Can anyone recommend a good DVD for tomorrow night?
Uncategorized - - Posted on November, 23 at 12:28 pm by Ken L
I’m unable to summon up much excitement about tomorrow’s election outcome. Howard’s mob have done their damage; they can’t do much more. In some ways it might be a good result if they scrape back in. They can then complete the process of self-destruction that they began so spectacularly once Howard lost his grip, leaving Labor as a shoo-in next time around.
It would also be no more than fair for Costello to be PM as the economy goes off the boil, destroying once and for all the myth that the Libs are some kind of Economic Tribal Elders whose secrets are handed down from one generation to another.
On balance though I’ll be pleased to see the back of them and I expect Labor to win. Unfortunately, it’s not a prospect that fills me with enthusiasm.
The most important election of our era occurred six years ago. If you can recall what happened: in 1998 Howard almost became a one-term prime minister. Hopes were high that Labor under Beazley would finish him off in 2001 and more or less resume the path that it had taken from 1983-96.
Then came the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre and the Tampa incident, and Labor lost its bottle. Lost its nerve. Demonstrated to the world that it was seriously confused about what it stood for, or if indeed it stood for anything. The overwhelming impression was of a party desperate not to offend anyone by saying something contentious, so it avoided saying anything much at all.
Thus began what has come to be known as the politics of the wedge, an expression that I would be really glad if I never heard again as long as I live. What it meant in practice was that Howard’s mob looked for every principle in the Labor ideology that was unpopular in certain sections of the community and challenged Labor to publicly keep supporting it.
Aboriginal land rights, multiculturalism, compassion toward asylum-seekers, engagement with Asian nations … one Labor principle after another was rubbed in Labor’s face and they comprehensively whimped it. Instead of proudly proclaiming the merits of what they stood for, they hummed and hahed and dodged the issues.
There were occasional outbreaks of courage. Simon Crean’s articulate opposition to our involvement in the invasion of Iraq was his finest moment. But we saw the true nature of the contemporary Labor Party after the 2004 election. Suddenly Mark Latham was pilloried by his own alleged supporters for having promised to withdraw troops from Iraq by Christmas. Even more, they savaged him for wanting to take money from the wealthiest private schools to help the poor. Good god, seemed to be the dominant sentiment, do you want people to think we stand for a different social order? Are you mad?
Over the last century, Labor has been the party of social reform in this country. That appears no longer to be the case. It’s lost stomach for the fight. It goes into this election with vague promises to do something about education and federalism and that’s pretty much it. Where is the reform program? Where is the vision for Australia’s future? Have the last 11 years of Howard nastiness really been so benign that there is no urgent need to anything more than make symbolic gestures toward Kyoto and start a lot of negotiations with the states?
Gough Whitlam was elected with the promise to drag Australian from the snoozing 1950s of the British Empire, upon which the sun had well and truly set, into the exciting cosmopolitan global village that much of the rest of the world had created in the 1960s. Bob Hawke came to power with a promise to heal the bitter divisions within our society – divisions that owed a lot to the Fraser Government – and substitute a culture of collaboration and collectivism.
If Kevin Rudd wins office, it will be with a commitment to keep things pretty much the way they are now. Wow, I can’t wait.
Ross Gittins wrote a while back that John Howard would continue to govern Australia from the political grave. It was a perceptive observation, like most of Gittins’ stuff. Labor’s collapse of confidence in its ability to lead the country on matters of principle has ensured that Howardism will inform government behaviour for the next generation as surely as Thatcherism set the parameters of Tony Blair’s Britain.
So tomorrow I’ll toddle off to the local school – marvelling, as always, that such a wealthy nation can’t even afford to build proper buildings for public schools but has demountables scattered across the playground like an educational trailer park – and vote Green in both houses. I’ll make sure Labor gets my preferences ahead of Howard’s bunch and any of their myriad hangers-on.
And tomorrow night I might rent The True Believers, just to wallow in a bit of nostalgia for the days when Labor stood for something. I’ll cross to the tally room to see what’s happening about 10pm. I expect to see a beaming Kevin Rudd but it won’t fill me with happiness. It will send me to bed in a mood of profound melancholy.
Posted in Uncategorized |
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Ken,
Interesting point of view. Now that I think of it, a Coalition win would be good for just the reason you suggest. I’m still vacillating between voting Greens in both the Upper and Lower House, or going Labor and Green.
Your words have tapped into the very heart of my own disillusionment with mainstream Australian life. There’s got to be more to life than this. Whatever happened to our creativity and vision? Or are those dirty words too?
Your words have touched my heart, Ken. I’ll be voting Green come Election Day.
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Oh! I almost forgot! A good DVD for tomorrow. I\’m impatiently waiting for Darren Aranofsky\’s The Fountain to be released in Region 4. I\’m thinking about watching Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Great acting from Robert Downey Jr, Val Kilmer and the very beautiful Bridget Monahan.
