Protected: Aurora Australis

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Aurora Australis

I didn’t think that they would be able to see the Aurora Australis in summer, at least not from the Southern Highlands.Not far south enough I would have thought. But there was a picture on the front page of the newspaper this morning taken by an amateur astronomer-

“It was short but very sweet” … amateur astronomer David Finlay took this photo at Robertson of the aurora australis that was triggered this week by an apocalyptic flare on the sun.

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Protected: A Thoughtful Opinion Piece

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A Thoughtful Opinion Piece

I liked Peter Fitzsimons’ opinion piece this morning. For an ex-Rugby player he is certainly more thoughtful than his ex-coach, Alan Jones, Oz’s talkback king and mouth-piece for our PM–

It’s radical, but it might just work: try a bit of decency
By Peter FitzSimons
October 30, 2003

It is time to revisit the land of Talkbackia, the mythical land of our dreams where everything could be run exactly the way the late-night and early-morning denizens of the airwaves demand. Zero tolerance! Capital punishment! Lock ’em up and throw away the key!

It will be a new land where the tried and true template of White-Bread Australia is crashed down hard against the claims of those who have betrayed us by turning the country into Multi-Grain.

It’s “us” against “them” and I don’t have to tell you what the dividing line between the two is.

There would be few mosques in Talkbackia, but by God there would be a lot of jails, and – come to think of it – those jails would have a very heavy preponderance of those who used to be in the mosques.

We’re not exactly saying in Talkbackia that Islam equals terrorism, but we’re not saying that it’s not, either.

You never can be too careful in these parts.

See, in Talkbackia, there would be none of this namby-pamby worry about rights. In Talkbackia there would be an understanding that there is a war going on here, and extreme measures have to be taken.

We in Talkbackia are inspired by the shining light of our freedom-loving hero, George Bush, and have as our key platform of government that the only way the freedom-loving peoples of the world can be free to preserve freedom is to be free ourselves to do exactly what we freely like and assert the primacy of our rights over everyone who gets in our way.

We’re going to start with the lily-livered snivel libertarians who keep pathetically protesting that this is all dangerous stuff, and work our way down towards all the huddled masses who just don’t have enough grunt to do anything to stop us.

Now that’s real freedom!

…

Me? On balance, I think I’d still rather live in Australia. It’s possible, I suppose, that we’d all be marginally more secure living in a land where our own forces would be free to “work the dark side of the street” to use the the words of the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, but would that kind of “security” be worth it?

At the very least, at the bare, hungry sniffin’ minimum, can we acknowledge that there really is some defence in decency?

I refer to a story written by Herald journalist Tom Allard this month, where he quoted a leading South-East Asian terrorism academic, Dr Rohan Gunaratna, speaking at the National Press Club, saying that though there had been sleeper cells of Jemaah Islamiah in Australia in the late 1990s – including around Dee Why – the problem is they had essentially gone troppo and enjoyed their time here too much to go ahead with the dastardly terrorist plans they were meant to execute.

“Australian ethos had dulled their ideological convictions,” Gunaratna said. “They were sympathetic to the cause but didn’t want to die for it.”

See? Wonderful visions come of a sleeper-cell established on the Peninsula, with its members blending in by getting jobs and sending their kids to local schools, as they lived the life of their intended targets.

It is not hard to imagine the members of that cell attending their children’s school concert and looking around in the crowded hall at all the smiling faces, seeing their kid on stage beaming out at them, and wondering whether it was really a good idea to let off bombs and the like among such a friendly and welcoming people.

And say, Ali, would you like to bring your missus and the kids over to our place on Saturday arvo, before we have a game of beach cricket?

Of course, I am hypothesising. But it’s a fair bet that for the terrorist’s rage against Australia to dissipate to the point that they did not want to follow orders to unleash hell, they had to be treated with decency and I say “good on yers, and thank you”, to those who did.

The advocates of Talkbackia frequently imply that the greatest danger to the nation is its Islamic citizens, that they must be isolated from us and treated as pariahs.

For what it’s worth, I far prefer the other view that the greatest defence Australia has is not to be a mighty white deputy sheriff of America in the South Pacific, but to be what we can be at our very best – an example to the world of how Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and my own church of Latter Day Sleepers can all rub along together in the sun.

pfitzsimons@smh.com.au

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Protected: Baghdad Paul

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Baghdad Paul

Well Saddam had Baghdad Bob as his information minister. Now it seems US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is his replacement for Washington –

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Protected: Little Johnnie Howard in Lockstep with Dubya as usual

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Little Johnnie Howard in Lockstep with Dubya as usual

I swear our PM, John Howard must have had a brain transplant from or some weird mind meld with Dubya, that warps his brain. He and his government seem to copy everything Dubya does. I suppose it could be that all conservatives are just boringly predictable, but he seems hell bent on getting us up as the newest state of the US. All he has to do is change the flag and the national anthem. Our mainstream media is run by Murdoch and that tax-cheat Kerry Packer, with minor conservative tiddlers making up the rest. Though I suppose there is one thing he can’t do and that is declare a Marriage Protection Week, to protect the institution of marriage from those pesky gays. He would be laughed our of town here. No one would take him seriously. But it doesn’t stop him making sure that there is a continuing discrimination against partners in a same sex relationship. Unfortunately not all the independents are on the left of politics, we have a few from the raving right and of fundamentalist Christian flavour. There is a big enough group of fundamentalist Christians in Australia to get at least one senator or two into the upper house, who the government can rely on to pass their more bigoted legislation and overcome the resistance of the Greens/Democrat/Labor Opposition –

A super chance to keep gay relationship equality in the background
October 29, 2003

The Government’s recent tax changes are a thinly disguised attempt to safeguard the institution of marriage, writes Steve Dow.

