Hello all. Well the roll out of the Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice continues, this time with the launch of our blog. please take the time to have a look at the newest MobBlog on the web – the Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice’s Blog:

http://www.democracyandjustice.org/blog

Any links from other sites are quite welcome – encouraged even.

I’m not quite sure what the relationship between this blog and the ACDJ blog will be – I’d imagine some cross posting as well as some unique posts on both sites.

Don’t forget our launch party and if anyone would like to be on the mailing list please either just leave a comment or email me.

It’s finally upon us – the launch of Australia’s newest global justice organisation: The Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice.

Please join myself and my fellow directors at our launch party, and don’t forget our web page: democracyandjustice.org

Today it’s my best friend’s birthday. So I’d like to take the opportunity to say: Happy Birthday Theo!!!

We’ve been best friends since we were 4 and I love him just as much as ever – hell, maybe even more.

I’d also like to wish my parents a very happy wedding anniversary. I love you guys so much and really hope you enjoy your day. 27 (28?) years is an amazing amount of time to spend with someone (I struggle with 6 months).

You’ve both be a great source of strength and inspiration for me my whole life and I would only be a fraction of the person I am today without you.

I’m just oozing love today!

Over at George Monbiot’s site he makes a few very interesting comments. The one I most enjoyed was:

Climate change reverses [Adam] Smith’s central dictum: that “by pursuing his own interest [a man] frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.” Now the interests of global society will be served primarily by restraint.”

Today is the National Day of Healing. I’d like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to the traditional owners of this land and their ancestors, particularly the Wurundjeri people, whose land I live on.

Today is a day to reflect on the injustices non-indigenous Australians have caused indigenous Australians, particularly with regards to the Stolen Generation and attempt to reconcile these injustices.

In a speech delivered by Tamara Jacobs it was noted that this is as much a day for non-indigenous people to make amends with the original owners of this land as it is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to forgive those who abused them.

Finally, I’d like to express my profound respect for the champions of Indigenous rights, both white and black, whose pioneering work continues to inspire me.

Ok, so I come accross Time magazine’s 100 best films of all time. So I send my favorite film buff, Avi, this list expecting some wanky, “I’m a great film lover so all films are crap except for Reservoir Dogs and some obscure French film that most French people don’t even know about.”

At first came the predictable response: “not a bad list… but i feel it is somewhat Hollywood inspired” (and I was thinking what the fuck are all those foreign films doing on the list!).

But when I got in to work this morning there was an email from my beloved Avi saying: “here is my 100 not all time best films, but quite good movies that are definitely worth seeing because who could possibly say that one lot of 100 films is better than another. You have created a monster, you know that don’t you?!”

He assures me he is unhappy with it and wants to change it and so on but he has kindly agreed to allow me to publish “Avi’s top 100 films of all time (sort of)”

Die Film Liste!

Australia

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
Proof (1991)
Romper Stomper (1992)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (1994)
Muriel’s Wedding (1994)
Children of the Revolution (1996)
Shine (1996)
Thank God He Met Lizzy (1997)
The Boys (1998)
Head On (1998)
The Goddess of 1967 (2000)

Austria

Hundstage (2001) (Dog Days)

Michael Haneke
Funny Games (1997)
Pianiste, La (2001) (The Piano Teacher)

Brazil

Central Station (1998)
City of God (2002)

China

Yimou Zhang
Red Sorghum (1987)
Raise the Red Latern (1991)
To Live (1994)
Not One Less (1999)

Hong Kong

Johnny To
PTU (2003)
Fulltime Killer (2001)
The Mission (1999)
Running Out Of Time (1999)

Won Kar Wai
Chungking Express (1994)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Happy Together (1997)
In the Mood for Love (2000)

Taiwan

Yi yi: A One and a Two (2000)

Ang Lee
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
The Ice Storm (1997)

Czeck Republic

Kolya (1992)

Denmark

Feston (1998)

Lars Von Trier
Breaking The Waves (1996)
The Idiots (1998)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Dogville (2003)

England

Blow Up (1966)
Withnail & I (1987)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
Beautiful Thing (1996)
Love and Death on Long Island (1997)

Mike Figgis
The Browning Version (1994)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1997)
Timecode (2000)

Peter Greenaway
The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover (1989)
Prospero’s Books (1991)
The Pillow Book (1996)

Mike Leigh
Naked (1993)
Secrets and Lies (1996)
Career Girls (1997)

Michael Winterbottom
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
Wonderland (1999)
24 Hour Party People (2002)
In This World (2002)