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Ken, i know what you mean, however, my view is that Kevin was the appropriate transitional leader, given the Left had already tried polar opposition and got nowhere. don’t forget we’ve also got people like Gillard and Garrett up there. that’s really worth remembering: it’s not the Kevin Rudd Party, it’s just that that’s what Labor has needed to project in this year-long election campaign, to face off with the Rodent. if there’s a Ruddslide sure he’ll have certain mandates, but there’s still room for criticism and debate on particular issues, for example gay marriage, or whatever. i’m not worried. it will be a damn sight better than the Liberal era. and god, it’s lovely, after a decade of being preached at from the Right, to see them squirm. well, either squirm or shamelessly reframe reality (ie, “Oh, we never like Howard that much anyway” or “Oh, we were never in a culture war anyway so we couldn’t have lost it”). i wonder how Howie felt when he opened the Oz today to see that they’re now supporting Rudd too. et tu, Oz? then fall, Rodent…
if the Greens do as well as it seems they will, i’ll be fully expecting Garrett to make the most of his position to work intelligently with the Greens to make real differences. frankly i’m hoping Garrett did give the Left the nod, but i’ll still vote Green for both because the message needs to be sent as loud and clear as possible, and because we need them to keep the bastards green.
PS i raided the Weekly section at our local store and have lined up Laurel Canyon and American Splendor.
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Gianna,
Provided Senator Brown has forgiven Peter Garratt for his parties stance on the Pulp Mill (which, for the record, I oppose). And there’s still no guarantee that Peter Garrett will be the Future Environment Minister in a yet-to-be-elected Rudd Government.
I don’t know whether this is the right place, but I have some questions that need answering from people that really know politics well (that’d be you guys).
Is it possible to pursue Social Reform and still be economically prosperous?
Is it possible to show compassion for others less fortunate than ourselves and still want a robust economy?
Is it possible to acknowledge the multicultural nature of Australian society, but also pursue social cohesiveness not in spit of, but because of it?
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Come on, Ken. If memory serves, self-appointed “True Believers” were upset about Hawke-Keating, and guaranteed Labor’s wilderness years from 1949-1972. Victory is not dishonourable, and if you listen hard enough, contra Shanahan, I reckon you can hear some “reverse dog whistles” in what they’ve said throughout the campaign.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:22 pm
There’s always The Dismissal.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Said this before - but The Perfect is the enemy of The Good.
I’ll take my shadenfreude (a smooth and sweet Austrian schnapps…) in a small glass if there ain’t enough to fill a pot. Sip it people - it’s not for sculling.
Oh, and I’ll be listening to Bill Hicks - Rant in E-Minor.
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Buck up Ken.
Consider the gloomy and vicious mood this country has been in for the past decade. That’s been Howard’s personal contribution to the nation, but it’s already gone.
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I’ll be borrowing the tragical, comical, historical, pastoral “Don’s Party” from the video shop. (In Betamax format of course.)
Back up video, Alan Sillitoe/Tony Richardson’s “The Looniness of the Long Distance Jogger”
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Come on Ken, we’ve suffered for 11 years, and in particulat the last 12 months. Lets hang on every word, every vote and every moment of the resignation speaches of those we despise so much. How can you leave the fun at the very time we should be celebrating hard.
Chin up young fella, grab the Champers and the grog and party hard. The people of Australia become pest exterminaters, and terminate the giant Rodent. Hopefully the 7 dwarfs will go too. Hoss Hockey, Smirky Costello, Mad Monk, Mumbles Ruddick, Brycream Nelson, Racist Andrews and Richie Rich Turnbull. I think I’m dreaming now, but it would be nice to see some of this rubbish kicked out.
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Some good DVD’s that suit Howard. The Enemy of the state (because he is), The Terminator (because he terminated workers rights), A few good men (he will be looking for some to continue the party, he hasn’t any now), The exocist (the country will have a major exocism on Saturday), Honey I shunk the kids(minds), this epitomises what this mob has done for our kids education, Scrooge (his attitude to the taxpayers funds they have horded in treasury). There are mony more, but I think this will keep you interested.
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Well I agree with your analysis, although for me, it’s a toss-up between voting Greens, or Informal. I’ve been involved with grass roots anarchist groups over the last few years, and we tend to be cynical of the election process, refusing to legitimise it through voting for anyone. Still, I’m tempted to vote Greens, at least in the Senate….
Don’s Party is a great movie.
November 23rd, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Howard would LOVE you to vote informal, kollontai…
Movie suggestion. How about a bit of Anthony Hopkins?
November 23rd, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Crikey! Some on here sound like REAL sad sacks…& voting “informal” is so dopey after all the sh*t this Government has taken us thru i find it hard to believe you’re not a Liberal troll kollontai…:)
The enemy of FREEDOM & FAIRNESS is an approach that demonstrates disinterest, apathy, depression, resignation & fear.
If citizens in the past, those who gave a sh*t about providing a safety net for the population (including the children), had voted informal or decided not to show up at the voting booth, we wouldn’t have got:
Affordable Education (Austudy…even HECS would now be just up front fees)
Telstra providing services in the Bush
Medicare (Bulk Billing, public hospitals, Dental Assistance)
PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme)
Maternity Leave
Penalty Rates & Overtime Pay
Sick Leave
The Health Care Card
Social Security (Aged Pensions, Unemployment Benefit, Disability Pension)
and many, many other policies & initiatives that helped make this the FAIR GO FOR ALL Nation.
If Howard gets in…much of this will disappear, much has already been altered, diminished.
