Will’s View

Well, we all know what I think about elections. So it may not come as a surprise that I am well and truly sick of the hype for the upcoming Australian Federal Election.

I’m not going to sit here and rant about compulsory voting or anything like that. Nor do I intend to talk about who is going to win (I’m pretty sure everyone knows that Howard can’t possibly win again). Instead I intend to talk briefly about ‘The Worm’.

Ever since it featured in the recent leaders’ debate and showed that Howard’s popularity was plummeting, its own popularity has seen a sharp increase. In a time when the people’s opinion is said to matter the most, it is not surprising that The Worm is winning this campaign. Who knows, it could even make a better PM than either candidate running in the election.

It is surprising however that in this age of free speech and freedom of opinion (in Australia at least) that The Worm should be censored. There was a large kerfuffle about the feed of the debate being cut to the current affairs program 60 Minutes. Should it have been done? Well, they were in direct contravention of a Government order (so far as I can tell), but shouldn’t the opinions of a select group of specifically chosen voters be shown off to the nation? Maybe the worm should decide?

--> Well, we all know what I think about elections. So it may not come as a surprise that I am well and truly sick of the hype for the upcoming Australian Federal Election. I’m not going to sit here and rant about compulsory voting or anything like that. Nor do I intend to talk about who is going to win (I’m pretty sure everyone knows that Howard can’t possibly win again). Instead I intend to talk briefly about (More...)

Sorry for my recent absence from this medium. I have been inundated with various assignments, and RageBoy rehearsals/performances. Whilst walking home from one particular show last week, I was most upset to find it had started raining. On the short walk home I was most surprised to see a young lad holding an umbrella for a girl, as the two hurriedly headed for shelter.

“Surprised?” you ask? Well, yeah. I had hitherto thought that ethics and chivalry were dying faster than the Ozone Layer. It is not often that one sees a person give their seat to an elderly person, or other such acts that would have been commonplace in past generations. Where did all the good manners go? Whatever happened to holding doors open for ladies, pursuit of the truth at all costs, and generosity of heart?

I cannot help but place the blame squarely on current societal trends in first world countries. We are surrounded by people who think primarily of themselves; who would rather buy the latest mobile phone than save or donate their money; and who often squander away that which they do not have whilst in pursuit of the idyllic suburbanite dream.

It must be said that the problem does not only lie with the ‘general public’. The large corporations which shape people’s images of themselves are also accountable. They approve and distribute the contrived and idealistic advertisements. I can recall a news story in recent times which reported that certain banks were giving their staff a larger commission for opening a credit card account than a savings account.

I know there is very little chance of changing any of this, along with all the problems of disease, famine, unjustified wars and global warming. But I suppose it is just nice to know that there is some last vestige of chivalry and decency tip-toeing around in these troubled times.

--> Sorry for my recent absence from this medium. I have been inundated with various assignments, and RageBoy rehearsals/performances. Whilst walking home from one particular show last week, I was most upset to find it had started raining. On the short walk home I was most surprised to see a young lad holding an umbrella for a girl, as the two hurriedly headed for shelter. “Surprised?” you ask? Well, yeah. I had hitherto thought that ethics and chivalry were (More...)

I haven’t been reading the news all that much recently, but a recent email referenced something about a reluctance to fly on planes. So I started reading about these chilling yet ingenious attacks that were planned on trans-Atlantic flights from the UK to the US, reportedly aiming to detonate around 10 planes in the air, virtually simultaneously.

Hunting around the Internet for news articles, I found a plethora of opinions, and many of the same ‘facts’ repeated. The thing that immediately caught my attention was George Bush’s response to the threat:

The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.
-George W. Bush

This statement worries me somewhat. I have always been critical to some extent of George W. Bush’s “War on Terrorism” tag line, the way the public react to wars has severely changed ever since the Vietnam War, but I still don’t think a conflict of interests counts as a war unless staged on some common or disputed ground. The problem here is that the disputed ground is purely moralistic, and it is widely known that neither side is going to ‘give in’ any time soon. Isn’t more like a tug-o-war, or a stalemate than a ‘real’ war?

Semantics aside, the bias against people of Islamic origin goes deeper. I found a prestigious news provider saying that the people whose accounts had been frozen by the Bank of England “appeared to be of Muslim origin…”. There is already enough bias against Muslims without saying that people “appear” to be Muslim, just by their photos and names. And what if they are Muslim? That doesn’t automatically mean that they belong to Al-Qaeda. I know this is all old material, but I figure it needs to be brought up every now and then. Because what happens when we don’t notice people being pigeon-holed? That’s more worrying in my opinion.

The reactions of the people that I have had chance to talk with have been vaired and interesting. The primary reaction is that of the chilling reality of these planned bombings. They were only “days away” from a “dry run”,and would have resulted in the deaths of at least a thousand people. Accounts differ as to how many planes they planned to detonate, and when they planned to do it, but it has apparently surfaced that leads from the bombing in London’s Underground helped MI5 unearth the plan. Did the underground bombers think that far ahead?

The next reaction is one of curiosity as to the ingenuity of creating a bomb from such ordinary items as a drink bottle and a disposable flash camera. While some people may think it abhorrent to be fascinated by this, I do think that ‘terrorists’ are becoming more resourceful as the authorities of various nations struggle to keep up. I don’t mean to be demeaning, I realise that governments have many things to think about and action at any one time, and even though several nations have apparently known about the use of liquid explosives for some time, it takes time to design, build and test machines that can detect them.

Then comes the sympathy for those whose flights were delayed/cancelled, and who are just too scared to continue. Having just travelled overseas, I wouldn’t wish extra delays on anyone. With people being asked to be at their check-in desks 3 or more hours before their planes leave, and many flights only allowing passengers essential items on the planes with them, airports must be hell at the moment. There are further ramifications also, with airlines forcing people’s carry-on baggage into the hold, surely that reduces their freight carrying ability also.

I would never proclaim to know the answer. But I do tend to be skeptical from time to time (and in fact I just found a reporter whose opinion is very similar to mine, scary). I can’t help but wonder why the US and the UK have put their alert levels up if they have “busted” this ring, and “captured the main players”. If they knew what was going to happen, and they have now foiled it, then surely there is - if anything - less of a threat now than before.

So why all the totalitarian measures? To ensure that the public realises what sort of “grave danger” it is in, and to foster belief and faith in our governments? It is all very convenient to constantly be at “war” with someone, it helps the government control The People better you see. George Orwell wrote a tale about that once I seem to recall.

--> I haven’t been reading the news all that much recently, but a recent email referenced something about a reluctance to fly on planes. So I started reading about these chilling yet ingenious attacks that were planned on trans-Atlantic flights from the UK to the US, reportedly aiming to detonate around 10 planes in the air, virtually simultaneously. Hunting around the Internet for news articles, I found a plethora of opinions, and many of the same ‘facts’ repeated. The (More...)