The Federal Government’s refusal to extend superannuation rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples to gay and lesbian partners is about much more than tax parity or injury and death benefits. At the core are John Howard’s fears for the institution of marriage.

Under the $1.3 billion reforms passed in the Senate on Monday, tax on superannuation for high-income earners will be cut and contributions for lower-paid workers boosted. But there is much less joy for gay men and lesbians. Gay-friendly amendments proposed by the ALP, Democrats and Greens were junked when the four Senate independents sided with the Government to vote them down, but to pass the main elements of the package.

The argument by the Assistant Treasurer, Helen Coonan, that same-sex couples would have equal access to the changes is not the point. The fault lies chiefly in the tax system – unlike heterosexual couples, superannuation payouts upon death to surviving partners in same-sex relationships are taxed.

Here was a chance to fix the problem. But in the minds of the conservative regime in Canberra, to give gays parity in something as mundane as superannuation would have created a form of Commonwealth recognition of same-sex relationships.

In September, a UN human rights committee criticised Australia for breaching international obligations by denying the gay partner of a deceased war veteran a pension and bereavement payment.

Clearly, the world is changing in ways that frighten social conservatives. The Netherlands and Canada are issuing same-sex marriage licences. France, Germany – and soon New Zealand – have same-sex civil union schemes. At home, South Sydney Council is introducing a same-sex relationship register and nearby Waverley Council is considering the same.

Tasmania, the last state to decriminalise homosexuality, will be the first to have a “significant caring relationships” register. It’s a gay bid to level the conservative playing field of relationship recognition – not always for the sake of religious belief, but as a grounding for legal and tax parity.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, has responded by saying: “Traditional marriage is one of the bedrock institutions of our society and I don’t want anything to occur that further weakens it. Marriage, as we understand it in our society, is about children, having children, raising them, providing for the survival of the species.”

Anyone doubting that formal recognition of gay relationships and equal superannuation entitlements are linked in the Government’s mind should consider the exchange between ABC TV Insiders host Barrie Cassidy and Tony Abbott, then workplace relations minister, on September 21:

Cassidy: “Further on the question of savings and superannuation, are you opposed to the principle of long-term gay couples having the same entitlements as heterosexual couples?”

Abbott: “Look, I’m in favour of human rights, but I’m not in favour of putting gay relationships on the same pedestal that you put traditional Christian marriage.”

Yet equal rights in superannuation is not about public displays of bouquets, wedding cake and Anglo-Celtic Christian traditions. It is about injury and death and financial security. It is about nominating your significant other in your private affairs – not having that choice proscribed – and it is about having your personal lawful wishes granted without state intervention. The Liberal Party was founded on such principles.

Imagine you are a homosexual and a member of a Commonwealth superannuation scheme. Now, imagine you are incapacitated in some way. There are no family entitlements for your partner, because your partner is not considered a de facto.

Say you die. While you might have nominated your partner your super beneficiary during your lifetime, this is not necessarily binding upon the trustees – blood family members can, and do, contest the deceased’s wishes. Most funds stipulate that those in receipt of death benefits must be financially dependent on the deceased. But some have a limited definition of spouse.

One way to possibly prevent these difficulties is to nominate a legal personal representative as the nominated beneficiary as part of an estate. But there are taxes involved. And your estate, too, is vulnerable to applications by disgruntled family members or former wives and husbands.

Coonan said the Government had no moral objections to the amendments; rather, the fault lies in the Opposition, Democrats and Greens attempting to lump together unrelated issues. She is wrong.

It is all part of the big picture from the Government’s perspective. Taxation equality would propel gay and lesbian couples into the formal relationship spotlight. Taxation inequality is a handy way to keep the lights low.

Steve Dow is a Sydney journalist.

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On a Movie Watching Kick At the Moment

Went to the cinema again this evening. Saw a New Zealand movie. Perfect Strangers with Sam Neill and Rachel Blake as the leads. One of those rather disturbing films made in New Zealand. Can’t say I enjoyed it that much. Sam Neill does play creepy well but this film was rather bizarre. Some pretty scenery pictures of the island (off New Zealand) where the two protaganists were marooned. If you like creepy characters or bizarre stalker scenarios you might like this one. A song I quite liked played in part of the movie. Should have waited for the screen credits to find out the name of the group who sang it.

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Japanese Story

Yesterday afternoon, after work went and saw the movie, Japanese Story. I liked Toni Collette’s performance and was moved by it. The character, Hiromitsu played by the other lead, Gotaro Tsunashima was more difficult to understand, at first but as the movie progressed I had a greater appreciation of his fears and thoughts and some understanding of him but only partial at best. But then that was the intention as the film was really more from Toni Collette’s character, Sandy’s viewpoint and the development of some level of mutual understanding and trust between the two characters in their travels in the deserts of the Pilbara. Stunning shots of the Pilbara landscapes, emphasising its beauty, its strangeness and its terrifying emptiness. A worthwhile movie to see. Not sure if it has been released anywhere else yet.

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