Work Choices WILL be expanded. It will be 3 blitzkrieg years by the Far-Right…& Tax Cut for the RICH junkies will have a field day…
Trust me, you won’t recognise this Country by the end of it. The Libs have set up the foundations & mechanisms to do a great deal of DAMAGE in a short amount of time.
If you want to take the RISK…go ahead…make the Mutli-National Corporations, War Mongers & Money Making Elites’ day.
Glad you’re voting Green with preference Labor tho Ken…:)
I’m going to watch the best sequences from Waterloo, Return of the King, Matrix Revolutions…& The Castle, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, To Kill A Mockingbird…anything where the hurdles are leapt over…& the bastards are eventually brought down…:)…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABIHB1uJKQY
(George Harrison - Here Comes The Sun)
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:53 pm
As for Rudd, I think he needs to start smiling & being cheerful again…get rid of the dark clothes…show no fear…only confidence and bubbly mood.
BTW, the Newspoll & Galaxy polls from News Ltd. are a bloody, manipulating disgrace! Everyone I’ve spoken to today is voting Labor or Green/Labor…& some are previous Liberal voters in my wife’s family.
But Rudd MUST cheer up…he’s gonna WIN.
BELIEVE IT!!!
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Just watched Rudd on SKY NEWS…does he need to get PUMPED UP…for some reason he’s listening to these dopey strategists who are worried about showing hubris. That was an obvious ploy by the Howard/Murdoch et al Enablers to get Rudd to sound less enthusiastic & pumped.
Clinton & Blair & Hawke were pumped before their wins…it attracts people. They luv the energy & cheer…the positivity.
Howard benefits from dour, gloomy, serious opposition Leaders. Rudd MUST go back to his pumped, smiling, down-to-Earth way.
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
buck up ken … gianna is right - before we can have a progressive like gillard we first have to accept a conservative like Rudd.
if progressive social change were easy in this country we’d see Howard have at it.
It’s hard, but when it comes, it’s so much sweeter
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:57 pm
This is good…it has Howard’s mate speaking as well as Clinton & Kennedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rkb_wkfjyo&feature=related
(Greatest Moments in Presidential Speeches)
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I’d kind of hoped that the Libs would still be around by the time the economy went off the boil as it is inevitably bound to do for the same reason as you, Ken, but I’m not such a glutton for punishment that I would vote them back in.
As for voting Green, I’m doing it for almost the exact same reason as you are- to send a message to Labor that while I don’t want John Howard in government I don’t want a Howard-lite in power either, or anyone who reflects his policies in any way whatsoever. The old labor values are something I could vote for, but all Labor seems to stand for these days is moral cowardice. Even the unions have been really supportive of the Greens for the same reason.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Heya Kollontai
I believe you when you say you used to belong to some anarchist groupings.
There is a big belief in anarchistic people that the government is slavery, so we oppose all that represents it.
I hope that, in the end, most of those fronting that belief, get older & as an effect, become more moderate in their approach, but still keep the intention to see this world as a more equitable place.
I am sure you know of most uberlefties becoming more conservative as they grow older. Hope they dont lose the spirit.
And if all those anarchists out there, voted Green or somesuch (I’d agree with them to leave the SA alone), then we could have more of a chance to get a credible progressive party up and running.
Or other than that, be Spanish and just go out and create your anarchist communities.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Gee, Ken’s sulking when tomorrow’s gonna be the greatest day of our lives. It certainly will be for me.
But just in case anyone, even Ken, still harbours some doubts, we all must remember that John Howard is an international war criminal, along with his evil cabal here and the foreign juntas he calls ‘allies’, so anyone who votes for the little sewer rat tomorrow is not an accessory, but a supporter of war crimes. Not a pleasant thought.
Supposing the world shifts dramatically in the near future and war criminals are brought to justice in world courts. It’s happened before. Nuremburg being just one example. Supporters of those accused might not rest so peacefully in their beds as they currently enjoy today.
Tomorrow, the evil John Howard pays the price.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:25 pm
“The old labor values are something I could vote for, but all Labor seems to stand for these days is moral cowardice”.
Sarah, nothing personal, but this kind of comment astounds me. I’d like to see some of Labor’s critics stand up to the Right-Wing Corporate media firestorm…& the onslaught of poll manipulation etc. If Labor had taken the approach you say, they would’ve been called Whitlamesque & ‘fairies at the bottom of the garden’ and trashed.
Rudd was brill on Ch. 9 ‘A Current Affair’…he looked pumped, sounded positive & visionary…& bright tied too…:)
Howard seemed nervous…& was very boring. YESTERDAY’S MAN.
The other Laborites did great too…Garrett went off!!…very cool. Tho why Ch.9 & the other media feel the need to bash Julia Gillard in their introductions/overviews is beyond me…too many BOYS & misogynists as ‘gatekeepers’ & in the editing suites i guess.
What about that HOME vote? Was that a classic case of Astroturfing or what?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Have to agree with Gianna, although I admit your concerns may well be valid Ken. From day one of a Rudd Labor Government, if it materialises, the people who voted for it need to keep reminding it what they really want.
