Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Another IR rally happened today. A simply stupidly large number of people flooded the streets of Melbourne. I saw my neighbour, and what might have been an ex, not sure, so many faces, so many ex's. Lot's of standing, waiting for the crowd to move, and then walking a little bit, before more waiting.

Now, protests do nothing, as they stand. They serve as a voice of the people - no one is forced to go, in fact it takes a very large sense of outrage to get any decent number going. Everyone at the rally, whether 80 thousand or 150, is risking their job, risks upsetting management, takes the time and effort to travel to the city, takes their child from their education, risks standing in the ever-present threat of rain of Melbourne, or simply takes time from their day that could be spent doing shopping, banking, whatever - I'd say a protest of 10 thousand would be about the maximum extent of any waxed-on rallyaholics. Anything over that, is normal people - and getting them out onto the claustrophobic packed streets means a great deal.

Rallys suck. They are a massive bumper-to-bumper cluster of people, with flags and banners constantly wavering in danger of eye-plucking, you know you are pissing of commuters and those poor suckers trying to make commission in retail inside the shops that are for all intents and purposes closed for the time the rally goes past, and ultimately, they are not pleasant experiences. Personally, I hate them. But, the history books are written, and attendances are noted - albeit stab in the dark guestimations. Kudos to those who attended.

There were fewer people, but a suprising number considering we've already had two whoppers.

The thing that ticked me off was the the speakers - Kim Beazley and Steve Bracks. I'm getting a little tired of Labor rhetoric. Howard's claims that Labor is being controlled by unions is bollocks, but the reverse is true.

Beazley got up on the podium flatbed, and gave his usual polished script. Now, last time I cringed at his use of words when he proposed what he would do when he won, that he would "rip up this legislation".

I thought "rip up" was a little vague, it gives the suggestion that the laws will be reverted back to pre-WorkChoices clauses in entirety. What words did he use this time?

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley was introduced to the rally as "the next prime minister" and received the biggest cheer of the day when he promised to "rip up these laws" and put in place laws based on true Australian values.

Mid-blog poignant advertising:
Last Xmas, one of the books I received was from the delightful Don Watson, former Paul Keating speech writer, titled: "Weasel Words."

I'm going to state it for the record: Kim Beazley is not going to, nor does he have any intention to, revert workplace legislation to how they were pre-WorkChoices.

It will get modified, twisted, mangled, there will be cries of "it's too difficult", "too complicated" to change it back etc, etc. We will be better off, but we would still have been better off under Howard, pre-WorkChoices. The laws will be "ripped up" - so to speak, the document will get a ceremonial shredding in some form, but I'd estimate that the majority of changes will remain.

"Rip up" is a great example of a weasel word. It gives an almost unanimous impression of total removal/destruction, and yet allows a minor adjustment to be still considered an acceptable interpretation, and not deceitful at all.

Another comment, I believe from Brian Boyd, also ticked me off. Paraphrasing: "and who is supporting James Hardie? JOHN HOWARD!!", and boo goes the crowd. Not mentioned was Labor's NSW Premier Morris Iemma's support.

And then Brack's jumped on the bandwagon as well.

Now, Brack has done some good things in his time as premier - actually, I can only think of one - but standing up for workers is just not one of them. His presence was not welcomed by firefighters especially on the day, for numerous reasons.

Bracks: "We are under the biggest threat we have had for 100 years here in Australia — and we've seen it before. Friends, do you remember 6½ years ago, under the previous (Kennett) government here in Victoria, they stripped away your employment rights? That's exactly what's happening now. We stood up then, we're standing up now."

Yes, Kennett did savage workers. Our state award was removed, public holidays removed, sacked fifty thousand public servants, workers compensation rights, all attacked.

Then Bracks came in, and, as he claims "we stood up then". The state award was... nothing done there. The public holidays? No change. Public servants rehired? No, too expensive, complicated. Workers compensation? Well, we sorta.. OMG look out behind you, WorkChoices legislation is about to maul you!

