BigBob's

Weird

2006-06-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

Hmm, and now all the comments that went astray from old posts have turned up again!

The rain falls down

2006-06-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

I've just finished a week long trip around NSW, and I'm just sitting in the Virgin Blue lounge watching the rain fall on the runways.

There is something especially forlorn about airport's in the rain. Lots of other industrial areas look fresher and cleaner for a drop, but an airport just gets drabber.

Perhaps, because internally they are such a false place. Like an old tart slapping on make-up and a skimpy dress. Or balding sportsmen going off to Advanced Hair Studios.

I was a bit shocked by the Virgin Blue lounge, until recently you could pay $5 and get in for the day. I think a yearly membership was around $100. Not bad for somewhere to plug in the laptop and buy a drink while you were waiting.

Now they've upgraded. It's $30 for two hours! But you get free food and drink (including alcohol), broadband access and a few other things. So maybe it pans out ok. So, I'm going all out to get my 30 bucks worth...pass me another Crownie love.

Mind you, I've been here 3 hours all ready and they haven't turfed me out yet..

Hmm maybe the tide is ebbing?

2006-05-24T03:35:00.000-07:00

Just over the last few months, politics in Australia may just have turned a corner.

A government that seemed to be able to get awat with anything, that was brilliant at playing politics seems to have lost their edge.

A whole litany of things come to mind. None of which would be classed as a king hit, but the trend suggests they have problems.

AWB, Iraq, wheat sales that suddenly disappear, Private Kovco's continuing saga, a free for all budget that achieves almost no result in polling, dragging up nuclear power as an issue, interest rates and petrol prices.

It could be a false dawn, but the government has got that look of staleness and hubris that infected the last years of Keating's government.

If Howard goes, Costello could well become as unpopular with the masses as Keating was.

Nuclear Waste

2006-05-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

I have a very simple position on Australia becoming a disposal site for radioactive waste.

If it's from stuff we pulled out of the ground, then it IS our problem.

So, as long as we mine Uranium, we should be dealing with the consequences of our actions.

Simple.

What use is an anti-submarine ship based helicopter that can't fly over water?

2006-05-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

I have a casual interest in military matters, and had a huge laugh this morning over the Seaprite debacle.

To start at the beginning,

A long way back we decided to build some new Frigates - the Anzac class ships. As I read it (and I could be wrong), the budget allocated didn't allow these ships to fly off the very capable Seahawk helicopters our Navy used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

So, we had to get a new chopper to do the same job, but it had to be smaller to fit on board.

It just so happened that the Yanks were pensioning off an old helicopter, the Seaprite. So, we were offered these cheap, but with promises to upgrade and update them to a suitable state for current operations.

This is where it all starts to go down hill quickly. Years overdue and way overcost we now have the entire fleet of helicopters grounded - apparently they are unable to be used safely at night or over water!

So as long as our shipping lanes are only ever threatened by diurnal land submarines, we will be safe!

What a complete cock-up. Many people at the time the contract was signed were pointing out the pitfalls. It's not like Defence hasn't been burned by purchasing the American's cast offs before. The resupply ships we got cheap cost almost as much as new ones by the time they were acceptable.

It will be interesting to see how our purchase of used M1 Abrams tanks goes.

Cricket and Australia

2006-02-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

I've just finished reading a piece by Peter English, the Australasian editor for Wisden.

A very sad and sorry indictment on where Australia has headed over the last decade.

For sure, there were always a few dickheads in the crowd, but, apart form a few instances, for a long time crowd's were becoming better behaved.

Now, it seems a large portion of the boofhead's have returned, spurred on by Australia's success and the knowledge that being a foul mouthed racist is no longer considered unacceptable. Indeed, under Howard, racism has been allowed to grow like the ugly weed it is.

The weed analogy is actually a good one, for it hasn't grown because the government has nurtured it, but because they have neglected to tend this part of the garden and let it run rank.

The biggest problem is that the neglect is not due to ineptitude, lack of knowledge or ability, unfortunately the government lets the weed grow to hide an even more unsightly mess behind it.

In the early 90's, Australia seemed to be headed towards a bright future, one that was inclusive. Now, we are becoming more divided.

Frankly, it disgusts me to the core.

And why have all the comments gone?

2005-12-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

The Black Dog is off the leash again.

2005-12-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

I have spent most of the last five weeks battling my old enemy. Once again it has caused me to leave work and shelter in the safety of my house.

