Throwing stones from the glasshouse

In light of the recent events in Burma, we as individual citizens struggle with how we can be an effective force of assistance and change. We want to help, but we don’t know how our solo voice will ever be heard.

When one joins an ‘association’ ‘collective’ or even a union, the power to be heard is much stronger. During my union days, I was always trying to get people on board, and everytime I asked colleagues, they would in turn ask, “What has the union ever done for me?”, as if ‘the union’ was simply that small group of 10 people who worked in Head Office. They had missed the point that we are the union, we are the collective, we are the association.

‘United we stand, divided we fall’ is the mantra of the collective. In regard to Burma, this should be the mantra of ASEAN – The Association of South East Asian Nations. As a collective, they could put enormous pressure on the Burmese Junta. But they are weak, and have hid behind their ‘charter’ or ‘vision statement’ as an explanation as to why they are failing to do anything.

ASEAN has stated that it is up to individual member countries to deal with the Junta as they see fit, as there should be:

“non-interference in the internal affairs of one another”

http://www.aseansec.org/64.htm

What then is the purpose of this group if you cannot as a group, be the ‘tough friend’ and work together to better the region? Is it ok to gather for meetings where there are lots of handshakes and smiles, but not much else? There should have been an urgent meeting of the ASEAN nations called,and action taken. But no. It’s charter is a charter of loopholes, which allows them to get out of sticky situations, such as dealing with the Burmese, or the constant unstable political situation in Thailand.

Apart from the abovementioned principles, here are others:

• mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations; 
• the right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion.
• settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner;
• renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
• effective cooperation among themselves.

http://www.aseansec.org/64.htm

As you can see, their principles don’t get any more concrete or real. Their charter basically consists of a ‘leave my country alone and I’ll leave yours alone’ approach.

So why do these groups exist? Do they exist for the purpose of being merely a mutual admiration society? The Arab League is another such organisation. It gathers, discusses, and doesn’t do much else. In its charter, similar wording exists, with phrases like “…to safeguard their independence and sovereignty” and “…consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries.” Where has the Arab League been in regard to the upheaval in the Middle East these last few years, whether that be questioning the legitimacy of the rule of Eqyptian President Mubarak,the rights of women in Saudi Arabia, or the imerging strength of Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda? The list could go on. I am sure all of us could add to it. As one journalist recently said, “It’s a spent force.” But then again, they have only ever promised to ‘consider in a general way’. Once must have an escape clause.

Like ASEAN, these so called ‘associations’ are nothing more than an excuse to spend time in a 5 star resort with old friends. Whether they spend their time getting drunk and singing Karaoke, or passing the Shisha pipe around, both groups have yet to show that their collective voice has been a force for real stability and change, and results have been achieved through tough negotiations. 

Until that happens, no one is going to give them any credit.

Enjoy your day.

Just when you thought the US Presidential race is becoming boring, along comes Governor Kathleen Sibelius.

Kathleen who? Yes, I know, I said the same. But this 59 year old Governor of Kansas in America’s Mid-West has just emerged as the strongest contender for the post of Barack Obama’a running mate, should he be the Democratic party’s nominee to take on Senator John McCain in November.

Why this lady? What has she got that others haven’t? Hardly anyone knows her compared to other names being thrown about. That’s exactly why she is the frontrunner; she is a relative unknown. Two, she has been an enormously successful Governor of Kansas since assuming office in 2003. Three, she is from the mid-west, an area whose inhabitants Barack Obama supposedly criticised earlier this year. Four, she can get to the voters Obama can’t get to. And finally, not only is she a woman, but take a good look at her. Have you seen anyone so similar looking to Hillary Clinton? She is also only 2 years younger than Hillary Clinton. Obama knows that Hillary gets the voters he can’t. As I have said before, there is not a snowflake’s chance in hell that he and Hillary will ever team up, so why not pick a virtual clone of the woman. If you can’t have Hillary, Obama will give you the next best thing.