There's many articles critical of Bracks' worker-friendliness, my favorite is probably this (from the previous secretary of Victorian Trades Hall Council, Leigh Hubbard - now replaced with Brian Boyd):

Why won't Bracks help the workers?

What has the Bracks Labor Government done for workers in its five years in power? While the Government has some runs on the board, unions are becoming impatient that it has no clear agenda for its labour constituency.

Media commentators and opponents of the ALP make loud noises about the Government's "union mates", but as the recent state budget and economic statement show, it's Victoria's business community that is having a love-in with the Bracks Government. It's easy to see why.


Other goodies are "So now, what about the workers?", and "Bracks, the friend of business".

OK, benefit of the doubt, maybe he has a hostile upper house or something - poor guy probably couldn't get anything through. Oh, they control both houses...

OK, I got it - he's simply a member of the Labor Right - it's just unfortunate that he's not a leftie at all, it's a leftie party, but he's just a right-wing member of it... explains the anti-worker policies.

The Labor Right, how Orwellian. Morris Iemma is Labor Right, so is Peter Beattie. So the top 3 states premiers all righties. Also Labor Right is opposition leader Beazley, 38 of the 87 Federal Labor MP's, the majority of shadow ministers, Paul Keating, Labor Right is the dominant controlling faction, and is shifting ever further to the right.

Frankly, Kim, Steve, fuck off from workers rights campaigns.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Refugees

TENSIONS have mounted today between Jakarta and Canberra, with another boat-load of asylum seekers.

"We do not recognize the legitimacy of those people as refugees, and stress the importance of their return" claimed John Howard, in regards to Italian-Australian's fleeing the island continent's persecution. Many of those fleeing Australia have committed a crime no more serious than flying an Italian flag.

"Please help us Indonesia," claims one Mario Spectariakakiso. "These Skippies want to kill us, they vilify and wish to maim us with flares and up-turned police cars."

Indonesia's Prime Minister, Sincerely-Bang-Banged-My-Little-YoYo, is quoted as saying: "my little bitch Johnny wants more of my four-inch wang? Bring it on."

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Peace post

Over at The Voice of Today's Apathetic Youth, a post was made, a wonderfully enlightening post, about a small village of peace in one of the most violent regions of the world.

Just sitting there, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, shining a little beacon of hope. Living together when everyone else is attacking and hating one another.

Unfortunately, the Oasis of Peace post didn't incite a single comment, despite how many comments a post about deaths and war in the region usually get.

Vehicular Conformance

REAL AUSSIES WALKABOUT BAREFOOT
REAL AUSSIES SAIL CLIPPER'S
REAL AUSSIES RIDE CLYDESDALES
REAL AUSSIES TAKE COBB & CO
REAL AUSSIES TAKE STEAM TRAINS
REAL AUSSIES DRIVE MODEL T'S
REAL AUSSIES DRIVE HILLMAN'S
REAL AUSSIES DRIVE UTES
REAL AUSSIES FLY PERSONAL JET-CARS
REAL AUSSIES TAKE THE TUBE TRANSPORT SYSTEM
REAL AUSSIES SHAPESHIFT INTO PEREGRIN FALCONS
REAL AUSSIES USE EINSTEIN-PODOLSKY-ROSEN ENTANGLEMENT TELEPORTATION

A Nasty Habit

Most people start when they're young. They start socially, just for fun.

As we become adults, most of us find ourselves doing it less.

Others continue, or even start later in life.

Some find themselves doing it more and more often, even in the mornings, some whilst on the way to work, perhaps even in their lunchbreaks.

It can be a pleasant escape, a release.

Good for the heart, they say.

But some even begin to do it alone.

This vice becomes most dangerous when it is mixed with the roads, with cars. Far too many lives are lost because of a dangerous concoction of cars, roads, and this particular subject I am referring to.



...



