as a evaluation method is a whole other can'o'worms). This is not class warfare (as they accused Latham), it is the forced creation of an 'underclass' in Australia - and is pervasive through much of the Government's policy.

There are times when I go to sleep dreaming of how I would eviscerate Brendan Nelson. And my neighbour. But thats a whole other story.

IR an international embarassment?

This SMH article suggests that the new IR laws in their current form would breach UN Internation Standards - to which Australia is a signatory. I might be able to be convinced that some changes are needed to curtain excessive union power - but this government has made no effort to make a case, and has obviously given very little thought to the implications and outcomes of their bill. In pursuing such an extreme ideology (not to deliberately use a Labor phrase), they might have lost community support they otherwise would have had.

Nguyen hanging

It seems like Van Nguyen's fate has been sealed. Convicted in Singapore of smuggling heroin into the country, he will be hung on Dec 2nd, under Singapore's rather draconian drug laws. At the same time, pleas for clemency from Australia have been ignored in Singapore - and whether intentional or not, there has been a rather disrespectful handling of how the family was to be notified. I guess there are a couple of issues at play here:

- Should the death penalty be applied (in this or in any case)?
- Should the death penalty apply to drug trafficking?
- Is hanging an acceptable method of applying the death penalty (remembering that hanging can be terribly inhumane).
- Should Singapore be held accountable for its insenstive manner of informing the family?
- Does Australia have the right/responsibility to try and alter Singaporean legal decisions - via diplomatic sanctions or otherwise?


Thoughts..?

God bless Richard Glover

This article editorial is a classic Gloveresque parable on current affairs. Richard Glover can be heard from 1pm-6pm weekdays on 702AM ABC Sydney.

Protected by Law? Not according to Lawyers!

The Government's IR ad campaign says award conditions are "protected by law". ABC's PM program has a story about some corporate Lawyers, who have found a critical loophole in the legislation. It essentially allows that when an Award Condition 'nominally expires' (read: when the employer feels like it) - the agreement does NOT roll over to the same award conditions, as the Government would have you believe. Instead, until such a point that the employee and employer "negotiate" a new agreement, the employee is protected ONLY by the 5 minimum conditions. No more. This essentially means that whilst the government has been running around peddling its bull about Award systems still being in place, realistically, it is the employers perogative to terminate such awards as and when they see fit.

So, not only is the taxpayer paying for advertising a Liberal Party ideology with broad resentment in the community - these very advertisments are factually incorrect, and deliberately misleading. If this was a company, the ACCC would have pulled them up for misleading advertising. *Sigh* I take some comfort in that the legislation has been universally condemned not only by unions, but by social workers, church groups, academics - and even economists cannot find a solid case for these changes stimulating the economy. In fact anyone with half a brain (an no vested interest driving down wages) can see that this will hurt employees.

We are the champions, my friends!!

AUSTRALIA UBER ALLES! Deutschland here we come!!

IR Protests

Unless you were living under a rock (or are a stupid teenie-bopper) you would have know that today was a day of national protest against the Howard Governments Industrial Relations changes.

Somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 Australians joined a mass rally in Melbourne, a further 30-40,000 in Sydney and several thousands in all major capital cities came out to protest and let the government know that they will not let Howards hubris and arrogance undermine their quality of life without a fight. It was a success beyond what even union leaders would have expected - with showings from a (relatively) wide cross-section of the community. I couldn't attend (ok, call me a piker) - but i was there 100% in spirit. But I was heartened to see the support, and it has restored some of my faith in democracy.

The government and that little weasel, Peter Hendy, from the Australian Chamber of Commerce - have been running around saying that most workers stayed at work. But thats missing the point. What matters is opinion. Most workers WON'T actually attend the rally - but will still be concerned and angry about the issue. That there was such a turnout, shows just how deeply this issue is cutting.

Labor has worked themselves into a good position here - and this could very well be the turning point for them. Protesters included not only typical Unionists, but parents concerned about their childrens future, the elderly and white collar workers. And this is important from a political perspective. If there is a sufficient groundswell of opinion from a broad base, as suggested by this rally, there is a very good chance that Howard as lost the next election for the Liberals with his arrogance. Labor knows this and is working this sentiment as hard as they can. Provided that sufficient angst and passion can be maintained for the next two years (no easy task, mind you), this legislation could deliver Labor an election victory in '07.

