Depression in colour

Bound for Glory: America in Color is an exhibition of early Kodachrome images taken by photographers employed by a US government agency to document the ravages of the Depression on Americas rural population.
via Barista





Saying grace before the barbeque dinner at the New Mexico Fair. Photographer: Russell Lee

A collection of Black and white images of the great depression in America can be found at this site. This one (below) has a nice sense of irony.




Toward Los Angeles, California. 1937. Photographer: Dorothea Lange

Tripe Soup regurgitated

After a long break from blogging, I am thinking of reactivating tripe soup, a sort of early new years resolution. I have recently become interested in photography so Tripe Soup will be a partial photoblog.




Number 2

The wall of a fibro shack in a strange little street near where I live. Larger size can be found here

Christmas greetings

from here via Barista

Don Quixote

Loved this story about the Government of Venezuela handing out a million free copies of Don Quixote to mark the 400th anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's novel.

What Theologian are you?

In the spirit of relativism or any of the other "isms" not approved of by the new Pope, I tried this Quiz

"We reject the false doctrine that the church could have permission to hand over the form of its message and of its order to whatever it itself might wish or to the vicissitudes of the prevailing ideological and political convictions of the day."

You are Karl Barth! You like your freedom, and are pretty stubborn against authority! You don't care much for other people's opinions either. You can come up with your own fun, and often enough you have too much fun. You are pretty popular because you let people have their way, even when you have things figured out better than them.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

Via catallaxy

oops!

An Australian woman Cornelia Rau has spent the last 10 months locked up in the Baxter immigration detention centre. Ms Rau, a former Qantas flight attendant, is mentally ill and spent the last few months in Baxter in isolation.
A spokesperson for the immigration department stated that;

"At no time did she state she was a permanent (Australian) citizen."

Here is a post at Baxter watch lifted from an article written by Pamela Curr about a mentally ill girl called "Anna" in Baxter. Anna as it turns out is Cornelia Rau.

Anna, a German - speaking girl has been locked up in Baxter since the 29th November. She was in the Management Unit (ISOLATION) but for the past few weeks has been held in Red One compound where she is locked in an isolation cell for 18 hours per day. She is allowed out into the open air for 6 hours per day. Such is her terror of being put back into this cell that it takes 6 guards in full riot gear to manhandle her back into the room and close the heavy door. We have reports from witnesses that the guards are enjoying this aspect of Anna’s behaviour.

Detainees have repeatedly expressed concern about this young girl. They believe that she is mentally ill. Her unpredictable and bizarre behaviour, lack of communication and distress continue to worry fellow detainees. She exhibits psychotic symptoms, screaming and talking to herself at times and screams in terror often for long periods especially when locked in the cell. Visitors who have attempted to engage with her say that she does not make eye contact and avoids interaction. Detainees have attempted to get her trust but have ben unable to get her to see anyone.



Anna has refused to sign a form requesting legal help so no-one is allowed to assist or assess her. We are worried that she may not be mentally competent to act in her best interests. However under the Migration Act no one is allowed to act on her behalf unless she requests this in writing.

a very sad story

A very sad family story here. Even sadder is some of the sick comments attached to another account of the same story.

Davos Doodles

The British media was having a great time analysing some doodles on a scrap of paper supposedly produced by Tony Blair at the International Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Mirror called forth a psychologist who after studying the doodles
says the loopy letters and boxed-up issues are the tell-tale signs that our leader is a bit of daydreamer hoping for the best.



The Times not only came up with a great Murdoch headline in Davos doodles seem to show writing's on the wall for Tony but produced a graphologist, Emma Bache who found that Tony was unstable, aggressive, obsessive-compulsive, out of control and stressed.

Mrs Bache, who regularly carries out employee assessments for firms such as Barings, said: “I analysed his writing 18 months ago and there are marked differences.

This was not surprising as it turned out that the doodle was produced by Bill Gates.

In retrospect there were plenty of clues that this doodle was produced by the Microsoft founder

Ms Bache concludes: “There is more than a hint of megalomania about him which I haven’t seen before.”

And anyone who has used a map of the world produced by Microsoft would recognise this problem

Blair even mis-spells the name of Porto Alegre, Brazil, which he calls Allegro, where he is to attend a crucial summit with leaders of the developing world, union chiefs and campaign groups.