But you can help - pledge money now to help Cyclists kick their habit - together we can find a cure.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Mmm.. streaming video bandwidth suckhole.

OK, I'm going to try shoving a you-tube up my blog. (Does that sound crass?)

"The movie that will make you feel like you should probably do something."

Brilliant. Sidenote: Futurama is coming back, new series, w00t!

Monday, June 19, 2006

Right-wing Kindergarten

OK Kids, now what's all this ruckus?

Billy won't share the blocks.

Well, have you asked him nicely?

Yes.

OK, now Billy, when someone asks us to share, what do we say?

Fudge off, you fiffy commyaniss.

That's right. Billy - "fudge off you filthy Communist." Good, help yourself to the Reward Jar. Now, Timmy - you have to accept your toy poverty - Billy's parents are full-fee payers, and you will always be poor, and a lesser person. Learn to know your place - at the bottom. Now, go sit on the Socialist Step, and think about what you will never do. You may only leave the step when Billy says so.

Single Digits Galore

This is from Monday:

Time I went to sleep? 4
Time I got up? 7
Time of exam? 9
Temperature outside on way to exam? 2
Hours allowed for exam? 3
Hours exam completed in? 1
Temperature inside the house went I returned? 9

I love it when the feeling comes back into your fingers after the car heater defrosts them.
I love having only one exam next semester.
But Melbourne, I mean, c'mon, seriously, what's up with the weather? I'd ask the meteorologists, but they're all too busy building a shuttle to Mars with terraforming equipment. What's up with that?

Sunday, June 18, 2006

eBay charity

eBay. The popular chant is "you can buy/sell anything." And regardless of whether you buy that claim, you can now buy this...

A tour for two through the Styx valley - guided by Bob Brown. An auction to raise money as part of the Canberra Press gallery's Mid Winter Ball's charity donations.

There are other similar events for other popular pollies by the same seller.

Wikipedia hosts a list of banned books. Rarely do you get to see such a brilliant summary of human stupidty throughout the ages. From the expected concerned-parents-activist crap, to the oppressive regime, to blasphemy, to even the hideous PC crowds efforts, all in there.

You simply must read it. It's a necessity. Do it now. Click the above link. Or here it is again.

Highlights for me:

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume was banned in some schools due to its characters' discussion of menstruation and breast development and its perceived anti-Christian themes. Judy Blume is also known as "The most banned author in the U.S.A". [21] ALA_2000

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell was banned in South Africa due to the use of the word 'black' in the title.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Banned for language and depictions of migrant life. Also cited as socialist propaganda.) Several months after the book's publication, a St. Louis, MO library ordered 3 copies to be burned for the vulgar words used by its characters. It was also banned in Kansas City and in Oklahoma.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare (graphic violence and witchcraft)

Peter Pan Racism, and on charges of promoting Homosexuality, drug use and miscreantism.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Banned in Southern U. S. states as anti-slavery propaganda and for negative depiction of slave-owners; banned in czarist Russia...)

Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford (Banned from schools for the nudity (effectively toplessness, since no genitalia are visible) of a mermaid in it.) ALA_2000

Wikipedia, you make me so very hard... with knowledge!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Tree of no ledge.

God holds press conference


Good evening everyone, thanks for attending.

As you may or may not be aware, I am God, and I am calling this press conference to get something off my chest. For too long now, I have maintained a lie as a truth, and I wish, today, to set the record straight.

The deceit is in relation to Adam and Eve, and the Tree of Knowledge. When I first created the Heavens and the Earth, I made many of each kind of creature, using my patented genetic code system, so that problems with inbreeding would not occur from the word go.