France

Barbarella (1968)
Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) (Lovers on the 9th Bridge)
L’ Appartement (1996) (The Apartment)
Gadjo dilo (1997)
Le Dîner de cons (1998) (The Dinner Game)

Olivier Assayas
Irma Vepp (1996)
Fin août, début septembre (1998) (Late August, Early Spetember)

Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro
Delicatessen (1991)
La Cité des enfants perdus (1995) (The City of Lost Children)
La Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) (Amelie)

Germany

Zur Sache, Schätzchen (1968) (Go for It, Baby)
Rocker (1972)
Lola Rennt (1998) (Run Lola Run)
Das Experiment (2001) (The Experiment)
Gegen die Wand (2004) (Head On)

Leander Haussman
Sonnenallee (1999)
Herr Lehmann (2003)

Italy

Dario Argento
L’ Ucello dalle piume di cristallo (1970) (Bird with the Glass Feathers)
Profondo Rosso (1975) (Deep Red)

Pier Paolo Pasolini
I Racconti di Canterbury (1970) (The Canterbury Tales)
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975) (Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom)

Iran

A Time for Drunken Horses (2000) (Zeit der Betrunkenen Pferder)

Majid Majidi
Children of Heaven (1997)
Colours of Paradise (1999)

Japan

Hirokazu Koreeda
Afterlife (1998)
Nobody Knows (2004)

Takeshi Kitano
Violent Cop (1989)
Boiling Point (1990)
Sonatine (1993)
Hana-Bi (1997)
Kikujiro (1999)
Brother (2000)
Dolls (2002)

Takashi Miike
Graveyard of Honor (2002)
One Missed Call (2003)
Audition (2001)
Visitor Q (2001)
Dead or Alive (1999)

South Korea

Chan-wook Park
JSA: Joint Security Area (2000)
Old Boy (2003)

New Zealand

Once Were Warriors (1994)

Peter Jackson
Meet The Feebles (1989)
Braindead (1992)
Heavenly Creaters (1994)

Poland

Krzysytof Kieslowski
La Double vie de Véronique (1991) (The Double Life of Veronique)
Trois couleurs: Bleu (1993) (Three Colours Blue)
Trzy kolory: Biały (1994) (Three Colours White)
Trois couleurs: Rouge (1994) (Three Colours Red)

Singapore

Forever Fever (1998)
15 (2003)

Spain

Pedro Almodóvar
Pepi, Luci, Bom y otro chicas del montón (1980) (Pepi, Luci, Bom and the Other Girls)
Matador (1986)
Todo sobre mi Madre (1999) (All About My Mother)
Hable con Ella (2002) (Talk to Her)
La Mala Educacion (2004) (Bad Education)

Julio Medem
Los Amantes del Círculo Polar (1998) (Lovers of the Arctic Circle)
Lucia y el Sexo (2001) (Sex and Lucia)

Thailand

Last Life in the Universe (2003)
Ong Bak (2003)

USA

Easy Rider (1969)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Tootsie (1982)
To Be or Not To Be (1983)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
GlengarryGlen Ross (1992)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Fun (1994)
Go Fish (1994)
The Celluloid Closet (1995)
Smoke (1995)
Hustler White (1996)
American Movie: The Making of Northwestern (1999)
Black & White (1999)
Donnie Darko (2001)

Woody Allen
Bananas (1971)
Everything you always wanted to know about sex* *but were afraid to ask (1972)
Love and Death (1975)
Annie Hall (1977)
Manhattan (1979)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Husbands and Wives (1992)

Robert Altman
Nashville (1975) (worse film ever in my opinion – worse than xXx2!)
The Player (1992)
Short Cuts (1993)
Prêt-à-Porter (1994)

Paul Thomas Anderson
Boogie Nights (1997)
Magnolia (1999)

Darren Aronofsky
Pi (1998)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Roger Avary
Killing Zoe (1994)
The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

Robert Benton
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Nobody’s Fool (1994)

Joel Cohen
Raising Arizona (1987)
Millers Crossing (1990)
Barton Fink (1991)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Fargo (1996)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

David Cronenberg
Naked Lunch (1991)
Crash (1996)
eXistenZ (1999)

Terry Gilliam
Brazil (1985)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Christopher Guest
Waiting for Guffman (1996)
Best in Show (2000)
A Mighty Wind (2003)

Hal Hartley
The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
Trust (1990)
Simple Men (1992)
Amateur (1994)
Flirt (1995)
The Book of Life (1998)

Jim Jarmusch
Permanent Vacation (1980)
Stranger Than Paradise (1983)
Down By Law (1986)
Mystery Train (1989)
Night On Earth (1991)
Dead Man (1995)