The man who wasn't there, or was he?

Mamdouh Habib, finally released from Guantamo Bay, has returned to Australia. This hasn't stopped Ruddock and Downer from persistantly proclaiming Habibs guilt, even though he was never charged or convicted of any crime. This evening I heard Ruddock state that Habib had prior knowledge of the 911 attack, is it believable that the Americans would have ever let Habib go if they believed this to be true. Only very high ranking al-Qaeda figures would have known about the 911 operation and I doubt there are many people in Guantamo in this category.
Although Billy Bob Thornton is a great actor, Ruddock would have been a natural to play the souless barber Ed Crane in the Coen brothers film The man who wasn't there

big kim comes out hitting with an eye to the past

Kim Beazley has come out with a new vision for Australia, which looks a hell of a lot like his old vision for Australia.
There was no need for Peter Costello to state that:
"But if he can come to terms, I think, with the mistakes of Labor's past, if he can strike out on a new direction, especially in economic policy and support what the Government is doing, then I think he'll make a new start."
because much of Kims old policies, especially in regard to issues such as Refugees and Iraq, were a reflection of the Howard agenda.

If only it was true!

The Proceedings of the old Bailey London 1674 to 1834
A fully searchable online edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.
via The Head Heeb

think different

Is this the end of the ipod as a cult fashion icon





Bush prepares his iPod before a bicycle ride at a secure location




earlier Condoleezza wants to be in the next ipod silhouette ad but George won't let her



More images at A Private View of the President
via Presurfer

Better than bombs

Early last december the Thai government dropped millions of paper origami birds, containing peace messages written by ordinary Thais, over the countries Muslim South.
This was a response by the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after recent fighting between local muslims and Government forces had resulted in the deaths of hundreds. A slick political stunt by Thaksin which probably went down well with most of the Thai people. However Amir Taheri at the Arab View wasn't impressed. More on this at indybay.org

Spongebob and pagan Australia

The story of the week ( Bush inaugaration, Lathams resignation and landing on Titan not withstanding) has to be the attack by Dr James Dobson, founder of Christian Right Group Focus on the Family, on SpongeBob SquarePants, a children's cartoon character.


Dr Dobson accused SpongeBob's creators of enlisting him in a "pro-homosexual video" in which he appeared alongside fellow children's television characters such as Barney the purple dinosaur and Jimmy Neutron. The makers of the video planned to send it to thousands of primary schools to promote a "tolerance pledge" that includes tolerance for differences of "sexual identity". via The Age


Focus on Family must have a high regard for their Australian followers for having to live in the harsh circumstances as portrayed in this article by John Bethany Lifting Up Families from Down Under


Stunning images of the Outback and sun-drenched beaches in the land down under are a sharp contrast to the harsh cultural landscape that Australian families face today. To get the real picture of family life there, spend a day in the office of Focus on the Family Australia. But remember, although English is the official language, it is still a foreign country.

While the United States is experiencing the social fallout of a postChristian society, Australia is still considered a pre-Christian country, and its policies and attitudes reflect that. The land was not founded on biblical principles, and fewer than 5 percent of its 19 million citizens attend church on a regular basis. The country’s leadership is made up largely of social liberals, and one of the current legislative hot-potatoes is entitled "Harm Minimization." This is an attempt not only to legalize drugs, but to teach Australian youth how to "shoot-up" safely so they will not hurt themselves in the process.


Im afraid its too late John, the place is overrun with purple dinosaurs and pro gay sea sponges although we don't seem to have as many social liberals in our leadership as we used to.

The Burning Bush

Robin Cook has written a critic in the Guardian of Bush's inaugral speech .
Reading the transcript of Bush's speech I was disturbed by the Messianic quality of his words:


By our efforts we have lit a fire as well, a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power; it burns those who fight its progress. And one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.


Compare Bush's words with this text I have taken from an American Christian site


The first act is the vision of the burning bush, and is accom­panied with the divine call of Moses to deliver Israel out of the cruel bondage of Egypt (Exod. 3). The symbolism of the bush, burning with fire but not consumed, was significant of the fact that the burning judgments of God never destroy anything that is pure and good. The oppressions of Egypt could not consume Israel; the wrath of Pharaoh cannot harm Moses. God’s people are imperish­able. This idea may be traced in many subsequent revelations. God Almighty is a consuming fire. He burns up what is worthless and perishable; but “the remnant according to the election of grace” shall never be destroyed. God’s fires of trial only purify and make them more conspicuous and wonderful. In connection with this symbol we read the verbal revelation to Moses of the God of Abra­ham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God who calls himself I AM WHO AM, and who assures Moses and the elders of Israel that he will smite the land of Egypt and lead his people forth with a mighty hand.