That’s what democracy is all about.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Some good DVD’s for tomorrow night? Ones that rejoice in the demise of Li’l Johnny? There’s heaps of fun videos to watch; here’s just a few:
What about ‘Hang ‘em High’ Or ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ or ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ or ‘Psycho’ - hmmm . .. Or maybe ‘The Assassins’.
How about ‘Apocalypse Now’ or ‘Vertigo’. Surely the best one would be ‘The Departed’ but you might prefer ‘Dr. Strangelove’. I think ‘Aliens’ should represent the recently-departed John W. Howard, while my personal best choice is ‘TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY’.
Meanwhile, ‘A Touch of Evil’ would be appropriate, so would be ‘The Sting’. All these great movies refer to little johnny. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939) would not be appropriate to him, but ‘The Great Dictator’ (1940) would be. So would ‘High Noon’ and ‘Unforgiven’. ‘The Killing’ would be good viewing along with ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ - referring to this election.
But my ultimate choice comes down to just two: ‘Die Hard’ or ‘Gone With the Wind’.
I think the latter wins the Olympic gold medal, but what do you others think?
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Ken, I’m with you insofar I can’t bring myself to have any enthusiasm for a Labor victory. In the past twelve months Labor has not only chucked any vestiges it had of being a left of centre party to having vacated the centre and moved to the right. I’d always. smugly, looked to the US and thought thank god we’re not like them. We really do have choice rather than choosing between two wings of the same party. And now, and now, here we are with labor hanging by a thread to its union origins. That said I’m looking forward to LNP losing tomorrow. I’ll concede that they have done an adequate job of running the economy (a drovers dog could have run the economy effectively the past 10 years) but the lying, the deceit, the hubris, the petty small mindedness of the government appalls me. My vote will go to the greens more my preferences flow to Labor.
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Ken, you have been saying that you are going to vote green for the last 12 months, and you still have not changed your mind. Let’s hope that all those that have been promising in the polls, to vote for Rudd for the last 12 months, keep their word, like Ken has.
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Good people,
I’m with Ken on this one, dumb and dumber. The only light is Labor’s left flank is weak, which is another reason voting Green is very smart. Many Unions have covertly or overtly supported the Greens this time round. Once we have a Labor government, they will be more inclined to listen to us; here, in letters, or in the streets. They have to, for they need our votes to maintain power.
I read a good little article on Counterpunch a few weeks ago on the difference between futile and impossible. It is futile to protest and pressure the Libs from the left, they don’t rely on us or care what we say. But it seems impossible to get back the country we could have been. But is was impossible to get to the moon, for humans to fly, and for women to get equality. Doing something futile over and over again is the definition of insanity, attempting something impossible is the stuff of heroes.
The time for heroes is coming. I’m voting Green.
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Imho, Green is good provided voters also preference Labor…
& provided Queenslanders remember that for the Senate vote that Democrat Andrew Bartlett has worked his butt off on enviro, Aboriginal & anti-Workchoice issues for years, has an informative blog & cares about animal welfare. You can always number all 65 boxes so Andrew Bartlett gets 1, then The Greens’ candidates, then the Labor candidates etc…
it would be sad to see Andrew turfed out in Queensland after so much effort…& keeping us informed on Govt issues…
Furthermore, i wouldn’t rubbish Labor too much…in my years i’ve seen plenty of Far-Left voters stay home because they heed the criticisms of the major parties…they get thinking that it’s not worth it…& then wonder years down the road how they got stuck with an awful Right Wing government.
http://andrewbartlett.com/blog/
November 24th, 2007 at 1:29 am
WTF is my comment!
It was so witful, incisigent, and intelligive!
November 24th, 2007 at 2:25 am
“What do you reckon the UN should do about Iran?”
Drop 60 tons of fruit cakes on the fuckers!
November 24th, 2007 at 4:16 am
I am another one of those former Labor supporters who thinks that Labor are almost like the Liberals, although still better on Industrial Relations and Foreign Policy (can’t think of any other real differences).
I’ll be voting Democrats (who are socially progressive like the Greens) and preferencing Labor in front of Liberal
November 24th, 2007 at 7:33 am
I heard the Iranians are saying that before they will sit and negotiate to withdraw, the US and COW must agree to pull out completely from Iraq, pack up all their military bases, aircraft carriers out of the Gulf, publicly announce they think Iranians are nice people and say sorry about breaking up Iraq. Oh and they would like a wall just like Israel has to stop terrorist attacks.
November 24th, 2007 at 7:40 am
“the US and COW must agree to pull out completely from Iraq, pack up all their military bases, aircraft carriers out of the Gulf,”
Sounds good to me. Big wall but!
November 24th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Obs IDK why the UN should do anything about Iran and as promised, your comment has been deleted for utter irrelevance to the thread.
CK there was no comment in moderation so it must have gone straight to the spam bin where only Tim is licensed to go on expeditions I’m afraid.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:12 am
BTW I actually bought a Kevin07 T shirt, just to help the Labor cause a bit. It was a crappy fit … I took it as a sign
November 24th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Ours fit perfectly.
Speaking of Iran, it just occurred to me that Mal Brough being in charge of this military style takeover in the Northern Territories & using benefit’s payments as a big stick to force Aborigines to do the government’s bidding…amongst other things, makes it more likely that if the War in the Middle East expands the way GW Bush & Cheney want, then a re-elected Howard could use similar powers to force the youth of the poor into compulsory community service and things like a National Guard…
a backdoor DRAFT.