I have noticed today, too, that John Edwards has endorsed Barack Obama. Edwards concerns me; always has. He is now endorsing Obama, when he knows that backing Clinton is like backing the 500-1 shot at the local horse race. Yet again he is hanging off the popular man’s coat tails like he did with John Kerry in 2004, and got himself a shot at the VP’s job. They say that Edwards has substance. Well, all I see is a good looking show pony who can’t commit to anything until he knows if it’s a vote winner or not. If someone has any views to the contrary, please put me straight.

As you know, for a long time I have been a favourite of Governor Bill Richardson, and that I think he would make a superb running mate for Barack Obama. But the little I have seen of Governor Sibelius, like in this clip from YouTube, she seems to possess the same qualities of being a straight talker with an easygoing manner, like Richardson. It’s good to know that Obama has such a good pool of people who he can choose from. If he chooses Edwards, it would be suicidal.

The spooky thing is, today is also her birthday, as well as the birthday of another spirited straight talking woman…my mother.

Things could get interesting from now on.

Enjoy your day…and Happy 70th Birthday Mum!

The other day I wrote a tragic art tale about a starving dog, but today I saw what I think is a great piece of portrait art. I not only think it is excellent, but it takes me back to my University days when I studied an Australian artist with very set ideas on painting nudes.

The above painting is called “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” and it was painted by Lucien Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud, the great psychoanalyst. Christie’s Auctions today sold the painting for a record $US33million, exceeding a previous record of $US23.6 million last November. To say it is worth that much is another story, but I was more interested in the painters reasons why he painted this rather large woman in such an unflattering way.

This is not the first time an extremely chubby woman has been painted in the history of portrait painting. Boticelli was famous for it. As a guide said to my class as we made our way through the art gallery in Melbourne as young students; “He always loved to paint women who were deliciously plump.” However, Boticelli painted them in very flattering ways, bordering on sensual. Freud, on the other hand, has painted this lady with all bumps and lumps in full view, and not looking terribly comfortable. The reason he did this is because:

“I paint people not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/14/2244978.htm?section=entertainment

The reason I say it takes me back to my University days, is because of the above reason Freud gives. He paints people as they ‘happen to be’. One of my favourite artists at the time – and still is – was Australian John Brack (1920-1999), who was most famous for his painting Collins St. 5pm (1956).

He, too, studied people, and drew what he saw. He took people, ‘as they were’. That was the beauty of his work. Real people. Real times. Real events. However, his take on the nude subject was very different to Freud. 

Nude In an Armchair 1957

To Brack, the nude wasn’t important. He once said that he much preferred painting what was surrounding the nude. The rug, the floorboards, the chair, the dressing gown were far more interesting. What reminded me of Brack was Freud’s detailed depiction of the couch that the model is on. But with Freud, what was on the couch was just as detailed.

It is nice to look at something that rekindles old passions from within, and my passion in my student days was the art of John Brack. When people look at Freud’s painting, they see a fat woman on a couch. When I look at it, I go back about 16 years, when I first truly appreciated the art of a master.

Enjoy your day.

Just when we thought the situation in Burma was bad, China now faces at least 12,000 people dead after the massive earthquake that has hit the South west province of Sichuan.

Thousands are still trapped under rubble, which is common after earthquakes, and aid agencies all around the world are pushed to their limits in trying to assist the Chinese, as well as the Burmese.

This news comes out at the same time we are hearing that the Junta in Burma are keeping all the aid we are sending, and giving its people rotting food, or only a quarter of the supplies it receives. We now know why they asked for international assistance, but not personnel. They want it to be like Christmas morning for them, and more misery for their people. But what would we expect from a regime that has been treating their people like rubbish for over 40 years.

China is a different story. Yes, human rights are an issue. Yes, freedoms are restricted. But in a case like this, the government will assist its people, the military will have been on the ground assisting, and they will allow aid in, plus personnel.

