happy garden

I have such a happy garden at the moment, not just because the Sunflowers are smiling, but for the Gymea Lilly (doryanthes excelsa) which is flowering on the left of the photo. The long spike/stalk is about three metres tall and how smart of this species to grow above the ground cover and let the wind and insects aid its pollination. Check out the text link for more information. Beautiful native plant used in urban and roadside landscapes because of their hardy and decorative nature. I bought this for my Father about 7 years ago and it is amazing to believe it was a small, pot-contained, cutting. My camera phone does not do justice to the lovely, red-shiraz, hues of its blossom. You can buy just the stalks at the Sydney Flower Market and cut to size they will last in the home for weeks. Please disregard the woeful state of the brussels sprouts that one might just make out as having been ravaged by an entomological member of the ecosystem. Left click for a larger, if unfocused image.

zero motorcycles

I went to the Global Climate Change Conference and all I got was Zero! But you too can get Zero with the electric powered Zero motorcycle (pictured above) more quiet than the aftermath of a biker-gang party (aka Copenhagen). Think of the street credo (and environmental kudos) you will get from the self-disciplined, commuter savvy, 50 kilometre range, clean ride. Top speed? environmental and electrifying! and your way to being a real global leader. For a better reading experience this post should be viewed while listening to the Leader of the Pack,
by the Shangri Las.

more Internet Filtering

Readers may remember my previous posts about Mandatory Internet Filtering in Australia (please check the links in the text for background). Senator Stephen Conroy the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy released a statement on Tuesday declaring the testing phase of this policy was over and the government had proof that Mandatory Filtering had zero impact on Internet speeds. Furthermore next year, legislation would be introduced into Parliament to censor the Internet. The aim would be to ban specific ISP addresses from November 2010. This gives time for the operators of ISP address to submit their online site to the Australian Government for permission to operate on the Internet. Australia now joins China and Iran, in banning Internet Freedom for its citizens.

Senator Conroy labels, names and shames anyone who objects to this policy as a pedophile or a supporter of child abuse. This is so hypocritical of the Minister because the largest demographic for Child Abuse continues to be Politicians, Clergy, School Teachers and Police.

However on reflection pursuing and prosecuting offenders who use the Internet for dangerous activities is a worthy cause because of the harm these activities exact on our communities. But since Federation the process of authoritarian Law and Order has failed to extinguish crime. Perhaps it is a time for a new approach? Allowing people to publish these matters online to expose criminals and secure convictions. Unfortunately Mandatory Internet Filtering will just drive conspirators and offenders metaphorically underground.

The Australian Government can control the internet in Australian because we do not have a freedom of speech. Only a freedom of political communication inherited from the United Kingdom’s common law, which is enforced by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (not quite an Orwellian title). Also Australian sovereign power is invested in the Parliaments, not the people, who only elect the three tiers of government. These Parliaments then choose and appoint the authorities who administer the separation of powers. The Internet threatens this authority because it empowers citizens to become politically active whether playing a computer game or managing a community action group online.

Specifically it is the freedom of using English or any language on the Internet, which most frightens Stephen Conroy, the Australian Government and anyone in authority. Language is vital to the legitimacy of authority, through the administration of law and how government justifies the legality of its power. Melvyn Bragg specifically talks about this relationship between authority and English language in his book the Adventure of the English Language. In recent history improper speech, scolding, railing, cursing and blasphemy were crimes because they offended authority. Today: threatening (assault), slander, perjury, defying authority (hinder police etc.) are still crimes of English language usage, which cannot be prosecuted when articulated on the Internet. Especially when they are expressed in new media forms such as You Tube.

Mandatory Internet Filtering is an attempt to gain control of language because this is how Governments and political elites legitimise their authority.

Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry the architect is visiting Sydney to talk to the University Of Technology Sydney (UTS) about a new business college (faculty) building at their Ultimo site. Ultimo is an inner city suburb to the south of Darling Harbour, which is in need of some urban planning and revitalisation.

U.T.S. has really come of age as an education provider and along with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) has found a niche market in high-end applied and vocational tertiary education and research. Previously people have argued that UTS was just a glorified TAFE (community college) but International student revenue has allowed the vice chancellor to out-compete many of Australia’s sandstone universities (Ivy League). Its city centre campus value-adds to the resources of their students because of the off-campus facilities, access to transport, nearby museums and galleries, libraries (the Mitchell across town has a collection to die for) music recitals, surprisingly affordable shopping and every thing a vibrant Asia Pacific City has to offer. A sign post of this success is Frank Gehry’s colloboration in future planning.