Gawd forbid!
Is this one of the reasons Howard & Costello are so keen on paying women to have kids…to replace the generation they intend to send to War?
If there was a serious economic contraction, i imagine it would be very tempting for the Conservatives. You know how they love their wars…& military moments…& using govt. assistance to push people around.
Memories of Vietnam…:(
November 24th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Argus Tuft, i reckon they would be great dvds to watch if Howard wins…cause i’m sure he’ll join the Busheviks in more war-mongering if he gets the chance…he didn’t have to push those Aussie lads into that more dangerous area in Afghanistan…but he did…& now soldiers are paying for it.
Yep, if Howard wins I see the Country continuing its journey into the HEART OF DARKNESS. And as you probably well know, Apocalypse Now is partially based on Joseph Conrad’s gloomy novella.
Eleanor Coppola’s 1991 documentary, ‘Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse’ is well worth watching.
‘Gallipoli’ will be another to watch…how EMPIRES screw over Aussies.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Ken, here’s a film you can watch…if Howard gets back in I bet we’ll see Walmart hitting these shores…they’d luv WorkChoices…& they sure ain’t a big fan of the Unions, just like our Dear leader & Mr. Costello:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3836296181471292925
(Walmart - High Cost of Low Prices)
And I bet our supermarket chains have noted a few strategies from Walmart & will be implementing them ASAP if the Howeirdians get back in. Gawd forbid if you work for a retailer.
Howard out! Rudd in!
November 24th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Just voted Green - pref Labor - fingers crossed. Will watch Empire strikes back - with flicks over to watch the Tallying - not sure if I could watch the whole lot of pundits drooling over Howard and the Coalition
November 24th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Although Ch10 is showing “The Empire Strikes Back”, I think “The Return of the Jedi” would be a more fitting one to watch today.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
At 11:42 am Nasking ranted: Gawd forbid if you work for a retailer.
My sons first job was night fill at Woolies. At 17 he was making at least $12 an hour and on certain days he made over $30 per hour. He saved $11,000 in one year and bought all sorts of (expensive) stuff. You are - as usual - full of it.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
“night fill at Woolies”?
Didn’t that go out with the Ark (and at Coles too)? I’m forever running into boxes and pallets in the aisles these days.
Obviously you didn’t do the responsible parental thing and charge your son enough (if any) board.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Your son made his money because of protections brought in by Labor dipstick. If Howard wins your son & his mates will eventually be working for minimum wage w/out overtime/penalty rates. So get your facts right.
You only need to look at workers in American supermarkets to know how lucky Aussies were that Howard didn’t get the Senate earlier. Watch the Walmart vid & you’ll get the idea. Economic contraction coming means Howies’ WorkChoices gets used to cut wages & conditions…particularly for new staff. Doh!
Parochial twit!
November 24th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Started watching ‘Walmart - High Cost of Low Prices’ but couldn’t stomach it after a few minutes: why do the Americans seem to turn everything into a pseudo-religious event?
November 24th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
SB: Didn’t that go out with the Ark (and at Coles too)? I’m forever running into boxes and pallets in the aisles these days.
At least where we live that would be caused by a labor shortage. Woolies was finding it hard to keep staff where my son worked and will no doubt have to raise wages to attract more people.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
And I bet he didn’t have a bloody mortgage either.
With 6 rate rises on the trot i doubt he’d be buying ‘expensive’ stuff. Not unless you forgot to check his credit card.
Private debt thru the roof since the Libs took control. The piper will come a callin’. Count on it. Then your son & plenty of others will need more of a safety net that the bedraggled, hole filled old thing the Libs have left on the hard, coal pit floor.
Sans Blog is right, the supermarkets are gettin’ prepared for the downturn…if the Howeirdians win it will be Workers blood splattered thru the aisles & in the back areas.
W/ the WorkChoices axes sittin’ in pride of place…drippin’ w/ red.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Sans Blog, something wicked this way comes…check this out:
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1648055,00.html
(The Worst Jobs in America - TIME - What are the worst jobs in America? Things are especially tough for service workers in three low-wage U.S. industries: laundry services, supermarkets and and nail salons)
November 24th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Wow, excellent summary of the thoughts of a lot of people out there, including myself.
But I will allow myself a night of indulgence, just to make up for the past 11 years, and try to forget that despite the new faces it will be the same old shit.
I too wouldn’t mind the govt sneaking through in the house of reps only to be paralysed by a Green-ALP controlled senate. Only so long as Wentworth, Bennelong and either Higgins, Sturt or North Sydney fall to Labor, so the filth that heads those seats can bugger off to Macquarie Bank already.
Hopefully it’s a much stronger showing for the Greens this time around.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Nask ranted again: With 6 rate rises on the trot i doubt he’d be buying ‘expensive’ stuff. Not unless you forgot to check his credit card.
He doesn’t have a credit card and will probably enjoy the increased interest rate on his savings - as will a great number of people.