I was having an interesting discussion with a colleague today about our dealings with China, sparked of course by this tragedy. I believe we need to re-think our discussions with China, and work the negotiations about issues in a more clever way. China does support and prop up Burma. It does support and prop up North Korea, and it does support and prop up the Sudanese government, which is the sole contributor to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. China wields a lot of power. 

I am not for one moment suggesting we go ‘cap in hand’ to the Chinese, or pander to everything they say and do. That simply looks pathetic, in the eyes of the Chinese, and in the eyes of our own people. What I am saying has been demonstrated recently by Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia. He visited China, spoke strongly to them about human rights, but walked away a great and dear friend of the Chinese people and government. All governments need to strike that healthy balance with the Chinese, create a real mutual respect where both sides can be ‘critical friends’ and then we, as western countries, can pursuade the Chinese to swing their quite substantial bat the way of Burma, North Korea, and Sudan. Knowing what I know of asian cultures, clever diplomacy is the absolute key.

In the light of the criticisms of the Burmese Junta, the Chinese government is going to do everything it can to stay in the good books with the west, and welcome assistance with open arms. This proves that they need us as much as we need them. So let’s use that to get a better deal for those who are not being heard.

If you wish to donate to the China Earthquake Appeal, you can go to http://www.worldvision.org/ They are currently assessing the situation there, and will be able to keep you posted.

Enjoy your day.

Today I received an email from a friend asking me to sign a petition. Scanning it, I saw that it had something to do with animal cruelty, so I read on further. As I read more closely, what I read - and then saw as I followed it up on Google – was nothing short of shocking, abhorrent, and tragic, on many levels. I then found this clip on YouTube. This young man explains it so much better than I could:

I have heard some weird things in my time in the name of ’art’, and there is always someone there to justify it. Whether it is a canvas painted black, or a crucifix dipped in urine, somehow the ‘artist’ and his/her ‘art’ always seem to talk their way out of it, and have sappy so called art critics fawning over them, and shouting ‘bravo!’

Well, can anyone justify starving an innocent dog to death for the sake of art? Has the ‘artist’ lost all sense, or has he done this extreme act to simply show how if you bullshit the elite enough, they will swallow anything as art?

What is more disturbing is not the fact that this ‘artist’ did this, or that the art gallery permitted it. It is watching the people, the patrons, the ordinary citizens, come in, drink, snack, chat, and nonchalently ignore this mistreated animal at their feet!  Didn’t anyone even twig, just slightly, and think “gee, that’s a very sick dog. What is it doing here? Surely it’s not part of an exhibition?” But no. The dog was dying before their eyes, with the full knowledge of the art gallery directors, and of course the ‘artist’, and it was seen as marvellous. 

The added insult to this poor animal was the fact that the name of the exhibition was put together with pieces of….dog food! Not only did he starve the dog, but he wasted food that could have helped feed that dog or other dogs starving on the streets.

This particular ‘artist’ has made many excuses and justifications for doing what he did, but any decent human being will see no justification for this. If this is seen as acceptable in the eyes of many, then does it open the doors to other animals being starved to death for a quick buck and some notoriety for ‘amazingly revolutionary artwork’? Hey, let’s try a sick human next, maybe a good old cancer patient, or..I know..a new born baby! Now I know I am sounding revolting, but I want you to be repulsed and utterly disgusted. Go to the website that this young man gives you on YouTube, and sign the petition, so that this ’artist’ does not do a repeat performance of this cruel act again.

But hey, let’s go one further, and petition for the close of the particular gallery, because if this is the type of stuff they allow, they do not deserve to be called an ‘art’ gallery.

The following is a direct copy from another person’s blog. I hope they do not mind, but it gives you all the details – and a letter in Spanish – to send to the organisers of the event who are welcoming the ’artist’ and his dying dog art again this year, and to the gallery who allowed him to do it in the first place.