Back on medication, which at least let's me face the world.

Like an alcoholic, you are never cured of depression. It just lurks in the back of your mind, waiting for any of a number of trigger's to set you spiralling down into it's clutches.

What evolutionary advantage has kept this in our make-up?

Perhaps it's just a symptom of being a spoilt Westerner, those who have to struggle to find food and shelter don't have the luxury of feeling sorry for themselves.

Vintage and Other Catching Up.

2005-05-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Vintage is finally drawing to a close here in Tasmania. After an almost non-existent Summer, we have had a warmish, dry Autumn. Consequently the grapes ripened beautifully.

Things look very promising already. It's nice to walk in on a good vintage.

Lot's of hard work still to come. We hand plunge ten tonne fermenters filled with red grapes two to three times every day. A damned good upper body workout, my body aches every night - but it's a good hurt. Plenty of barrels to be muscled around as well.

With vintage on, you tend to lose track of the outside world. Things that normally would loom large in the windshield of your mind get lost and slip under the radar as you concentrate on the job at hand and battle fatigue.

Politically speaking, it's all just a blur with flashes of clarity.

How can we, as a people, stand for an immigration department that consistently cocks things up in such an awful fashion?

How is it we can take a budget that gives so heartily to those that are well off, yet attacks the most disadvantaged, yet does stuff-all to address any of the real issues that are beginning to cut into our veneer of comfortable living?

Perhaps we are witnessing the crest of conservative government?

Back, But this is for real!

2005-05-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well after a seemingly endless time with practically no Internet access, I'm back with a bright and shiny ADSL connection.

The family's move to near Hobart has gone very well, all the kids have settled in nicely at their new schools, and J and I are both enjoying the challenges of new jobs.

Mind you, after many years of at least one adult being at home, getting all of us out of the house by quarter to eight each morning is a bit of a shock.

Anyway, more later, many emails to deal with.

Regular Transmission Back Soon

2005-03-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

First week in Hobart down, and I still don't have an internet connection where I am staying.

All very frustrating, hopefully solved this week.

Don't you love the first week in a new workplace. Getting to know where everyhting is kept, trying to work out where everybody fits in the scheme of things.

All in all a good week. Nothing but positive impressions.

If the current spell of warm, sunny weather continues we are in for a fine vintage. As ever, the marginal Tassie climate means we will be on the edge of our chairs for months yet, but it looks a whole lot better than last year already.

Anyway, off to repack the car and head back down south.

Sure Mary's a Nice Girl, BUT

2005-03-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Let's get this totally clear, there is no magic in a monarchy.

How anybody can believe that somebody else is somehow superior because they were born or married into some bloodline is way beyond me.

How can you look at an institution that was built entirely on the blood of those that were weaker and think it is about "romance".

Even now, these descendant's of brutal forebears live off the profits of their ill-gotten gains. Some of these families also have their snout's deeply buried in the public purse.

I can live with the argument that a constitutional monarchy has delivered us stable government.

Mary and Frederick aren't even a part of our own monarchy.

I cannot bear this fawning, servile crap we are having dished up to us.

Thankfully, the tour will end soon.

Thankfully, I don't think I'll ever have to meet any of these people. I don't think the protocol police would like my complete and utter lack of respect.

Changes

2005-03-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well, after much deliberation and thought, our life is taking another course.

Not buying a winery or going to NZ, I'm now going winemaking further south near Hobart.

I am excited by where I am going. The winery has just been rebuilt and has excellent equipment. The vineyard's supplying it have grown great fruit. The owner's are truly interested in pursuing quality.

J. has also landed a transfer to Hobart, so it seems like it was meant to be.

Downside is we have to move again, which always upsets the kids. Barring catastrophe, this will be the last time we make them change schools.

I start next week, have to drag the laptop out and take it with me, as the household won't be moving until late April. Moving in the middle of vintage is not a great plan, but what can you do?

Posts may become a little more haphazard for a while (as if they weren't haphazard enough already!)

Simple Pleasure

2005-03-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

Finally, after months of patient waiting, my tomatoes are ripe.

Forget mangos and all the other stone fruits, for me the epitome of Summer is to eat my own vine ripened tomatoes.

Just on toast with some rock salt and cracked pepper.

Perfect.

In fact, I think I'll just have another one now.

For those that don't grow their own, next Spring is not far away. You only need a pot! There are no excuses.

Pit Bull Running The Pound

2005-02-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

So Albrechtsen's been appointed to the ABC board.

