Blogs

Published in
Bad Subjects issue 69: Political Education for Everyday Life (University of California, Berkeley)

'Work for the Dole'

Now work for the dole, you bastards
Take that gleam of hope from your eye
Just work for the dole, you bastards
Or watch your children die

We've got batons and bullets, you bastards
We'll see you all toe the line
But we'd keep you down much better
If it weren't for these communist swine
('Workers Art', 1933)

Submitted to The Emperor's New Cothes Newsletter

Published in XMag, September 2004

Published in New Politics, Issue 37

From the great French and American revolutions of the late 18th century, democracy and civil rights have been expanded both across nation-states and in scope. This has been by no means an easy course, with many and varied attempts of imperial restoration, the rise of republican dictatorships based on the nation-state and dedicated to war, formal exclusions on the basis of sex, sexuality, 'race', ethnicity and class and the subtle and pervasive effects of reducing direct democracy in favour of public relations management and continuing the structural distortions from economic disparities. Proponents of democracy and liberty should however take heart as the early days of the twenty-first century indicate a world that is substantially improved when compared to one hundred years previous.

My good friend from aus.politics, "fasgnadh", posted this little gem to said newsgroup:

"Former Liberal Party President, John Elliot, gave some insight into his personal philosophy and priorities when in court to try and get back his licence after drink driving offences."

"He was prompted three times by magistrate Peter Mealy to express the worst consequences of driving after drinking excessively" - The Herald Sun 2/8/03

"Bad publicity and inconvenience to his family." - Jack offered.

Try again.

"Mmmm, well, a heavy fine and possible jail."

There are competing definitions of race. Some are slang, some are scientific. Some are ambiguous and some are precise. Some are falsifiable and some exist purely on the strength of those that assert them.

Personally, I prefer the scientific, the precise, the falsifiable.

This is one particular definition, from a third-year zoology course from Olkahoma State University which I reckon is pretty good.

"Definition of Race: A race is a geographically circumscribed population or set of populations that differ from all other populations of a species.

Title TRANSPORT (FURTHER MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) BILL
House ASSEMBLY
Activity
Second Reading
Members LEIGH Date28 May 2002 Page1703

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Is this government fair dinkum about fare evasion? In my view it is not. Why is this so? Let me tell the house about a gentleman by the name of Mr Lev Lafayette, who is actually part of the Victorian ALP. This guy is the no. 1 fare evader in the state of Victoria.

The following is written from my preliminary observer’s perspective between the periods of September 11 and October 27, 2002 and as such is probably going to need future revision. However, the key elements of history and influence have been noted and at very least provide sufficient information from which future inquiries may take place. Particular emphasis is placed on the myth and practices of the Tetun people, but by no means exclusively so.

Clerk Assistant (Committees)

House of Representatives

Parliament House

CANBERRA ACT 2600

email: committee.reps@aph.gov.au

Just over a year ago the prospect of a Coalition-led third term victory seemed improbable. Now Labor has lost one of its safest seats in the country, with a swing of over 16% to the Greens. The Labor Party should at the very least be doing some serious soul-searching after such a debacle.