Would you like Holy Toast with your first amendment Mr. President?

December 14th, 2004

The United States of America.
The home of the Bill of Rights for some and not others.

The face of the President made up of marshland, reeds and chimpanzees on display with other works of art is deemed offensive possibly resulting in arrest and seizure of property.

Artwork by Christopher Savido

The face of the Virgin Mary appears on ten year old toast and it’s bid, sell, profit. Absolutely no threat of being arrested for selling creative toast.



Toast by Diane Duyser

We are in a Coalition of the Willing with this country.
We are in a Free Trade Agreement with this country.
We are becoming more and more subsumed by the culture of this country.

I hope that I never have to feed my family by selling my creative art.
and
I hope that an image of Jesus appears say on the broad bean leaf lying in the mulch of my organic vegetable patch on Christmas day…

Posted in Life; barely possible | No Comments »

Alexander Downer is a nobody

December 12th, 2004

I’m with the US on this statement.

"The Bush Administration wants Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer to replace Mohamed ElBaradei as head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency.

Washington believes the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief is too soft on Iran’s suspected nuclear program, the paper said, and is seeking candidates to replace him. Its top choice is Mr Downer, but he so far has been unwilling to challenge Mr ElBaradei.
Our original strategy was to get Alex Downer to throw his hat in the ring, but we couldn’t. Anyone in politics will tell you that you can’t beat somebody with nobody, but we’re going to try to disprove that."

Update

"[…] the real question is how deeply Downer and the Howard Government have been involved in the White House’s attempt to oust ElBaradei with an intelligence operation using US, British and Australian spying assets."

Anyone else very fearful that Iran will be the next country that the US has in its sights?

I’m thinking there’s no more mileage in WMD’s, the intelligent world is clear about the lie that was, but nuclear weapons will grab the attention of the people.

Sometime in the not too distant future…

President Bush Addresses the Nation
The Oval Office

THE PRESIDENT:
"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iran, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger."



Images from Shirin Neshat, Women of Allah

Posted in Political | No Comments »

Today is the 56th International Human Rights day

December 10th, 2004

A new report produced by the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and the Women’s Rights Action Network Australia (WRANA) titled OUR Rights, OUR Voices was released today to coincide with International Human Rights day.
The report is part of a national project which documents the human rights experiences of women across Australia. It highlights a winding back of women’s structures in government at a time when violence and discrimination against women continue to escalate.

NCOSS deputy director Michelle Burrell is quoted as saying:

"[…]the report revealed a strong connection between violence, homelessness and poverty among women.

The failure to adequately prevent and respond to violence that occurs in institutional and other service settings is of particular concern to women with disabilities, indigenous women and women in prisons or juvenile justice systems.

Governments needed to provide more long-term support for women who were victims of violence. Until that is achieved, Australia will not comply with its International human rights obligations."

When I was at Uni I joined the Campus Feminist group called FLAPS (Feminists Laughing At Patriarchal Society).

Back then we thought that helping the sisterhood was as easy as meeting every week, sharing our experiences of being gorgeous and single, hearing about, or actually dating men who behaved with aggression and making a list of the serial offenders, and taping it to the back door of the last cubicle in the Ladies toilet in the Uni bar.

Our list included Men who we observed were:

  1. Predatory
  2. indulged in unwanted lewdness
  3. or unwanted groping
  4. were misogynists
  5. or made sexist remarks
  6. lied about being single
  7. or lied about their sexual health

We thought of ourselves as direct action grrrls that could save the world.
How naive we were.

Posted in Feminism, Social justice | 2 Comments »

Howard’s Renaissance Man

December 9th, 2004

We have always known of Tony "hallelujah" Abbott.
Last month he added Tony "morals" Abbott.
This month he is Tony "psychobabble" Abbott.
What’s next for the Minister of Health?
I’m hoping for Tony "retirement can be productive growing peanuts" Abbott.

In defending the indefensible Calamity Dee-Anne, Abbott offered us this:

"What we have seen today is an understandably frustrated and disappointed Opposition lashing out, lashing out at a minister who has done no wrong. What we are seeing today is a classic case of displacement therapy. That’s what the Opposition is engaging in.

They are displacing the frustration and the self hatred they understandably feel against various of their own members, particularly the Leader of the Opposition, they are displacing that onto the Minister for Veterans Affairs, a good minister who has done no wrong."

Update:
We can now add Tony "neoteny" Abbott to his list of epithets.

Posted in Political | No Comments »

This fits, does it come in my colour?

December 7th, 2004

In an interview on ABC AM today Sue Gordon was asked :

"How do you respond to comments, that the National Indigenous council (NIC) is not representative of Aboriginal Australia because its members aren’t elected by the Aboriginal community, but they’re appointed by the Howard Government?

Sue answered with:

"But we’re not supposed to be representative. We are there as individual Aboriginal people to give individual advice to the Minister.

So, having asked me that question, why haven’t you asked that question of the two Dodson brothers, Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton, Ross and a few others who are now wish…and Michael Long, who are wishing now to be an alternative advisory body to the Prime Minister?

They’re self-appointed, they’re not elected, they’re not representative. So, perhaps you should ask them the question. I don’t want to say any more on that."

Let’s not be derailed by the lack of homogeneity among indigenous people.
Please.

In the House of Representatives National Two Party Preferred result it was shown that 5,536,002 Australians eligible to vote in October 2004, voted for the Australian Labor Party.

5,536,002 Australians didn’t get exactly what they wanted.
Government was still formed.

Every Australian is free to send a letter, e-mail, message stick to the Prime Minister (or any elected official) and voice their opinion.

If we accept this then why can’t NIC accept the same from Professor Mick Dodson, Professor Marcia Langton, and me and you for that matter?

The most balanced view comes from the Australian Democrats’ Aden Ridgeway, the only Aborigine in Federal Parliament (only until June 2005).

"People should not feel threatened by different views. It is healthy to have debate, what is unhealthy is if nothing comes of it."

Posted in Social justice | No Comments »

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