The rewards for the faithful are flowing. Just ask Miranda D.....

Who's next?

Old Rice and Monkey Nuts should probably pick up a guernsey on some internet review board. After all, he is the pre-eminent cut and paster of his generation.

It's going to be a very rough three years.

One of those nights

2005-02-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

I am completely stuffed today.

I am sure you have all had nights like this.

We made every plan to head to bed early, but then broke them all and headed off around eleven.

First the night was surprisingly warm (for Tassie) and we couldn't get comfortable under the doona. So, after much tossing and turning and pulling the doona on and off, some form of happy medium was reached.

Then the mossies started. Except they were being particularly clever and hiding behind the curtain.

Up and down a few times to deal with the pests.

Back to bed, when the cat decides it's now time to run up and down the screen door chasing moths!

Sort the cat out (locked her in the bathroom), and get my head down again.

Just starting to doze off, when our youngest daughter stumbles in wanting to go to the toilet. Thing is, she has to pass the main toilet on the way to our room and the ensuite toilet.

The cat escapes, and I can't catch her this time.

Aarrgh!!

Then you can just hit the repeat button until dawn, when everything became remarkably quiet.

Until the kids are up a few short hours later.

And those that are young and/or childless wonder why parent's value sleep above just about anything else.

The Greatest Industrial Relations Swindle

2005-02-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

The time is right to do it now,
The greatest IR swindle.

With apologies to the Sex Pistols.

Does anyone else see how hollow Peter Costello's plans for IR reform actually are?

Ross Gittins has a go at him today in the SMH.

I'm no economist, but I think I see a pretty basic flaw in all this posturing.

The basic premise is that each and every pay rise has to be paid for by an increase in the worker's productivity.

On the surface, this seems somewhat reasonable. Except that inflation is not only influenced by wage growth.

So, unless you find enough productivity growth to cover the inflation, your wages are dropping in real terms every year. As things like increasing a worker's productivity fall squarely under the control of the law of diminishing returns, you can guarantee that your real wage is continually heading down the drain.

In the end, we will all end up on developing world sweat-shop wages.

Of course, we will be internationally competitive again in things like making t-shirts and runners, so this can only be a good thing.

Thanks, and a little outpouring.

2005-02-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all those who have left concerned comments, it truly is a wonderful experience to have people who you do not actually know show such support.

Perhaps the digital world is where we can start to recover a sense of community that the actual world has sadly lost.

The medium is such a boon to those, like myself, who are a bit isolated from intelligent conversation.

One of the personal crises last year was the untimely death of my Mother-in-law. Unlike many men and their Mother-in-laws, I had a great relationship with her. In recent years, when we lived close to my wife's family, she became like a second mother to me. She was always supportive of us following our dreams, even when it took our family across the country and away from her.

Without her support, I could never have completed my degree in wine science.

My feelings of loss have been tremendous, but they are dwarfed by my wife's.

She had a turbulent relationship with her mother, especially as a teenager and young adult. She was a very difficult person to deal with at times. However, over the years J. had reconciled most of her problems with her mum.

In fact, when we returned to NSW, J. ended up working in the same office as her mother (we even lived with her for over six months while we renovated our house). During this time, they grew closer than they ever had.

Six months after we left NSW for Tasmania, we received a phone call from one of J.'s sisters. Her mum's recently diagnosed pancreatitis had turned acutely serious. The doctor's wanted to operate immediately. By the time J. had arrived at the hospital, her mum had already had her operation.

Six weeks and four operations later, my wife and her family turned off the life support and let her pass on. Her mum had fought on, even though the specialists only gave her a slight chance of surviving each operation, but the infections and damage from her out of control pancreas were just too much. She was completely sedated the entire time my wife was there. J. was not able to talk to her at any stage.

My wife is still battling with her grief, and I don't seem to be able to provide much in the way of comfort.

Knowing that it will all pass, that we will return to a more normal state doesn't provide us with much solace for the moment.

Just Breathing

2005-01-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for almost a month. So many things have been going on, both in and outside my little world, and I just haven't had the emotional energy to sit and write about anything.

Perhaps I have just needed some time to get over what can only be described as a personally terrible year on so many levels.

No more to add than this.

Christmas Cheer

2004-12-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to wish everybody a safe and happy Christmas.

For those that are travelling, take care out there.

Now off to do the last minute things!

Death of a Friend

2004-12-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

Very shortly after I started reading and commenting on blogs, I stumbled across Melbourne Lefty.