You can also write directly to the “Bienal Artística Centroamericana de Honduras 2008″ that is going to receive him at: bienalcostarica@gmail.com
and also at info@madc.ac.crhttp://www.animanaturalis.org/modules.php?goto=Nvst1_6109

Here is a message of protest that you can send them:

Apreciados Sres.

Les escribo estas palabras para expresar la indignación que me causa que el pseudo artista Guillermo “Habacuc” Vargas haya sido invitado a participar en la Bienal Artística Centroamericana de Honduras 2008.

Este pseudo artista debería estar sancionado y no debería poder participar en ningún evento artístico internacional, por manchar de crueldad y despreciar el verdadero Arte.

No comprendo como es posible que ustedes le hayan invitado de nuevo, después de la exhibición pseudoartística y grosera que mostró en Nicaragua, dejando morir de inanición a un perro.

El Arte jamás debe vulnerar los derechos fundamentales de ninguna animal humano o no humano, les guste o no, el Arte tiene un único límite: la ética.

Les informo que si Guillermo “Habacuc” Vargas está presente en la Bienal Artística Centroamericana de Honduras de 2008, promoveré el boicot a este evento.

Reciban cordiales saludos,
Nombre:
País:

Don’t forget to add your Nombre (= Name) and your Pais (= Country) at the end of the message!

I found this model of letter on an internet page of an association for animals protection in Honduras:

P.S:You can also write to the gallery that welcomed the “artist” and let the dog die at: codice@galeriacodice.com

Make this gallery, its owners, and the organisers of the “Bienal Artística Centroamericana de Honduras 2008″ really hurt for the decisions they have made. Hammer them with emails daily until they banish this pathetic excuse for an ‘artist’. Make his name, Guillermo ‘Habacuc’ Vargas, a name that no one will ever speak in respectable art circles again, anywhere in the world. Make him suffer financially and professionally, just like he made that poor dog suffer in his last days.

I have signed the petition. Please do the same. Thank you.

Enjoy your day. 

Postscript 13/5/08: The above emails have been shut down. I was unable to send my protests to either one. We may have to settle with simply signing the petition. Thank you for your efforts.

Today in many parts of the world, Mothers are being pampered, spoilt, and given the royal treatment by their children. They are told how wonderful they are and thanked for the sacrifices they have made.

For some Mothers, its been one hell of a sacrifice. That is why today’s speech by the Pope marking 40 years since the release of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical letter “Humanae Vitae” (Of Human Life), was so inappropriate. For those of you who are unaware, this was basically a letter outlining the Catholic Church’s ban on artificial contraception. It not only made Catholic parenting harder than it already was, but it placed a lot more pressure on the woman, who was now faced with the possibility of a pregnancy everytime she wanted a bit of nookie with hubby!

You might say that it also put pressure on the father, but I disagree. If a Catholic couple wished to follow the rules of the church, they had to dance through the minefield of a woman’s menstrual cycle, and act like they were goldilocks walking through the three bears’ house, looking for a chair, a bowl of porridge, and a bed that was ‘just right.’ Except this time, they had to find that time in the menstrual cycle that was ‘just right’, and would not produce kiddies. It was the woman who had to keep track, the woman who had to put up with the horny naggings of a husband in need, and the woman who couldn’t follow her natural urges and make love to her husband at will.

Pope Benedict XVI’s speech today celebrated ‘Humanae Vitae’s virtues:

The teaching laid out in the ‘Humanae vitae’ encyclical isn’t easy,” Benedict said.

“What was true yesterday remains true even today. The truth expressed in ‘Humanae vitae’ doesn’t change; on the contrary, in the light of new scientific discoveries, it is ever more up to date,” the pope added.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanae_Vitae

I find his words quite comical, considering this man is a celibate who, if he has followed his vow of celibacy, has not had sex in over 50 years, if at all! To turn around to Mothers on this day of all days and say that this encyclical wasn’t easy, is an insult to Mothers everywhere. How many women could not follow the ‘natural method’ of contraception outlined above? What was that couple supposed to do? Were they supposed to either keep churning out kiddies for God, or give up sex completely?