However, Adam I created in my image - the most intelligent and perfect creation of all. When I created Eve, I overlooked one important issue - that their grandchildren would all be inbred freaks. I acknowledge my mistake now, I should have created several more Adams and Eves, but at the time I hesitated admission. Once man began writing, I continued to deny my error, and invented the entire Tree of Knowledge bullshit - I was desperate, and due to my self-esteem issues, could not bring myself to take blame for the mistake of man's mental disfunctions. There was no serpent, no apple, only genetic freak after genetic freak. Adam was a 12 foot dark-skinned environmentalist nudist vegan, and with inbreeding, future generations height was stunted, their brains retarded and generally disfunctional, and many became albinos. They began eating cute little animals, logging the trees, and became lazy, selfish, and even paranoid about their nudity. I accept full responsibility for the human condition, and I can only hope for your forgiveness.

Oh yeah, and the reason why not everything is inbred from Noah's Ark, is because that whole thing is complete crap - stop taking everything so literally, you retarded albinos.

Wham. Bam. Thank you, machine that goes "ping".

Boxing. Good fun. Stress relief.
Gay bashing. Good fun. Stress relief (for homosexual homophobes).

There's a doco on Emile Griffith, boxer, coming up on SBS sometime soon.

He once had a bout with Benny "Kid" Paret. During the weigh-in, Paret called him gay.

Paret was put into a coma from the fight, after he was propped up against the ropes and beaten whilst unconscious. He died 10 days later.

Apparently it "is widely thought to be the first live depiction of injuries resulting in death on American television". Ground-breaking stuff.

Griffith later ended up having some brain disorder, odd for a boxer really.

Lesson: Enjoy boxing all you like, but never forget the excitement you feel is from the pain of others you sick fucks. But we're all sick fucks, that's why I think Rumble in the Jungle rocks.

Oh and later, Paret's son embraced him and forgave him. (Honestly, when did this whole forgiveness thing go out of fashion?)

Apparently it's on Saturday, June 17 at 8:30 pm, SBS. Called The Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story. (Ring of fire? Gay? *insert joke*)

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Hill$ong

Hill Song

And our Lord, Jesus, our Saviour, King of the Jews, Hero of Capitalism, stormed into the temple, and overturned the tables of the money lenders, and called it a den of thieves.

Now, Jesus was an astute businessman. Why would Jesus, who praises us everyday with the material wealth we need to worship Him, be turning over the tables of a bank?

Because Jesus, our Lord and Provider who art in Heaven, had not received his cut.

You see Jesus, praise Him, had a complex racketeering outfit, can I get an amen? He was the original mobser, the all-mighty underworld figure. Because, as we say here at Hill Song, wealth without conscience is the only way to get closer to Jesus, can I get an amen? Oh praise him.

Jesus was owed a huge amount of protection money, He was outraged when he found His 15% cut in myrrh was closer to 14.9%, ropable when he was robbed of His fair share of frankincense was being undercut through undeclared sales figures. Can I get an amen?

A den of thieves he called them. Rightly so. In the day of Jesus, there was even less of an enlightened Holy Free Market than we have today, Jesus was forced by market forces to resort to extortion, corruption, and crime. His pimping business was going well, He even cleaned His own whores feet when He could, His fishing training, ropeless-slow-waterskiing businesses, His instant hospitals - gangbusters. But, as our revised Bible tells us, it is easier for a rich man to put a needle through their own eye, than it is for them to get even richer.

Today's sermon is about Jesus, about why crime is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, because the personal collection of wealth is just so incredibly important.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

GOOOOE^12AL!!!

We lost.

WE DIDN'T LOSE!!!


WE WON!!!


WE WON!!! BY TWOOOOOO


And screw you to the twat who put an exam after the first world cup game.

Monday, June 12, 2006

He listens, honest!

I had an old Herlad Sun lying around (no, I stole it, sheesh), thought I'd bring out one of the quotes from the Snowy Sale's "Howard LISTENS!!" letters and modify it a little. (Bold italics is mine, struck-through is original.)

Good leader listens and learns.

