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Springborg: Resistance is futile
Lawrence Springborg is one step closer to achieving his grand dream of five years’ standing – a united conservative party in Queensland. This courtesy of new Liberal President Gary Spence, who, to the fury of some Liberals, has responded to the Nationals’ plebiscite by agreeing to a vote by rank and file members – and appearing to prejudge the result by embuing the “Liberal National Party” with an aura of inevitability.
That may be a tad premature, as the announcement of the “breakthrough” was quickly followed by anonymous Libs leaking about the possibility of a break away party should the Pineapple Party become a reality. There’s also the position – articulated by Brendan Nelson – that nothing should happen until discussions on amalgamation at federal level are finalised – at some indeterminate time in the future.
Unhappy Liberals are characterising the new party as a Nationals takeover.
So exactly who’s doing the assimilation? Resistance is futile, as the Star Trek version of the Borg intoned monolithically, because Lawrence Springborg has already been anointed leader in advance of any decision by the new party, and no democratic process is apparently envisaged for the division of the spoils of opposition. In fact, as Graham Young reports, so undemocratic is the process that former assimilation critic George Brandis has gone quiet after a deal for Senate preselection, which also protects Barnaby Joyce’s interests by giving him a Senate seat (Ron Boswell’s) even if he loses at the next election.
Tags: democracy , liberal party , labor , kevin rudd , federalism , coalition Comments (0)
Texans Celebrate the Bush Wedding in Style
We’ve seen the talking George Dubya doll, the Hillary Clinton nutcracker and the Obama “bootyshorts”. Now there’s a new item to pad out your US political paraphernalia collection: the Jenna Hager (nee Bush) wedding mug.
If you somehow missed the news, Dubya’s daughter Jenna tied the knot to her boyfriend of four years, Henry Chase Harger, over the weekend. Jenna apparently wanted to avoid the media circus that would accompany at White House wedding, opting instead for the privacy of a ceremony in Crawford, Texas.
Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the Texans that. Continue Reading »
Tags: jenna bush , george w bush , us politics Comments (0)
Not Without My Statesman
Phew. It appears the fiat bambino I wrapped in Swarovski crystal and dispatched to mother to commemorate her Special Day narrowly escaped excise. Had I delayed purchase a week or two, the working class parsimony of Comrade Swan might have forced me to reconsider mama’s extras package. (Mother prefers to travel only on kid. The hide of aged cattle will not do at all.)
And I though Mother’s Day would be characterised by disappointment as it generally is. In happy news, Swan has announced his intention to slap a tax on posh cars. This is exactly the sort of vacant symbolism I’m inclined to applaud.
Natch, Tuesday will reveal even more giddy fun. In the habit of treasurers past, Swan will ensure a final surprising “reveal” a la extreme makeover. They have to do something, I suppose, to reverse the national conviction that treasurers are humourless accountants who take extreme delight in inflicting thrift.
I would like to see that surprise aimed at fugging Sports Utility Vehicles. I’ve much more of an Issue, as they say, with these hulking baubles of prestige that I do with small and needlessly expensive Italian cars which, at the very least, are nice to look at. In the meantime, inspired by adbusters, I’ll keep attaching my home made infringement notices to the windshields of these pompous machines.
Tags: wayne swan Comments (0)
In Defence of Flavour
On the off chance that you, informed leftist, had not heard, I hereby nudge you toward food ethicist Michael Pollan.
His work, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is a staple in the pantry of ethicureans. His new work, In Defence of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto engages with consumer practice. The genesis of the text, apparently, was this wildly popular piece in the New York Times.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” he begins in order to combat both unsustainable gutsing and the all new disease of orthorexia. No. I hadn’t heard of it until today either.
This disorder describes the condition wherein an individual is excessively fascinated with the nutritional value of their food. It’s the by product, Pollan suggests, of an additive happy culture. Extra Folate, More Omega 3 and Reduced Fat are symptoms of a harmful and burgeoning western obsession. Which itself is the upshot of corporate cooking.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Do this and bypass the packaging, the blank promises and scant nutritional merit of food marketing.
The true lure for me of an urging like Pollan’s is its powerful simplicity. Food ethics represents the concurrence of flavour with action.
Tags: health Comments (0)
Papal apology?
The Pope had a lot to say about sexual abuse when he was in America recently. It’s now being reported that there’s “pressure” on him to repeat his apology to victims specifically in the Australian context, when he’s out here for World Youth Day. I have no doubt Benedict will, and I suspect the pressure in this instance isn’t needed. While an apology promotes healing for individuals directly damaged by clerical sexual abuse, it doesn’t address the broader problem, and nor do the protocols the church now has in place for dealing with complaints and reparations, welcome as they are. What should be quite familiar to Benedict is the concept of “structural sin” - something originating in liberation theology which he in his incarnation as Cardinal Ratzinger acknowledged as a valid manifestation of human evil and wickedness, even as he disagreed with the political and some of the theological overtones of liberation theology as theorised and practiced in Latin America (and in - significantly - Germany).
The Pope would also know very well that in Catholic sacramental and moral theology, an act of contrition and indeed an act of reparation are worthless without an awareness of the fault that led to a sin, and a genuine intention to “go and sin no more”, as Someone or other put it rather pithily. All this raises the question of whether the conditions of possibility of sexual abuse are genuinely being addressed.
Tags: Uncategorized Comments (0)
Australia’s disaster preparedness
As aid finally starts to filter into Burma in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Nargis, the Australian Stategic Policy Institute has published a timely paper warning that Australia is far from prepared should a similar natural disaster strike here.