As for being parochial Nask - thats a bit rich coming from you. I’ve never seen a larger tin foil hat than the one you wear.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
and:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/walmart-eyes-australia/2006/07/30/1154198011039.html
(Wal-Mart eyes Australia, SMH
July 31, 2006)
But they do sell plenty of DVDs for Ken & us to watch. I wonder if they have:
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
Synopsis: One of the greatest scandals in American corporate history is chronicled in the riveting documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Based on the bestselling book by Fortune magazine reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkin, and directed by Alex Gibney (who also produced The Trials of Henry Kissinger), the film is an epic morality tale, drawing upon a wealth of insider interviews and archival material to show how Enron, once the nation’s seventh largest corporate entity, essentially faked its bookkeeping to report profits that never existed. The corrupt and closely-guarded mismanagement by Enron executives (including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, later placed on criminal trial) is revealed through such heinous concepts as “Hypothetical Future Value” (a way of reaping fortunes based on false profit projections) and the use of offshore “shell” companies to hide the massive losses that eventually toppled the company (along with the venerable Arthur Anderson accounting firm) and left 20,000 employees jobless. As a maddening portrait of hubris and white-collar crime, Enron transcends political and corporate boundaries by showing how smart and powerful men grew blinded by greed and brought ruin upon themselves, along with thousands of otherwise innocent victims. For better and worse, it’s a perfect double-feature with eye-opening 2004 documentary The Corporation. –Jeff Shannon
(Amazon)
and don’t forget the connection between John Howard’s mate Bush & Enron:
“Enron founder Ken Lay and his family rank among President Bush’s biggest financial backers of his political career. The family donated about $140,000 to Bush’s political campaigns in Texas and for the White House. The president personally nicknamed Ken Lay “Kenny Boy.” Overall Enron employees gave Bush some $600,000 in political donations. According to the Center for Public Integrity this made Enron Bush’s top career donor - a distinction the company maintained until 2004. Shortly after Bush took office in 2001, Vice President Cheney met with Enron officials while he was developing the administration’s energy policies. Our guest Greg Palast examined the connections between Enron and the Bush administration in his documentary “Bush Family Fortunes.”
(Democracy Now: Friday, May 26th, 2006
Enron: The Bush Connection)
November 24th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
As if to prove my point Nask provides a link to an article where apparently:
But some baggers don’t even make $300, because they are paid only in tips
Either these people are terminally stupid or Nask is.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Hey Peter, you sound a bit off color…how about checking out the dvd:
SICKO
…it looks at the health system your Dear Leader Howard is trying to incrementally create here:
“The words “health care” and “comedy” aren’t usually found in the same sentence, but in Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore’s new movie ‘SiCKO,’ they go together hand in (rubber) glove.
Opening with profiles of several ordinary Americans whose lives have been disrupted, shattered, and—in some cases—ended by health care catastrophe, the film makes clear that the crisis doesn’t only affect the 47 million uninsured citizens—millions of others who dutifully pay their premiums often get strangled by bureaucratic red tape as well.
After detailing just how the system got into such a mess (the short answer: profits and Nixon), we are whisked around the world, visiting countries including Canada, Great Britain and France, where all citizens receive free medical benefits. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes – rescue workers now suffering from debilitating illnesses who have been denied medical attention in the US. He takes them to a most unexpected place, and in addition to finally receiving care, they also engage in some unexpected diplomacy.
While Moore’s ‘SiCKO’ follows the trailblazing path of previous hit films, the Oscar-winning BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and all-time box-office documentary champ FAHRENHEIT 9/11, it is also something very different for Michael Moore. ‘SiCKO’ is a straight-from-the-heart portrait of the crazy and sometimes cruel U.S. health care system, told from the vantage of everyday people faced with extraordinary and bizarre challenges in their quest for basic health coverage.
In the tradition of Mark Twain or Will Rogers, ‘SiCKO’ uses humor to tell these compelling stories, leading the audience conclude that an alternative system is the only possible answer.”
(Michael Moore. Com)
November 24th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Nasking,
Wished you lived in the Blue Mountains, mate. Just made a BIG pot of vegan potato & chickpea Vindaloo which I hope will be part of a celebration dinner tonight!
November 24th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Peter,
“At least where we live that would be caused by a labor [sic] shortage”
Where I live it’s low pay and slavelike conditions.
Once upon a time the premium prices charged at Coles was the excuse they used for the high prices - now it’s just greed and exploitation of the employees. I don’t think Bunnings will be any better - perhaps worse, trying to find an assistant in the three local Bunnings is a tad like winning Lotto.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
“Wished you lived in the Blue Mountains, mate. Just made a BIG pot of vegan potato & chickpea Vindaloo which I hope will be part of a celebration dinner tonight!”
Sans Blog, that sounds brilliant…shame we can’t use a transporter…:)…perhaps Helen Coonan could lend us her horse drawn carriage…:)
We’ll be celebrating with Red Thai Curry (palm sugar, lemon grass & chillies from the backyard, coconut milk, sambel olek, brocolli, snow peas, ginger, garlic, squash, zuchinni, carrots, red capsicum, mushrooms) w/ jasmine rice & roti. Add some QLD beers & Bundy Rum. Wish you & others could join us.