JOHN Howard's announcement that the Federal Government will not be selling its share in Snowy Hydro be changing its latest policy on asylum seekers is a prime example of what makes him such a good leader.
[...] On issues such as our alliance with the US, managing a strong economy and choice in education, he is immovable, yet in matters of great public concern such as the Snowy privatisation immigration policy, he is flexible and mindful of community concern.
John Howard has successfully combined both conviction and consultation in his leadership.

Pastor Peter Curtis, Werribee

(And from a quick check, that's not pastor Peter Curtis Liberal Member for Lalor is it? Surely you'd want to declare that somewhere when you make a positive comment about the leader of the party you were a candidate for? You dishonest little slug. Lies make baby Jesus cry, pastor.)

If you'd just...

"If you'd just listened to the lefties you wouldn't have..." (No. 189.)





...had to torch your expensive gas-guzzling SUV, because you can't afford to fill it anymore, and had to resort to insurance fraud. You'd have a bicycle, hybrid, biodiesel, electric bicycle, motorcycle, or even a smaller car. You'd have more cash (unless you got a hybrid). You wouldn't be facing criminal charges and jail time when the arson squad in collaboration with the insurance company gets suspicious. You'd also be able to take corners at speed. Say "hi" to Bubba, learn your lesson, listen to lefties.

Human solitaire

Solitary led to suicides: lawyer

Solitary confinement may have led to three deaths at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks's lawyer says.
(US Administration claims it's just trouble-free and efficient self-trial and self-capital-punishment. "Who could be a better judge of ones self than ones self, and if you find yourself guilty, you can convict, sentence and indeed condemn yourself - let's face it, it's the closest they're going to get to a fair trial.")

Honestly, is anyone suprised?

Solitary led to well-adjusted hard-working citizens who love us.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Bergs

I saw Michael Berg on television tonight (father of Nick Berg), on the death of al-Zarqawi.

It's been a while since I've witnessed such a beautiful attitude, a near-Jesus forgiveness (y'know that bit with the agonizing screams of suffering and agony with the cross, and the pleading "for they know not what they do" - instead of demanding retri-fucking-bution? Slip your mind?)

From a CNN interview:

I'm curious to know your reaction, as it is now confirmed that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man who is widely credited and blamed for killing your son, Nicholas, is dead.

MICHAEL BERG: Well, my reaction is I'm sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that.

I feel doubly bad, though, because Zarqawi is also a political figure, and his death will re-ignite yet another wave of revenge, and revenge is something that I do not follow, that I do want ask for, that I do not wish for against anybody. And it can't end the cycle. As long as people use violence to combat violence, we will always have violence.

O'BRIEN: I have to say, sir, I'm surprised. I know how devastated you and your family were, frankly, when Nick was killed in such a horrible, and brutal and public way.

BERG: Well, you shouldn't be surprised, because I have never indicated anything but forgiveness and peace in any interview on the air.

O'BRIEN: No, no. And we have spoken before, and I'm well aware of that. But at some point, one would think, is there a moment when you say, 'I'm glad he's dead, the man who killed my son'?

BERG: No. How can a human being be glad that another human being is dead?

O'BRIEN: There have been family members who have weighed in, victims, who've said that they don't think he's a martyr in heaven, that they think, frankly, he went straight to hell ...
You know, you talked about the fact that he's become a political figure. Are you concerned that he becomes a martyr and a hero and, in fact, invigorates the insurgency in Iraq?

BERG: Of course. When Nick was killed, I felt that I had nothing left to lose. I'm a pacifist, so I wasn't going out murdering people. But I am -- was not a risk-taking person, and yet now I've done things that have endangered me tremendously.
I've been shot at. I've been showed horrible pictures. I've been called all kinds of names and threatened by all kinds of people, and yet I feel that I have nothing left to lose, so I do those things.
Now, take someone who in 1991, who maybe had their family killed by an American bomb, their support system whisked away from them, someone who, instead of being 59, as I was when Nick died, was 5-years-old or 10-years-old. And then if I were that person, might I not learn how to fly a plane into a building or strap a bag of bombs to my back?
That's what is happening every time we kill an Iraqi, every time we kill anyone, we are creating a large number of people who are going to want vengeance. And, you know, when are we ever going to learn that that doesn't work?