Since then Jeremy's site has been a daily read. Sadly, it now appears that the line between the real world and the digital one has been blurred for him, and the site is now defunct with just a note of farewell.

Thanks for your posts and humour. Hopefully you will be back sometime soon.

An interesting point this raises is the impact your blogging can have on other parts of your life. Many bloggers cheerfully inform their reader's about their identity, other's, like myself, keep a veneer of anonymity, while other's are completely anonymous.

What happens when the real world kicks it's way into this one?

Though I don't think anything I say is too provocative or upsetting, what would happen if someone was truly offended by my writing?

Like most new forms of communication, I suspect that the rules of blogging are being formed as we write.

I hope that not too many people get burnt along the way.

Amorphophallus titanum and Democracy US style.

2004-12-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

Amorphophallus titanum

Amorphophallus titanum is considered by many to be the world's largest flower. Native to Sumatra in Indonesia, this amazing flower can be over three metres tall, with a circumference of over three metres as well. It grows from a tuber two metres in circumference, that weighs nearly 50 kilograms.

So what is the connection between this giant and US democracy?

They both stink. Nauseatingly so.

What stinks about US democracy is not the politicians or the policies (well, they reek too, in my opinion). It's the electoral system itself.

Now before those on the Conservative side of the ledger think I'm going to beat up on the Republican's for cheating in the last two elections, I'm not.

I have little doubt that Bush achieved a victory that would stand even if the system was not so obviously flawed. There have been plenty of accounts of Democrat's playing the inadequacies of the system to achieve their political ends. This issue cuts across the party lines.

It is such a wondrous thing to live in a country where, come election time, the result is the thing that is debated, not the process.

For the US, the supposed champion of democracy, to have a system so open to claims of malpractice is patently ridiculous.

Imagine, if you will, the outrage Australians would feel if our elections were run by the local party hacks. That how you actually vote varies from council area to council area. That the whole actual process was controlled by the ALP or the Liberal Party, whomever was in power at state level at the time. That election day is a working day when you are paid by the hour. On top of this, introduce machine voting where the physical evidence for voting doesn't exist or is easily tampered with.

All this and more is how the US system functions.

The fact is that this simply is not good enough. You need an electoral system that not only delivers the voter's wishes, but also is seen to do so. The US electoral system is clearly failing this basic test.

Perhaps it is time for the US to look at how countries such as Australia can manage elections without the degree of rancour over the process. One relatively simple change would be an independent Electoral Commission to run the damn thing.

As for machine voting, ditch it. What the hell is wrong with pencil and paper? Remember the story about NASA and the pen that would work in space? Sometimes the way forward is simply the old fashioned way.

Until these issues are addressed, every election result is going to be tinged with doubts about it's veracity.

That must be unacceptable for a nation that prides itself on a democratic tradition.

Best High Commissioner Ever?

2004-12-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

I was going to have a rant about this, but the inimitable Daily Flute has covered it far better than my mere words ever could.

I can't take much more!

2004-12-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

First the Australian election, then the US election and now I find out this.

How the hell can Budweiser be more popular than Guiness! In Ireland!

I mean, of all the beers they could possibly drink, they choose Bud. Perhaps it's all the expat's returning from the States or something.

Oh well, looks like I'll just have to double my consumption to make up for them.

At least it will ease the pain from the other events this year.

Number Crunching, Eyes Spinning

2004-12-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

I've had little time to post recently - crunching numbers and business planning has been taking a lot of my time.

With any luck, I'll be off to the bank in the New Year with a bright proposal to make them release a few drachma. Or yen. Or even some Cowrie shells.

Of course the gathering storm clouds on our previously clear economic sky are casting some level of gloom on the whole proceedings.

No need to worry though, The Man of Steel and Australia's Best Treasurer are sure to see us through it all. After all, they have made a sacred promise to me that interest rates aren't going up and that the economy will remain peachy as long as they are in control.

For those that frequent my musings, I will be a bit haphazard in posting for the near future. Hopefully I can become a bit more consistent again soon.

I also should belatedly thank Tim Dunlop at The Road to Surfdom for mentioning the site and enrolling me in his ever-extending blogroll.

Defining my Left

2004-12-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

I am getting increasingly weary of debating the RWDB's of the commenting world who sprout utter garbage about my world view.