Here’s another DVD worth watching…it’s about John Howard & George Bush’s war/fiasco in Iraq:
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/752
(No End in Sight)
“Written, produced and directed by first-time documentarian Charles Ferguson, a political scientist with a doctorate from MIT and experience at the Brookings Institution, “No End in Sight” packs the enraging cumulative punch of a “J’accuse,” but its tone could hardly be more sober. As lucid as it is level-headed, the film has a clear thematic focus — what went wrong in Iraq — and it identifies the catastrophic turning points with steely precision and a wealth of context. The result, narrated in a grave monotone by Campbell Scott, is a catalog of horrors so absurd and relentless it verges on farce, or Greek tragedy.”
– LA Times Review
Remember the scene in “A Clockwork Orange” where Alex has his eyes clamped open and is forced to watch a movie? I imagine a similar experience for the architects of our catastrophe in Iraq. I would like them to see “No End in Sight,” the story of how we were led into that war, and more than 3,000 American lives and hundreds of thousands of other lives were destroyed….
Although Bush and the war continue to sink in the polls, I know from some readers that they still support both. That is their right. And if they are so sure they are right, let more young men and women die or be maimed. I doubt if they will be willing to see this film, which further documents an administration playing its private war games. No, I am distinctly not comparing anyone to Hitler, but I cannot help being reminded of the stories of him in his Berlin bunker, moving nonexistent troops on a map, and issuing orders to dead generals.
– Roger Ebert, Four Stars for “No End in Sight”
November 24th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Hang on, Nask, just checking best-fare prices with JetStar & Virgin - your curry sounds heaps better than mine!
November 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Sicko!
Nask - you really are a twisted old fart. Moore is very good at telling gullible people like yourself exactly what you want to hear. And you call me a twit! My oh my.
SB: trying to find an assistant in the three local Bunnings is a tad like winning Lotto. Gee, maybe you need to tip them? After all they’ll soon be just working for tips - Nask and Time magaizine says so.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Peter believes in Santa Claus, fairies at the bottom of the garden, and the unexplained death of the business cycle … so that good times will continue forever and ever if only we wish hard enough, like Mr Howard said we should.
Sans Blog someone at Blogocracy was getting ready to celebrate with a bottle of Mateus Rosé … no offence and not wanting to sound like a food snob or nuffin but your meal sounds like a suitable accompaniment
November 24th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Peter believes in Santa Claus, fairies at the bottom of the garden, and the unexplained death of the business cycle … so that good times will continue forever and ever if only we wish hard enough, like Mr Howard said we should.
Not quite sure where you got that impression from Ken, though I imagine the current cycle will probably last for quite a while yet - with the inevitable ups and downs. Key is to remain flexible.
SB: Hang on, Nask, just checking best-fare prices with JetStar & Virgin
Don’t forget to factor in your carbon offset or whatever its called now.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
If you wanna buy a Xmas gift for your Dear Leader Peter you might think about:
‘Winter Soldier’ (DVD) Originally Released in 1972, Released on DVD in May of 2006.
I know John Howard reckons this was a MUST HAVE WAR.
“This is a powerful, necessary and often painful film to watch. It will confirm that the Vietnam War was a failed atrocity, fought by soldiers who daily were involved with the most gruesome of actions against the Vietnamese. It will leave you feeling strongly that the soldiers were as much victims as perpetrators of heinous and unspeakable acts.
But speak about them, they do, in a “hearing” on the war in a Detroit Howard Johnson’s hotel in 1971. It is an act of contrition and courage by these Vietnam War veterans.
Filmed by a collective of filmmakers (who reconvened last year to recall the making of the historic documentary), it is unsparing as 125 veterans assemble to tell their stories. After seeing “Winter Soldier,” you know what you have heard about civilian deaths, torture and abuses in Iraq are just the tip of the iceberg, just as My Lai was only a single incident among many. It just happened to become the scapegoat for all the other Vietnam atrocities.
It is hard to think that people like us can so quickly become barbaric. Like a varnish remover, “Winter Soldier” strips any nobility that the “Masters of War” like McNamara, Johnson, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld wanted and want to apply to the Vietnam and Iraq wars.”
(Buzzflash review)
November 24th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Ken,
Can you imagine a party with Nask, Min (Mateus Rose), Tim D., yourself … I’m going to stop there because I know I’ll leave out some wonderful & deserving people.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
“At 17 he was making at least $12 an hour and on certain days he made over $30 per hour”
He wouldn’t anymore you dweeb. Workchoices made sure of that. Labor is why he was earning 30 bucks an hour.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
4 minutes that tell us why we went to Iraq:
the 4 minutes that the Republicans in Congress did not want us to see…from the film ‘Iraq for Sale’ by Robert Greenwald…now on dvd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cJlJudDtVE
(On May 10th, 2007, this video was banned in Congress…Robert Greenwald, the director of IRAQ FOR SALE, was invited to testify before Congress by Rep. Jim Moran. He prepared four minutes from the documentary to show.
Republicans insisted this not be shown)
Party sounds great Sans Blog…I’ve already started…:)
November 24th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
In that case Peter I don’t understand what your point actually is, if indeed you have one. The key to what is to remain flexible? And WTF does ‘flexibility’ mean in this context anyway? The flexibility to make your son work for $5 an hour if growth slows, so that the retailers can maintain their profits?