O'BRIEN: There's an alternate reading, which would say at some point, Iraqis will say the insurgency is not OK -- that they'll be inspired by the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the sense of he was turned in, for example, we believe by his own No. 2, No. 3 leadership in his ranks.
And, that's actually them saying we do not want this kind of violence in our country. Experts whom we've spoken to this morning have said this is a critical moment where Iraqis need to figure out which direction the country is going to go. That would be an alternate reading to the scenario you're pointing to.


BERG: Yes, well, I don't believe that scenario, because every time news of new atrocities committed by Americans in Iraq becomes public, more and more of the everyday Iraqi people who tried to hold out, who tried to be peaceful people lose it and join -- what we call the insurgency, and what I call the resistance, against the occupation of one sovereign nation.

O'BRIEN: There's a theory that a struggle for democracy, you know...

BERG: Democracy? Come on, you can't really believe that that's a democracy there when the people who are running the elections are holding guns. That's not democracy.

O'BRIEN: There's a theory that as they try to form some kind of government, that it's going to be brutal, it's going to be bloody, there's going to be loss, and that's the history of many countries -- and that's just what a lot of people pay for what they believe will be better than what they had under Saddam Hussein.

BERG: Well, you know, I'm not saying Saddam Hussein was a good man, but he's no worse than George Bush. Saddam Hussein didn't pull the trigger, didn't commit the rapes. Neither did George Bush. But both men are responsible for them under their reigns of terror. (Watch
I don't buy that. Iraq did not have al Qaeda in it. Al Qaeda supposedly killed my son.
Under Saddam Hussein, no al Qaeda. Under George Bush, al Qaeda.
Under Saddam Hussein, relative stability. Under George Bush, instability.
Under Saddam Hussein, about 30,000 deaths a year. Under George Bush, about 60,000 deaths a year. I don't get it. Why is it better to have George Bush the king of Iraq rather than Saddam Hussein?

O'BRIEN: Michael Berg is the father of Nicholas Berg, the young man, the young businessman who was beheaded so brutally in Iraq back in May of 2004.


Emphasis' mine. Michael is doing more to quell the violence than Bush ever could.

He has protested wars, received awards for his efforts, and "was approached by representatives of the Democratic Party but will run with the Green Party because: "the Democrats have the money to get the message out, but they have the wrong message."' (Sounds so familiar.) His words and political cojones are an inspiration. Michael for president.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Bias!

Censorship! Bias in media! Conclusion jumping! At 7:30PM today, Stateline was running a story on Greens in the Victorian Upper House in the upcoming election. After a few comments on how "conservatives" call their policies various slanderous, derogatory things, and a Reservoir Dogs slow-mo Greens candidate walk, they cut to Mr Brown talking. There was no sound, and they cut to a different story. (Ohh.. Mr Brown, Reservoir Dogs intro, I get it now... nice one.) Bias I call! Bias!

Oh wait, they're returning to it now... damn.

UPDATE: It was relatively interesting. "Whack-o" was used quite a bit, lots of insults thrown from Nats/Libs, and positivity from the Greens - even Bracks made a comment about how much he liked his own changes.

But, Victorian Greens have no official policies, which was pointed out by the Liberal interviewee, which must have been quite embarrassing, and seemed to me, quite foolish to have an interview about your party when your policies aren't in order. I know how anal they are about the proper discourse of the democratic process in the party (they held two elections for a local candidate, at great expense, because there seemed to be some missing ballot papers, hundreds of trees died to bring us that result - they even had several pages of information on each candidate and the option to vote for NONE OF THEM!) - and dispite popular opinion, don't mindlessly follow some great imaginary Green bible or deity-representative. They don't have their own Führer dictating policy either - it's based on (and I know this is "whack-o") listening to the members, and allowing votes, submissions, meetings, etc.