To set matters straight, these are my views:

1. I do not believe in 'big' government nor higher taxes. I believe in governnment delivering competent services paid for by an open, efficient tax system. I certainly don't believe in governments interfering too heavily in our lives. I also believe that Government does have a responsibility towards the disadvantaged.

2. I don't believe in weird conspiracy theories that the CIA/MI5/Illuminati are running the world, actually concocted the 9/11 attacks, or caused my hot water system to collapse on Friday leaving us with cold showers for the weekend. I do believe that unaccountable security agencies given open slather can cause much more harm than those they are supposedly protecting us from.

3. I don't believe that every person imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay is an innocent victim of heartless US aggression. I do believe that our Government has responsibilities to it's citizens held there. I do believe that setting up a system outside of the normal legal system to deal with these people is stepping onto the edge of an abyss.

4. I firmly believe that terrorism needs to be tackled. I supported the invasion of Afghanistan because it was terrorism's base. I never supported invading Iraq because it always seemed likely to be counter-productive. At this moment in time, I reckon my views are proving to be right.

5. I know that Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot and other tyrants are defined as Left regimes. I also know that their authoritarianism has nothing to do with my views, nor the views of 99.9% of us on the Left. Oh, just a point for all you RWDB's. Once you use this line, you have lost the argument.

6. I don't have my head in the clouds, I am no academic, I have worked in the real world - both as an employee and an employer. I have worked with my hands and with my mind. So don't try and tell me that I can't see reality or that I am out of touch.

7. I am heterosexual and happily married with lots of children, and am not threatened by homosexuals who want what I am lucky enough to have. Being a good partner or parent is not defined by your sexuality.

8. I have never used illicit drugs but I can understand those who do. The problems of drug use have not been solved by prohibition and prosecution. Perhaps it is time to rethink the status quo.

This is my Left.

Surrounded by Opium

2004-12-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year in Tasmania, the poppy fields are flowering away. The No Trespassing signs are up, and soon the harvest will begin.

50% of the world's legal opium is grown and processed here.

There is a poppy field just next door, and with my chemistry background I could probably whip up enough painkillers to last a lifetime!

Unfortunately, it appears that Tasmania is not the only place with burgeoning poppy production.

Poor old Afghanistan is back, with a vengeance. There are estimates that 60% of Afghanistan's economy will be based on poppies.

For all the ills of the Taliban, one thing they were tough on was the evil of opium. One would have expected that the anti-drug US would have been well on top of the situation.

That they are not is a definite sign that Afghanistan is far from the pretty picture being promoted by the US administration.

It's not just the smack that will hit our streets. The level of opiate abuse in Afghanistan's neighbours is a major social problem.

Another sign that the job in Afghanistan should have been completed before the Iraq misadventure was even attempted.

Decisions, Decisions

2004-12-02T02:05:00.000-08:00

It seems like every body is wrestling with big decisions or changes.

I am too.

We are relatively comfortably off currently. As noted below, I'm off to NZ to work next year.

Then I considered travelling to Europe or the US for another vintage.

Now, I may have the opportunity to buy a winery of my own.

Thing is, it entails more debt than I can get my mind around. But the number's look good, very good.

It would be nice to have complete control over my wines.

As usual, the goals in my long-term plans seem to come around sooner than I want.

At least I don't have to make any quick decisions!

Dog Day Afternoon

2004-12-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

This is me, apparently!

And so is this!

Not one for personality tests, but this one at Link's looked fun.

I also did the personality test there. The results actually made sense.

So, that's two personality tests in one day.

I have too much time on my hands.

It's all up from here!

2004-11-25T09:40:00.000-08:00

That is the cost of fighting in Iraq and the casualty lists.

The cost just to keep the US military in Iraq has reached $US 5.8 Billion per month. What's more, this cost has been rising since the beginning of the occupation. In early 2003 the cost was $2.2 Billion, by July 2003 it was $3.9 Billion, by June 2004 $5 Billion.

That $5.8 Billion would be funding pre-Fallujah. There will be a further spike upwards due to the intensity of the operations there.

So somewhere over $70 Billion per annum is needed to sustain the effort in Iraq, just for the US military.

It also looks like November could be the worst month for US casualties since hostilities commenced. Projected deaths are for over 150 personnel, with 1300 or so wounded.

So, more resources are being consumed and more casualties are being created. The trends are not positive for the Coalition forces in Iraq.

Forget comparing Iraq with Vietnam, the parallels between the US occupation of Iraq and the Soviet's occupation of Afghanistan are becoming clearer. In fact, they are chillingly close.