If you believe that’s a worthy goal good luck to you. I don’t share your opinion. And since there’s no way we can reconcile our different values there doesn’t seem much point continuing the discussion.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
“After all they’ll soon be just working for tips -
Pete I didn’t know you were so traveled!Tips on the 3 bucks an hour they pay in the States puts the workers in a high tax bracket.
In fact hospitality industry workers can afford luxuries like food and clothes.I met a women there who was really living it up,she could pay for her electricity three days of the week.
The ungrateful bitch, she was moaning about a visit to the Doctor and paying him $150 U.S. when she was dieing of the flu.Of course the employer paid her for the three days off.Yea right, sure he did.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Nasking ranted yet again: If you wanna buy a Xmas gift for your Dear Leader Peter you might think about:
Nask - wake up please. If you think I’m a Howard admirer you’ve got it quite wrong. I’ve distrusted all pollies since forever. Thats why I can never understand why a lot of people seem to think that if only the right bunch got in things would be better. They are all crooks. And the only alternative is a much more market based economy where pollies have little or no say. You can try to convince yourself otherwise but you will always be disapointed.
Contrary to what many probably think here I, and most on the ‘right’ - whatever that means - don’t much mind if Rudd gets in. He’ll either be Howard Lite or a lier. The wailing and nashing of teeth will be entirely on the Bolshie left if they don’t get their way. The amount of ‘projecting’ I’ve seen about this at blogs like RTS is fascinating.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Sorry Peter, I missed what you said…i was too busy taking in parts of the fascinating DVD
THE CORPORATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Y
(The Corporation is today’s dominant institution, creating great wealth but also great harm. This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives.)
November 24th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Sigh - where to start?
So Phill thinks that $3 per hour plus tips puts you into a high tax bracket in the US. Phill, if you believe that then you’ll believe anything - and I bet you do.
And Ken thinks that he can defy the laws of economics by paying people more than they are worth.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
“Sigh - where to start?”
I’m pretty versatile myself.I’m glad to see you can spot humour a mile away.But hey that doesn’t surprise me cos you sure are funny.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Nask, will you please open the bloody door, it’s hard knocking with my tin plate, spoon and bottles of home brew (to cool down the curry)…..
Peter, you sound a little bitter and pissed off. Could you do the latter as a service to us ,please.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Don’t bother starting to explain Peter…i’ve worked in places across this Planet & I know exactly what Work Choices is for.
Your side of politics should be ashamed of itself. They’ve manufactured another skyrocketing boom or two (housing & mining), used their SELL techniques via the Corporate Media, financial institution, real estate auctions etc. to suck the Workers into tragic debt…& soon they’re about to pull the plug on them.
And then the types that you say “saved & scrimped & pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to become deservedly self-made multi-millionaires & billionaires” will race thru the ranks of Workers’ workplaces & Homes…& like wolves & vultures drag their assets & self-worth away as the economic tsunami is hyped enuff to create hyper-panic and see small businesses & home owners go bankrupt as the consumer sales plummet and the jobs go with it.
Your lot always tries to leave the Leftish Wing parties with the sh*t to clean up…but these days they’re getting too smart for you.
As are the people…like on these blogs.
“Go for Growth” my arse…more like
“Go for as much privatisation & tax cuts for the Rich & profit making w/ bonuses & asset accumulation & cutting Unions & Worker’s Rights as we can before we pull the plug”.
I bet you types are really irked that you probably won’t get to impliment all your dastardly, “Greed for Gain” plans…
better luck next time…NOT!
November 24th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
“will you please open the bloody door, it’s hard knocking with my tin plate, spoon and bottles of home brew (to cool down the curry”…..
Lang Mack, how many times do i have to tell you, that’s the door to the basement…where we keep the Howeirdian mutants that tried to deliver fake leaflets…where using doses of Bundy Rum on the poor buggers to try & transform them back to something resembling a Human.
Now that Home Brew sounds good…:)
November 24th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Lang Mack and Nasking are both projecting again. I sound bitter and pissed off??? What a laugh. Just read Nasks rant/projection of all that he hates on to me and tell me with a straight face who is bitter/pissed.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Cascade ‘Spicy Ghost Draught’ and ‘Cascade Imperial Voyage Ale’, hang on, I’ll just try another couple , quality control, off course.
Ya know, this is the best I’ve felt for a long time, I can smell the waft of departing Rodent, there I said it, in the air, eleven plus bloody years,I may end up with the woobly boot on tonight. ( That curry smells good, hic.Now where is that bloody door.)
November 24th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hey Peter, here, have a brew, where like that here.:)
November 24th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I am about to have the first of a few. I feel good right now and will feel even better as the counting begins. I hope that Howard is not let off scott free tonight.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Hey Peter, here, have a brew, where like that here.:)
Thanks! Yeah - it wll be a great night whoever wins. Cascade is my favorite. Pity most of the brews they make don’t seem to be available except at the brewery.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
the lingering smell of old, old, old spice…mixed w/ morning perambulation sweat and the rotten chook feathers he tore off Peter Costello 6 months ago…:)
November 24th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
2 Party Preferred is Labor 53, LNP 47 going by the Sky News Exit Poll
Good news! But, I still reckon that they shouldn’t have been allowed to put this poll out w/ booths still open. Could motivate more Righties to get out and vote.