I believe that the "Howard Battlers" who may have delivered the last 2 Liberal governments, could wake up and realise the the Libs don't give a damn about them, except when it comes to bribing their vote. And if the "Battlers" desert is sufficient numbers, we could have a landslide on our hands.

Now, I know this is probably getting way ahead of the game, but I'm optimistic today, that there is a good chance the scourge of Corporate Conservatism may well be clensed from government in the next term. And with it, the callous disregard for refugee's rights, the disrespect of due process and the pattern of Government blatantly lying to the population. We can only hope.

Another interesting thought I picked up on from the Insiders program on the ABC, was that in Australia, we don't have a tradition of conservative intellectualism, unlike in England. Now, whilst i may disagree with many conservative views, there is a real need for intellectual debate about conservative issues. Any debate is good for society - and the exploration of new ideas and suggestions should be tantamount in a sucessful democracy. In Australia, the Left has a steady stream of critical debate and writings - but conservative ideas tend not be explored as effectively. Indeed, conservatism in Australia seems to be more about simply accepting what we are told, and/or pursuing a particular policy objective without proper analysis. IR is a classic case - where there has been no established case. Like American Conservative politics, their success has been on the back of impressions and carefully constructed perceptions. People don't like to think these things through - but this needs to be offset by background analysis. I fear this pattern may irreveresably change Australian society for the worse, for many years to come.

New Laptop

Hey all! Coming to you from my brand spanking new beast of a computer!! 1.86Ghz Pentium M, 1Gb 533Mhz DDR2 Ram, 100Gb HDD and 128Mb Graphics card worth of pure unadulterated grunt :p Oh yeah, and a 15.4" CrystalBrite Widescreen display. Excuse my boasting but this machine has had me drooling for days - particularly against the price of $1800. (You can't prove that those broken fingers suffered by the salesman were by me).

Anyhoo - this is my excuse for not posting much recently. My apologies.

...We return you to your regular programming.

See Saw II

I have had the opportunity to see an *ahem* "advanced screening" of Saw II.

If you have seen Saw I, I would highly recommend it; if you haven't, see Saw I and then see Saw II. (or as the Canadians say, Tittertotter I and Tittertotter II).

Saw II is extremely graphic, but without the cheap scares of other Horror franchises. THe basic premise is the "Jigsaw" killer, who kidnaps his victims and sets up a scenario where they must survive (or more often than not, die trying). As he says in the movie - he never actually killed any one of his victims - he just puts them in a situation where they inevitably top themselves. And this is what facinated me about these movies - the horror coming not from sudden shocks, but from the humanity of the characters. Whilst the characters really are cardboard-cutout archetypes, it is the recognition of humans faced with such awful choices that drives the horror - and the fact that we question what we might do in a situation like that. And the raw in-your-face gore accentuates, rather than cheapens, this.

Saw II lacks the claustrophic nature of the first... with an expanded victim cast, and more of their situation revealed upfront. Jigsaw's traps also lack the finesse of the original. However, we do get to get up close and personal with this twisted killer for most of the movie - as he tries to explain himself. The twist was, whilst not entirely believable, a satisfying end - and springboard for further sequels.

I have been looking for a decent "thinking" horror film for quite a while - and really enjoyed Saw and Saw II. Definitely worth seeing. 4 hacksawed feet out of 5.

*Warning: Seriously not for those with a weak stomach!

Well, that explains it!

All this time we thought Bush was actually retarded. Its just that he has a bad speechwriter! Click here for the full explanation!

Happy Birthday Shah Rukh

Bollywood Legend Shah Rukh Khan turned 40 today! This guy will probably follow in the footsteps of the great Amitabh Bachan and become the next Godfather of Indian Film.

Very convenient

Isn't it interesting. Just as the John "Deputy" Howard and Phillip "Undead" Ruddock are trying to push through "anti-terrorist" legislation, its revealed that there is a specific terrorist threat about to emerge. Someone has been taking lessons from George "IQ=1" Bush (as distinct from his daddy - George "IQ=10" Bush).

Also - apologies for the quiet couple of days - NivCorp Blog will be pretty quiet for the next few too - due to me cramming TLA's for a Networking Exam :p