Since about half the population of the United States are religious nutters this marriage of religion and politics adds an extra dimension to American foreign policy. Since much of Bush's vision of overcoming the "Democracy Deficit" is aimed at the Middle East who knows what signs conservative Protestants will find in American Foreign policy.
One only has to look at this Rapture Site to see how crazy these people are, particulary amusing was this link to Operation Blue Beam evidently a way the forces of darkness would trick the Chosen with a false rapture.

La Dolce Vita

While searching for something unrelated found this photo album of Italian troops occupying Albania during the period 1939-1940.
The soldiers portrayed in these images almost look as if they are on holidays, with no sense of the disaster that the Balkans was to become for the Italian Army.
Since I can't speak Italian I used google to translate this page which resulted in a rather poetic description.

On Albanian earth, an attended year in of the war.
Until the late spring of the 1940 an extended climate was breathed.
60,000 present men on the Albanian territory for the defensive on the frontier jugoslava and simple measures of vigilance towards Greece.

The following is a more contemporary image, taken in the Town of Berat (known as the the town of a thousand windows), and which portrays a different kind of invasion.

"Saddam lite"

Fascinating background piece on Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime minister of Iraq by Jon Lee Anderson in The New Yorker. This article gives some insight into Allawis somewhat suspect past and reveals disturbing qualities in the man who could be the future leader of Iraq.
Of particular interest was an account of a meeting between Allawi and Sunni leaders as can be seen in this discussion between Anderson and a Sheik from Falluja

He had disagreed with Allawi’s decision to order the assault on Falluja in November, but when I asked him what he thought of Allawi he said, “He’s a good man,” as if he assumed that this was what I wanted to hear. He evaded my attempts to find out if he planned to vote for Allawi, but finally said, “We see only the outside of Allawi. We’ve met with him many times, but we don’t know what’s in his heart, and we don’t know what’s behind his back.” He held up his left hand, and I saw that he was missing three fingers. “I lost these fingers and three brothers fighting in the Iran-Iraq War,” he said. “With all of that, I never felt afraid. But I do now. We are scared about the future.”

Anderson in this article revives the allegations that were raised by by Sydney Morning Herald correspondent, Paul McGeough that Allawi personally executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station last year.


Here is another account of a peace conference held in Baquba that also shows the level of distrust held by Sunnis towards the occupation forces.

Conspiracy theories

Interesting French doco on SBS the other night about the popularity of books advocating conspiracy theories regarding 911. One of these books L'Effroyable Imposture or The Horrifying Fraud ,by the French Author Thierry Meyssan, topped the French best seller lists in 2002 . The Documentary outlined how Meyssan promoted his conspiracy theory on the internet before publishing his book. One of the issues raised with this spate of conspiracy theory publications was how the authors used material gathered on the web as bona fida evidence without checking its validity.
These conspiracy theories are particulary dangerous in the Middle East where they are taken as fact. This piece in the Arab News by Mishari Al-thaidi about Conspiracy theories is worth reading for the comments section which becomes more and more bizzare.

Made my day

After a dificult day at work I walked home through the parklands and it was nice to see that some public spirited person had been making these ugly posters more attractive.

The power of Port

The Melbourne press seems to have written Port off in tomorrows grandfinal, assuming that the club would be happy to make the grandfinal. They just don't understand that the whole history and culture of our club is that we expect nothing less than victory.
If Brisbane can include Fitzroys VFL history in its ALF stats why can't the Power use these stats:

THE PORT FILE
Port Adelaide in the SANFL (1877-96)
34 premierships
34 seconds
24 thirds
8 fourths
6 fifths
5 sixths
3 sevenths

Australian champions: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914

PREMIERSHIPS
1884 1890 1897 1903 1906 1910 1913 1914 1921 1928 1936 1937 1939 1951 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1962 1963 1965 1977 1979 1980 1981 1988 1989 1990 1992 1994 1995 1996