(And from checking my email attachments, they have policy, but won't finalise it until it is all approved.) And from draft policies, of which I am not exactly at liberty to divulge, I can safely say the Nationals chap on Stateline is completely full of shit.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Darned

There was a lot of blogs posting on the 6th of June, 2006 sign on the beast, or Nero, or whatever base 10 evil thingy it's supposed to be. But not me.

I'm more of an octal fellow - divides nicer.

But Al Zarqawi has been killed, the part bumbling fool, part hideous violent terrorist, according to the brother of Ken Bigley, a British engineer beheaded by Zarqawi's group, says the militant leader should "rot in hell."

So the devil has a new plaything, and may he toy/have his way with it no end.

Who else has recently been condemned to eternal damnation of late, around this time of numbers that might match dates that may or may not have any meaning in one particular religion?

Oh yeah, 6th of June, little Bobby Brown met with some Exclusive Brethren, who made the following remarks:

* Will you please not call for an inquiry into our sect, and it's lack of financing records at the Australian Electoral Commission, or our methods of punishing our members families when they detour from our meticulous path, and our general social and political activites.
* By the way, you face "eternal damnation" for that same-sex marriage stuff.

DEVIL: OK, Mr Brown, let me just check your file. Oooookay, says here you dedicated your life to caring for, and preventing harm for all of Gods creatures, people, plants, animals, etc, ummm... maintained your own sexual preferences and encouraged equal rights for all sexual prefs as God intended, rather than as Man dictated, uhh.. stood against villainy, corruption, hatred, pretty much all the sins, yeah there's nothing in here I can find that would help you qualify for our accommodation. Did you.. *clucks forked tongue* ever.. step on a pet's tail accidentally? Hose your driveway? Use a leaf-blower between 10pm and 7am? Or at all? Hmm......

FUN FACT: In the General regulations for the Workplace Relations Act 1996, Chapter 2, Part 15, Division 6 (or in human-speak: "WorkChoices crud-packet") allows an employer that is "a practising member of a religious society or order whose doctrines or beliefs preclude membership of an organisation or body other than the religious society or order of which the employer is a member" to obtain a conscientious objection certificate to keep unions away from their businesses.

What this means, is that if you are of Exclusive Brethren faith (or whatever other religious organization has a ban on everything other than itself) and you own a business, you can pretty much keep any union off site, despite any employee's request.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Nuclear perspective.

I'm not entirely sure what all the fuss about nuclear power is, the waste (or mess resulting from anything "bad" happening will not affect out great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandchildren, because natural decay will make everything hunkey dorey.

And I'm sure they wouldn't mind, because that waste might provide some power for our great great grandchildren.

Melbourne Rallies. Again.

I went to the World Environment day rally in Melbourne.


John Butler was there, cashing in standing up for his beliefs.


They had plenty of dogs with statements to make.


It's quite tricky getting 15,000 people in shot.


The cars had opinions.


The bikes had affiliations.


"Environmental distruction means death to all of us."

...except octopi and rats?

15,000+ with nothing better to do on a Sunday.


Ever wonder what Greens hide behind their triangles? It's this!


Standard hippie conformists wearing the traditional uniform. Beanies, usually rainbow, otherwise dull clothing, drums, generally unkempt.. way to rebel.


This was supposed to be a world record tree hug, even though the tree was a giant hunk of fabric. Note the wonderful architecture of Flinders Street (yellow) and the hideous Federation Square (to the right.)


Jack Thompson kicking in to an impromptu jam with the trio. Would have helped if the harmonica was near the mic though.

All in all a good day. Too crowded, it's unfortunate so many care, it really clutters up the rallys in ye olde Melbourne. Too many dreadlocks. And not a single polly in sight - the speakers were mainly celebrities, albeit activist ones. Bit of a bummer - someone off Blue Healers - not sure what that is, a show about dogs I guess, but apparently popular. (And screw whoever that celeb was for throwing in a plug, you scum.)