If the end results are similar, Iraq's suffering has only just begun and the Middle East will be de-stabilised for many years to come.

Aotearoa Bound

2004-11-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like I'm off to New Zealand next year.

Not for good, just for the vintage period. March to May or thereabouts. Should be great fun and gives me a chance to muck about with top quality Sauvignon Blanc - something I've not had a good handle on before.

Not too mention Pinot Noir. Plenty of experience with that, but it's a variety that you can never learn too much about.

I'll try and keep the blog going as a vintage journal. You can see what winemaker's get up to during our busiest time.

Thinking about a Northern Hemisphere vintage as well. Perhaps Burgundy or Oregon.

So I'm about to give French a try again. If I can't stick with it, I'll probably head to Oregon! They speak a form of English over there I am reliably informed.

All in all, next year is shaping up to be a lot better than this year of disappointments.

Past, Present, Future?

2004-11-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

Ross Gittins has hit the nail on the head, reflecting my views on the sham called the Free Trade Agreement.

In return for some improved access to US markets we have given US corporations the power to hold us to ransom for the foreseeable future. The longer it is enforced, the more we will be disadvantaged.

Those supporting the deal were sucked into only seeing the gains in "traditional" areas (with the notable exclusion of agriculture). The big sting in the tail is all the intellectual property provisions which heavily favour the US.

As Gittins points out, if the US legislation we now have to fall in line with was sound, the agreement may have been a positive. As US IP legislation is atrocious and locks in a company's competitive advanatge almost perpetually, we could well be in for a world of hurt here.

No wonder the US negotiators are so happy with the deal, indeed they see it as the model agreement for other bilateral negotiations.

The very areas which will drive the economy of the future have been handed to the US on a plate, while Australia couldn't even gain major concessions in agricultural product.

In typical fashion for the Howard government, we have sold the future for a few measly gains in the present.

Say it isn't so.

2004-11-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

One of the best left leaning blogs is no more. Back Pages is now just a part of web history.

As a relative newcomer, I joined in the discussions during the Federal election. Since then it has been a constant source of information, stimulation and occasional aggravation.

There are going to be a number of lost souls now looking for a site that offers as much as Back Pages has.

I am saddened to see it's end, but Chris has performed a wonderful service for us all.

Having become a blogging addict, I can well understand how it would interfere with trying to maintain focus on a serious writing endeavour.

Best of luck with your book, Chris. The bloggosphere will miss your input.

Most of all thanks for a truly enriching journey.

Sitting in a bunker, here behind my wall.

2004-11-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the worms,
the worms to come.

- Pink Floyd

And the first one is George Pell.

A fine move, lets kill the secular state, it really is the cause of all our problems. Worst of all, it's to blame for the rise in intolerant religous movements such as fundamentalist Islam.

Of course, he wasn't advocating that the Church take over, just that our democracy should be based on their particular set of moral rules. Let's take a look at some of his argument:

"But think for a moment what it means to say that there can be no other form of democracy than secular democracy. Does democracy need a burgeoning billion-dollar pornography industry to be truly democratic? Does it need an abortion rate in the tens of millions? Does it need high levels of marriage breakdown, with the growing rates of family dysfunction that come with them? Does democracy need legalised euthanasia, extending to children under the age of 12? Does democracy need assisted reproductive technology (such as IVF) and embryonic stem cell research? Does democracy really need these things? What would democracy look like if you took some of these things out of the picture? Would it cease to be democracy? Or would it actually become more democratic?"

A nice set of highly emotive questions, all loaded to point out the failure of secular democracy, at least in the eyes of conservative religous values.

You see, I thought in our current system that we were allowed to argue about such issues, and then make a decision on them. Indeed, even though many have believed some of these are battles that have been fought and won, they never truly go too far away. Thus our current secular democracy allows the other side the right to restate their case, and with enough support, possibly change the current status. Under George Pell's system we are no longer able to debate moral issues such as these. Instead, some other power -he never tells us who - gets to decide what things are actually debatable on the basis of some unquestionable moral scale.

That he is openly talking about such things suggests to me that the powers behind the scenes in the Conservative's recent election victories are now starting to want their pound of flesh.

How many more are waiting in line?

I wonder which worm will be coming for me next?

Everything has to start with something.

2004-11-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

My first post and the start of a brand new adventure in thought for me.

At the moment, my mind is too full of swirling concepts too actually know where this will lead, but I suppose that is the whole point of the exercise!