Spike Jonze
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Adaptation (2002)

Stanley Kubrik
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Niel LaBute
In The Company of Men (1997)
Your Friends & Neighbours (1998)

Spike Lee
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Mo’ Better Blues (1990)
Jungle Fever (1991)
Malcolm X (1992)
25th Hour (2002)

David Lynch
Eraserhead (1977)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Lost Highway (1997)
Mulholland Drive (2001)

Mike Nichols
The Graduate (1967)
Catch 22 (1970)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Robert Rodriguez
El Mariachi (1992)
Desperado (1995)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

John Sayles
Passion Fish (1992)
Lone Star (1996)
Men With Guns (1997)
Limbo (1999)
Casa de los babys (2003)

Todd Solondz
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1994)
Happiness (1998)

Whit Stillman
Metropolitan (1990)
Barcelona (1994)

Gus Van Sant
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Elephant (2003)

Yugoslavia

Emir Kusturica
Time of the Gypsies (1988)
Underground (1995)
Black Cat, White Cat (1998)

Victoria’s Alpine National Park will soon be free of cattle grazers.

The case for this is quite straight forward. It creates an unacceptable level of environmental degradation. Case closed. I do wonder if it is an unsustainable level of environmental harm. However this is one for the experts and the Victorian Government would certainly have us believe that it is unsustainable – so who am I to argue. It also seems that the argument that the cattle reduce fuel load is weak, particularly when you factor is concerns about water.

I also find the Cattlemen’s argument that “Future generations will condemn this Government for killing off living history” weak.

I posted recently that “social and ecological justice are two inseparable parts of the same whole” – a common theme of mine. I’m concerned that the Bracks government hasn’t adequately addressed the needs of the Cattlemen. From what I have read they will simply be compensated with payment of up to $100,000 over three years – hardly a livable income. Dignity, pride and control of their own destiny needs to be restored as it has obviously been lost. Some Cattlemen (and women!) will be able to continue grazing in State Parks (not National Parks) but I suspect that this will only be a solution for a minority. I don’t know what the alternative is here but I’d suggest that a high level of community consultation is necessary here.

UpdateIn a bizarre twist the Federal Government has decided it will weigh in on the ‘cattleperson’ ban though an emergency heritage listing where the Commonwealth powers supersede the State’s. The justification for this is “in recognition of its social and cultural heritage value,” which sounds very ‘Howard’ to me. It would seem that Howard (or Campbell) thinks that to stop this grazing would erase ‘The Man from Snowy River’ from the pages on the History book. You can’t freeze time.

Once again, a piece of blind conservatism from the Federal government.

Bolt is an easy target. Still BoltWatch is making me chuckle.

Also in The Age today, Peter Cullen has come out and said that we have to stop just “throwing money” at farmers who are farming in regions that are unsustainable.

I though Cullen’s comment that “We need to work out how to get them off the land with dignity” showed an unusual level of sensitivity for an environmentalist (ie he actually cares about the dignity of these farmers). Moreover he provides what seem to be viable solutions (see article for details).

I always find situations like this difficult to deal with – where there appears to be a direct conflict between social and ecological issues. As I continually argue social and ecological justice are two inseparable parts of the same whole. Neither can be compromised on any issue. So creative alternatives need to be found – new solutions that get outside the old dualisms of nature/humanity, and this is just as much of a criticism of the environment movement as it is in the case of the farmers here.

So when I read things like this:

Professor Cullen said governments should pay farmers for “eco-system services” such as planting trees, reducing erosion, and improving water quality and rivers so that society reaped the benefits of clean air and water.

I get a little excited. At least at face value it seems that the skills of a farmer can still be utilised and young farmers can still be trained in these skills. Moreover their work helps the environment and replenishes their assets.

It is also noteworthy that we should be encouraging the farming of native flora and fauna. I understand it is still illegal to kill a Kangaroo for human consumption in Victoria. Kangaroo is bloody good meat so to prevent us from eating Victorian Roos when they are in plague proportion in certain areas seems like madness to me.

The Age today reported:

Vital information on corruption in the Victoria Police is being withheld from investigators because of a Federal Government ruling restricting the use of phone taps.

Senior police have decided not to pass on any intelligence to Victoria’s recently created independent Office of Police Integrity if the information has been gathered through phone taps.

The problem has arisen from a controversial Federal Government decision last year to deny the new anti-corruption agency phone intercept powers. It also cannot be provided with transcripts or information from police if derived from intercepts.

Is it just me or this this strange behavior for a federal government that is trying to introduce the ASIO Bill that will increase surveillance and further limit civil liberties. It seems almost comical.