Th Catholic Church is a world leader in tackling issues of social justice; it always has been. But when it comes to issues regarding sexual morality, or anything to do with ‘the flesh’, it is so out of touch, it is embarrassing. And to celebrate this encyclical today of all days, was ill timed, and insensitive.

A little history on this encyclical, and why it has been so contentious over the years:

With the appearance of the first oral contraceptives in 1960, some voices in the Church argued for a reconsideration of the Church positions. In 1963 Pope John XXIII established a commission of six European non-theologians to study questions of birth control and population. After John’s death in 1963, Pope Paul VI added theologians to the commission and over three years expanded it to 72 members from five continents (including 16 theologians, 13 physicians and 5 women, with an executive committee of 9 bishops and 7 cardinals). The commission produced a report in 1966, proposing that artificial birth control was not intrinsically evil and that Catholic couples should be allowed to decide for themselves about the methods to be employed…….Paul VI explicitly rejected his commission’s recommendations in the text of Humanae Vitae, noting the 72 member commission had not been unanimous (4 theologian priests had dissented, and 1 cardinal and 2 bishops had voted that contraception was intrinsically evil.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanae_Vitae

So the church has made women, and Mothers in particular, suffer for 40 years for an encyclical that should never have happened. It has been said that;

“Pope Paul VI, saddened by the reactions to Humanae Vitae, would not issue any additional encyclicals in the remaining ten years of his pontificate.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanae_Vitae

Looks like someone’s conscience got the better of him.

To all the Mothers out there, including my own Mother, and my sister, I wish you the happiest of Mother’s Days, and may your families truly thank you for all that you are to them.

Enjoy your day.

It was about the only exciting thing that has ever occurred in Australia’s capital city; the building and opening of a new national Parliament building. The old Parliament house was always meant to be ‘temporary’. It opened in 1927, and was a fully functional place of legislative fun and games till the ‘new’ building opened its doors for business in 1988.

This week has seen many old politicians and journalists reminisce about which parliament house was better, the new or the old. Some say the old was full of character, fun, and a real sense that it was what a parliament is meant to be; a people’s house. Others say that the new one is much more functional, and allows those serving within its walls to feel that they are valued, and have a modern, spacious, well equipped workplace.

But parliament buildings all around the world cop flack through the very nature of their design. Whatever they are replacing is always that which we love the most and have affection for. Anything new doesn’t have the same feel, the same smell, the same atmosphere, and is always too young to have the same stories.

When I was visiting the UK in the summer of 2006, I was fortunate to visit the Welsh Parliament building in Cardiff, Wales, as well as the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh. Both have had their fair share of critics. When I was looking for the Scottish Parliament building, I remember asking a gentle old Scottish lady for directions. In telling me where it was, she was still gentle, but there was an edge to her voice, plus the line “oh I, it’s a horrible thing”. She laughed after she said that, but she obviously was none too impressed.

We say we don’t care about politics, but we do take a very keen interest in the building that houses our lawmakers. We want it to look impressive, be functional, and make a mature honest statement about who we are as a people. I have never been to the Australian parliament building, because it would mean going to Canberra, and on saying one wants to go to Canberra, the invariable question is always “why?” It unfortunately is not known for much else apart from being the nation’s capital, home of the Federal Parliament, and residence of the Prime Minister.

Ah well, Happy Birthday to the ‘new’ Paliament building. Just let me know when it stops being ‘new’.

‘We shape our buildings: thereafter they shape us.’
Winston Churchill

Enjoy your day.

It really was an eventful moment in world political history, albeit a tad bizarre. US First Lady, Laura Bush decided that this morning she would make a statement from the White House briefing room. This never happens. Whatever did little Miss Passive have to say? I do declare!

Well, it turns out that she had a bee in her bonnet about the military junta in Burma, in the light of the cyclone that has ripped through the country.