Entitled Taking a punch: building a more resilient Australia, the paper examines Australia’s disaster preparedness and finds it wanting. Despite Australia’s relatively good performance in dealing with minor disasters like Cyclone Tracy, the Ash Wednesday fires or the Bali bombing, Australia is in fact poorly prepared, argue the paper’s authors, David Templeman and Anthony Bergin.
Australia has in fact never had to face a natural disaster of the scale of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 Tsunami or Tropical Cyclone Nargis. Templeman and Bergin argue that our emergency services and public hospital systems are ill-equipped to deal with the massive surge of casualties caused by a “big one,” and that Australia’s ageing population and reliance on volunteers mean the problem is likely to get worse. Moreover, while many Australians assume the Australian Defence Force is equipped to deal with natural disaster response, in fact the ADF does not see this as its core business.
In the wake of the hysteria generated over terrorism in the Howard years, it’s a timely and sobering paper.
Tags: refugees , environment , defence Comments (0)
George Megalogenis and Kevin Rudd: Anti-culture warriors
I’m quite the fan of George Megalogenis’ journalism, for a number of reasons. Unlike too much of the instant analysis which passes for political commentary which almost always sticks to a singular press gallery script, Megalogenis has an eye both for longer term political trends, and a desire to connect psephological and political observation with social research. My caveat would be that his matching of census data with electorate level voting patterns is methodologically flawed in two ways. Correlation doesn’t imply causation, and the selection of particular variations doesn’t make them necessarily independent or even intervening variables. But, nevertheless, Megalogenis does two things which are praiseworthy - he tries to tell a bigger story than the horse race, and tries to relate the horse race to bigger changes. That’s actually something Paul Kelly used to do well, albeit with a big dash of neoliberal orthodoxy colouring his interpretations. These days Kelly appears to have well passed his use by date, so it’s good to see Megalogenis has taken the step from newspaper punditry to book level analysis.
But for all that, if you’ve already read his The Longest Decade, I wouldn’t recommend spending another 30 bucks for the revised edition, which promises to take the story up to the Rudd victory. You could save your pennies and click this link, because the essence of the few chapters Megalogenis has tacked on to the end of his story of the rivalry between Howardian and Keatingite versions of Australia is summed up in one relatively short blog post.
But there is one insight in the new bits of The Longest Decade that Megalogenis hasn’t excerpted in the shorter short version, which is a pity because I think it’s key to the difference between politics John Howard style and politics Kevin Rudd style. Continue Reading »
Tags: polling , media , brendan nelson , liberal party , democracy , labor , john howard , federalism , culture wars , kevin rudd , coalition Comments (0)
Miley Madness!!!
Of course, we’re waiting for our beloved PM (and now one of the world’s most influential, it seems) to respond to the Miley Cyrus brouhaha. Given the man’s (a) fondness for chic celebrity and (b) bluenosed disposition, it seems only natural that he will soon call Graydon at Vanity Fair and demand an explanation. (And perhaps a good table at Ye Waverly Inn.)
Further to Mr Dumpling’s musings, I wonder aloud: what in heaven’s name is all the fuss about? The average drive to work or journey through an evening of television will reveal images of pubescent women far more wanton. And these young women did not have the opportunity to discuss the nature of their abasement first with Susan Sontag’s widow.
Greer, a visual culture hobbyist, unpacks the image here. Echoing Senor Dumplings concerns (no doubt the polemicist turned to New Matilda before accepting a commission from The Guardian) she says,” It is Disney, after all, that is merchandising this child.” Not Conde Nast.
VF continues to effect what it has so ably for the last fifteen years thanks to the work of artists like David LaChapelle and Leibovitz. Viz. creatively parrot the visual resonance of particular celebrities. Miss Cyrus was already sexed up. In affording her the style of a dirty postcard era, Liebovitz simple made explicit what was heretofore implicit. (Although, I’d argue, not that frigging implicit.)
I do not have children. Due, in large part, to the terrifying fashion choices they are bound to make. If I did, I think I’d happily have their Pixie Fotos taken by the great Annie.
Tags: kevin rudd Comments (0)
Even Annie Leibovitz would have problems with this
The latest Vanity Fair issue finds itself surrounded by a panic stricken media, outraged at photos by Annie Leibovitz of Miley Cyrus. It’s generally agreed these are unbecoming of a 15-year old.
Both Miranda Devine and Andrew Bolt promptly prepared their cut & paste ‘what about the children?’ response. The global reaction is partly because Miley Cyrus is fifteen but it appears also in part because she is Hannah Montana from the Disney stable. Well Daniel Brook at Slate has a picture promoting a Disney product … from a billboard in China nonetheless.
Miley’s pappy, mullet-endeared Billy Ray apparently left the shoot ‘early’ before all the sexualized mayhem broke out. Annie Leibovitz has a well documented history of taking photos of famous people naked. It’s arty, usually tacky and Glenn Close did a great impersonation of her on Will & Grace a few years ago. I wouldn’t leave my daughter with her for three minutes.
I’ve been boycotting Billy Ray Cyrus for years and would be happy to extend this to his daughter and the Disney empire. Makes sense, no?
Tags: online media , censorship Comments (1)
Incest problem? Ask Australia
While reporting the Josef Fritzl scandal in the town of Amstetten Austria, poor old Fairfax Digital appears to have become caught up in the debate which continues to confuse people around the world. That is whether Austria and that other country slightly south of the northern hemisphere are not in fact the same place.
Perhaps police everywhere now recognise Australia as a world leader on such family matters…..
Funny what happens when you retrench all your sub-editors:
Tags: online media , media Comments (1)
