AUSTRALIANS AT WAR

AUSTRALIANS AT WAR
THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY is a compelling factual history of neoconservatism and its influence on US Foreign Policy in the Middle East during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Click on image above for details.

Friday, September 30, 2005

LATHAM LEAVES THE LEFT HIGH AND DRY WHILE LIVING OFF THE PROCEEDS OF TELLING US WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE ALP

Latham has exposed the soft underbelly of what is supposed to be Australia’s Labor Party. He has shown us what a sham it really all is – self-serving and opportunistic with most of its leadership nothing more than parasites on the backs of its grass-roots membership and true believers. I doubt though that it will shake up the ALP.

And therein lays the real disappointment about Latham. He’s exposed the ALP for what it really is but has left those of us on the left high and dry by refusing to follow through and do something about it preferring, instead, to skulk at home while raking in the proceeds from his Diaries.

Get over it Latham. Lead something!!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

HOW TO FINANCE HEALTH, AGED CARE AND EDUCATION WITHOUT RAISING TAXES

Jay White over at Webdiary wonders how the left, in this case the Greens, would finance their policies. One way of raising billions of dollars without having to tax any one a single cent is to simply get shot of these big buck offence – sorry, I mean defence – projects the Howard government has going at the moment. There’s $530 million on the 59 (that’s about $8 million a pop; and one $2.00 Molotov cocktail and it does go pop) totally useless M1A1 Abrams tanks that will never fire a shot in anger in Australia, (unless Howard has something else in mind for them here). Then there is the Air Warfare Destroyers which are designed specifically to attack off-shore nations (since we are an island nation-state). The savings here would be a massive $6 billion! Then there is the $200 million on ‘anti-terrorism’. Then there is the millions being spent on upgrading our F-111s and F/A-18s. And how can we forget the millions for the new light-weight torpedoes? (When was the last time the RAN fired a torpedo at any one?)

In this so-called war against terrorism will we be using all this stuff to blow away some bloke with a suspicious looking knapsack on his back? No? Then why do we need it?

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

MARGO KINGSTON’S WEBDIARY CAVES IN TO THE RIGHT-WING

Sadly, I am now wondering about the ‘future of fair dinkum journalism’ as portrayed by Margo Kingston and her newly independent Webdiary. When Margo first moved from SMH to set up shop on her own, I, as did so many others, applauded the move and bathed in the breath of fresh air that seemed to pervade the new world of people’s journalism and was excited about the future as I envisioned a truly global exponentially growing network of people bloggers that linked with one another via sites just like this new Webdiary. But now, I’m very much afraid to say, I am wondering if that applause was premature.

Within the bounds of decency and respect for one’s fellows, Margo provided a forum within which people of every political persuasion could vigorously exchange views, ideas and comments. Debates became often heated and diverged from the various thread subjects. Margo and her editors worked hard at editing postings to keep ad hominem views clear of much of this often over-heated and sometimes over-vigorous commentary without allowing the life to be sucked out of the essence of that commentary and those views.

Then the inevitable happened.

Someone from Margo’s much cherished right-wing complained of the nature of that commentary and the views of the left – with me being actually named by one of those that complained. Another that had complained had threatened not to be involved any more with Webdiary (though I notice that since I have been virtually excluded from taking any further part in Webdiary, that that person has since returned to the forum).

This is a great shame.

But what is even more of a shame is Webdiary’s apparent compliance with the right-wing’s demands for more temperate rhetoric from the left.

The result has been the censorship and heavy editing of much of the left’s more radical opinion and commentary – certainly, at least, of mine. The overall result is that Webdiary has caved in to the right for what seems to be purely commercial reasons. Margo has made no bones about the importance of right-wing commentators coming over to her new Webdiary after she shifted from SMH. Their move, Margo inferred, was crucial to the success of her new venture. With the success of the new venture in terms of political audience, will also come financial success – provided Margo can maintain the right-wing’s participation. What seems to be happening is that the left is being moderated, edited and, in my case, fully censored, out of fear of annoying the right to the extent that they leave Webdiary high and dry and without point.

I offered compromise which I thought would be acceptable. I suggested that Margo allow me to continue commenting as I have on Webdiary. If Margo continued to feel the need to censor and/or heavily edit to keep the right-wingers happy, then that’s fine – provided that Margo would link to this blogsite where I would post the full uncensored and unedited version of my post.

Hamish Alcorn, Margo’s brother and hard working editor, wrote back to me saying that he would take it up with Margo but was about to have a couple of days off. But in the light of further posts I have made being all but totally censored and without any explanation from Margo, who was clearly at the time sitting in the editor’s chair, I have no option but to accept that my views are no longer welcome by Webdiary.

A fine but short-lived experiment that has quickly degenerated into just another mediocre chat room for middle-class non-intellectual political centrists who haven’t a hope of bringing meaningful insight, let alone change, to a desperately anaemic Australian political landscape.