“Bush . . . called the Burmese regime ‘very inept’ and urged it to cancel plans for a referendum later this week, which she said would ‘give false legitimacy to their continued rule.’ “

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/06/BL2008050601369.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Strong words from a southern belle. I personally like the use of the words ‘very inept’. I just wish someone would have asked what she thought of her husband’s response to Hurricane Katrina. From what I remember watching news reports at the time, one of his most valuable contributions during that time was when he was visiting Biloxi, Mississippi – the real disaster was in New Orleans, but hey, there are casinos in Biloxi – and sprouting forth these pearly words of heightened observation when asked about the situation on the ground:

“There’s a lot of water, and a lot of people.”

What a brain surgeon! If there were any more inept words that could have come out of his mouth at that time, I’d like to know what they could have been. Laura Bush seems to have had her blinkers on today, or she has a very selective memory. Here she is jumping up and down saying that the US is ready to help at a moment’s notice. That’s lovely Mrs. Bush, but can you ask your husband when he is ever going to offer that same level of assistance to New Orleans which, as far as I know, is still reeling from the disaster, and in some places, is in exactly the same state as it was directly after the hurricane.

Her husband was useless in his response to 9/11 when he sat in that classroom with a stupid look on his face having not a clue what to do during the biggest human attack of our time. He again sat on his hands during the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States in recent memory, and she has the gall to turn around, break precedent and address the press from within the briefing room to call another government inept.

No one argues with her in her view on the regime in Burma. But she needs to travel down to New Orleans and say to the hundreds of people whose lives are ruined, that her husband, and his government, were not inept, and are still not inept when it comes to handling a major crisis.

But wait, there’s more! She not only was blinkered in her view of inept people. The focus of this highly important unprecedented press conference ended up as a cute little natter about her daughter’s wedding! Oh sure, 50,000++ people are dead, and hundreds of thousands are homeless and injured, at the mercy of disease, and this is where her mind really was:

Q. “Is it true there is an altar of limestone –”

Mrs. Bush: “That’s right, the President told that this morning on ‘ Good Morning America.’ This was his idea, to build this beautiful limestone altar, and it’s the Texas limestone — the same that our house is made out of — from a local quarry, and they’re the ones that made it — ”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/06/BL2008050601369.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Go back to washing your husband’s clothes, and getting him his pipe and his slippers, Laura. The role of the dutiful southern wife suits you much better.

Enjoy your day.

The latest news out of Burma is that Cyclone Nargis has claimed 15,000 lives, with 30,000 people still unaccounted for. For Burma this is yet another devastating blow after the Junta cracked down on dissenting monks and other citizens in the uprising last year.

This cyclone, and the devastation it has caused, has been compared to the Tsunami that swept through parts of South-East Asia in December 2004. In the aftermath of that disaster, rescue efforts were difficult, but governments made rescue workers lives as easy as they could in order to save as many lives as possible. In this disaster, rescue workers are faced with a military Junta who allows nothing to go unnoticed, with news reporters having to report of happenings in Burma from neighbouring Thailand. When Hurricane Katrina happened, the very well resourced US government let the residents of New Orleans swim in their own muck, when they could have done something. Imagine what it is going to be like getting any help from military dictators?

One of my colleagues is Burmese, and one of the gentlest, kindest men you could ever have the fortune of meeting. He is putting on a brave face, but the fact is there are no phones, no electricity, and there is no water. He has no way of knowing anything. For any of us that would be heartbreaking. 

The Burmese are a passive, gentle people. It saddens me to see them have to go through this level of human disaster so soon after their lives have got back to some sort of normality after the crackdown.The Junta has agreed to put aside its rod of dominance for just a short time and help get this country back on track, and its people in some sort of decent shelter with at least some of the basics of life. As Rev. Tim Costello from World Vision Australia has said today:

“For the Burmese government to say “help” when usually they say “no, this is our country, stay out” is significant.”