Usually when a celebrity or talented person, finally, visits Australia it means they are washed up elsewhere (check out Seinfeld’s pathetic bank commercials) but in Frank Gehry’s case he is very welcome indeed. Mr. Gehry had a wonderful interview with Kerry O’Brien on the 7.30 report, which was metaphorically music to my ears when he talked about the much maligned architect in project development and how computer aided design is now including the Architect through to project completion. Also he talked about how the cities of the world are so uniform in concrete blocks of square and rectangle buildings.

However I also wonder if Mr. Gehry was talking to his audience when he said in the interview that when he went to build the Guggenheim in Bilbao they asked him for a Sydney Opera House concept. And that Sydney reminded him of Los Angeles in the late 1940’s because of the citiy's freedom's? But still wonderfull that Sydney is getting some creative input into town planning.

Check-out the transcripts, at the links, in the text, and the photo above is one of my favourate pop-up books because of its interaction with Gehry’s ideas! 

the good soldiers

Some months ago Leigh Sales the Lateline anchor in Australia interviewed David Finkel the author of the Good Soldiers a book about the 2/16 Ranger Battalion’s experiences in Iraq as part of General Petraeus's surge strategy  in Iraq (Petraeus recently received the Order of Australia). It was such a heartfelt and poignant interview that I decided to put David Finkel’s work on my reading, to do list.

The subject matter is a tough read because I was against the Iraq War. One reason for my objection was the Australian Wheat Board’s practice of paying bribes to the Hussein regime for grain supply contracts before and during the war? Support then destroy? Does anyone know if it is true that on the eve of the war Saddam Hussein telephoned Tony Blair asking him why he was invading his country when all of his governments monetary assets were in Barclay‘s Bank?

Leigh Sales declared to David Finkel that she was in awe of his work and truly it is an amazing achievement because it gives a voice to people whose experiences most recently have been gagged, excluded, censored, and ignored. Pathetic!! (Coincidentally information about Australian Soldiers in Afghanistan is restricted because the Special Air Service Regiment has a Top Secret classification. How convenient?)

Although its story and message is heartfelt I kept wondering whether I had read this before? Black Hawk Down (now a video game?) illustrates the Clinton administration’s involvement in Somalia with similar challenges faced by Ranger's through poor cultural and political intelligence, poor equipment choices, partnerships with corrupt officials, news-media driven strategy (bit of an oxymoron considering the content of this post) and soldiers not specifically trained in urban warfare or counterinsurgency. The designation and philosophy of the Ranger creed is a signpost in itself.

Watch point: The repetitive unanswered question for the Untied States of America is why if in a Jefferson Democracy, sovereign power, is governed by the people, do they continue to allow its youth to be destroyed in war and then make their communities carry the burden of its consequences? 

wolf blog

One meets some excellent people while Blogging. Recently I was over at the Arctic Wolf Centre-Online and was intrigued by Brutus the Arctic Wolf who is a remote Blog author, communicating through his Global Positioning Collar. Brutus uploads the progress of his pack as he navigates them through the tundra of Ellesmere Island. He has some nice family pics too. Check out the link in the text. Amazing leadership from a tech savvy pack who really puts many human efforts to shame. Also he is able to get some political credo for his family who are some of the most impacted by climate change. An injustice that he or his representative was not invited to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
Bad Humans.

lord nelson

I have not been blogging so much in the last month because I have been emersed in reading of The Pursuit of Victory: the life and achievments of Horatio Nelson by Roger Knight. Nelson has been a large figure in English history that I have hardly investigated and just accepted as a topic of political nationalism. I am usually able to sit and read a novel or smaller book, straight, through but with this biography it was something I had to put down and reflect on.

Knight’s dialogue is well written and flows easily. Full of excellent footnotes and interesting facts and lists it is a well researched history and biography. It has good appendices but the glossary was not as comprehensive as I would have wished for because of the nautical terms. Some chapters left me feeling antagonistic and engendered feelings of anger and resentment. Perhaps I get too involved with the adventure. Although this is not a Patrick O’Brien or C.S. Forester novel but an interesting counter point to Jane Austen’s world and stories. Was Nelson a great man? Did he pursue and achieve victory?

Hhmmm….. This so going to sound like a cop-out but I think reading Knight’s book is a personal experience, which one has to travel with, alone. Nelson definately was a different person who won the loyalty and convinced others to follow him. For an interesting contrast Powder Monkey by Paul Doswell would give the reader an interesting ballance on regency naval history.