Lots of preaching to the converted, so you can't expect too much. Focus was almost entirely on forestry issues. Fairfax coverage was weak, and the Hun ran some mostly celebrity-based tripe half about Jack Thompsons awkward S11 comment. Local councillors I met up with there are spending the environment day (which is Monday, the rally was on Sunday) having an appeals process to prevent logging of local residential land which has obviously been purchased with the sole intention of clear felling for profit. It'll make more difference than the rally will, but if it fails - it's time to break out the chains.

(On a side note, to prevent logging, wouldn't it be possible to inject a permanent dye into the central dead-wood of trees, destroying any dollar value of old growth? Just an idea.)

Monday, June 05, 2006

Footccer

Anyone see the soccer? I mean.. wow.

Now, doctors do some amazing work nowadays, and sometimes perform what can only be described as miracles. Power to them. And faith-healers do some wonderful work for hypochondriacs, administering broad-spectrum placebo's, power to 'em.

But they have nothing on the runner's for soccer teams - those chaps with the Gatorade bags. When a player suffers what appears to be an injury involving broken bones, torn ligaments, and severe nerve damage - judging from the expression of pain - they provide a complete cure with a simple leg rub, resulting in a miraculous recovery. The guys with the Gatorade bags are truly the spawn of Jesus.

However, I could be wrong here - the injury may be just as fake as anything you see on Benny Hinn. I'm not sure exactly how this "I got an owie" crybaby fiasco can inspire anything other than a channel change, let alone passionate worship and it's related violence.

And if this ability to mimic injury is indeed important - and the number of occurrences suggests it is - perhaps we should look away from the sporting fields, institutes and local clubs, and think outside the square. We should be looking for the next World Cup heroes from those on compo.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Pirate's Bay of pigs

The MPAA SS (read: Swedish National Criminal Police), have stormed into a building and taken servers into custody. (Do they use USB handcuffs or something?)

The Pirate Bay bittorrent uber-tracker and website is down. Whilst not actually hosting anything illegal, they did contain little electronic arrows pointing to legal and illegal data. Much like, yknow, when you point your finger at a thief and then you get charged with theft, or something.

Under Swedish law, the hosting of the actual torrent files is not illegal - they don't contain any copyrighted material. But, these Swedes may prove to be more resilient than other little bugs that nibble at the MPAA members profit margins - the site claims they'll be back in a day or so.

Pure Pwnage, a popular amateur webisode and particular favorite of mine, is one example of a legal torrent pointed-to by the tracker.

To the MPAA, give it up, son. We've all heard the claims that pirates are ripping off the artists, impoverishing all those involved with movies and music, but we all know damn well that under normal circumstances, you're the ones that do that, and we understand your feelings of rejection as you come to terms with your own redundancy.

You are only encouraging tracker-free torrents, and decentralised searches - and when they're the norm, there really ain't no stopping 'em.

Here's what's going to happen, in my predictions:
ISP's will start peer-hosting popular video streams to save bandwidth.
ISP's will also offer these streams without cost to users bandwidth limits.
People will spend more time watching YouTube, than the tube.
Independent films will start becoming more popular.
ADSL2 and 2+ will become the norm broadband speeds.
Movies and blockbusters will be downloaded, bought on DVD/HD-DVD, and seen at cinemas.
And torrent sites will rise and fall. Over and over.

The MPAA press release claims: "SWEDISH AUTHORITIES SINK PIRATE BAY" - which is nice, and I'm looking forward to "FINNISH AUTHORITIES SINK NEW PIRATE BAY", "LIECHTENSTEIN AUTHORITIES GET THEIR TURN", and "SIERRA LEONE HOSTS PIRATE BAY, GETS SLASHDOTTED AFTER TWO MINUTES". There's nothing wrong with protecting your intellectual property, but... he who is without sin, yknow?