Maybe this will be the first of many times the Junta will ask its neighbours for assistance. Out of this monumental disaster could spring forth a prosperous and democratic future. They say things happen for a reason. One can never tell, but we can always hope.

If you live in Australia and you would like to donate to World Vision, they have a Myanmar Cyclone Appeal. Simply click on this link.

http://www.worldvision.com.au/emergency/myanmarCyclone.asp?isource=64

If you are from other parts of the world, you can go to http://www.worldvision.com and look  for your particular country there. Go to the article on Myanmar, scroll down and choose your particular country’s website.

I have attached a clip from Youtube. It is from Burmese television, hence the Burmese language commentary, but it’s the best footage I have seen of the devastation.

Enjoy your day. The Burmese won’t be enjoying anything for a while yet.

Even though I am an Australian of the Melbourne persuasion, events in Sydney have stirred an angry response from within me, and my anger is firmly aimed at the one group of people that I have always defended; unionists.

For those of you not familiar with the state of New South Wales – whose capital city is Sydney – the head of government, Premier Morris Iemma (pronounced Yemma), has a monumental fight on his hands. He wants to privatise the electricity assets of the state, as he believes that in the very near future, the state government will not be able to fund the electricity needs of the nearly 7 million residents of New South Wales on its own.

Now this is not simply a ‘let’s sell off the state’s assets to make a quick buck’ approach. Mr. Iemma has sat down, crunched the figures, and genuinely believes that the only way he can ensure effective supply into the future is to privatise. He believes passionately in this solution, and is willing to go against his Labor party conference delegates, who voted 702-107 against the proposal at their conference this weekend in Sydney.

Not only am I impressed with Mr.Iemma’s strength of character at this tough time, but I am also disgusted in the union thuggery that I am seeing coming out of the conference. I have been a union man in my time, and intend to be in the future. I believe in the existence of some sort of employee body to make sure employers don’t work us from dawn till dusk and pay us peanuts. But what I have never been a fan of is left wing thug union bosses who will send the boys around with a baseball bat if you don’t agree with them. It’s criminal, it’s wrong, and it holds no place amongst decent people who believe in a fair go for workers.

Mr. Iemma has faced a few of these ‘thugs’ since making the decision to go against his party and follow his logic on this issue:

Russ Collison from the Australian Workers’ Union urged Mr Iemma to back down.

“In no uncertain terms – no uncertain terms – don’t you dare, and you do it at your peril,” he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/04/2234724.htm

That is pure threat, and it sickens me to my stomach. What’s this Mr. Collison going to do, get his meatheads to give Mr. Iemma ‘a little talk’? Guys like Russ Collison give unionism a bad name, and the action that should be taken by the Labor party in New South Wales is to black ban Russ Collison and anyone who thinks like him.

Simply being left wing does not necessarily mean being ‘communist’, ’socialist’ or ‘a bit Bolshi’. That’s usually reserved for those at the extreme end of the left. The Labor party members in New South Wales need to be grateful to Morris Iemma for keeping them in power after the retirement of former Premier, Bob Carr. Iemma won them the unwinnable election. Bob Carr has weighed into the debate, saying Iemma should stick to his guns on this issue, and he has cited similar reasons to me in regard to the ‘rank and file’ of the New South Wales Labor party:

“I think the Labor rank and file – and I love them like brothers and sisters – are very attached to an old fashioned, even Soviet-style model of the Government electricity monopoly producing all the energy we need and distributing it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/04/2234724.htm

The reason why people hate the left is because some of us still have our heads in this very communistic style of thinking. If I was Morris Iemma and a union boss threatened me like that, I would have three very simple words to say to him: “Bring…it…on!”

If Iemma does not follow through with this proposal, and bows to thuggery and intimidation, then in 2020, when the government cannot fund electricity, and therefore cannot guarantee supply, the citizens of New South Wales will jump up and down and say “Why wasn’t anything done all those years ago to stop this happening?”

Well, something was, and you voted it down.

Enjoy your day.