Bruce's Rave and Rant

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My Turn To Cause a Little Bit of Trouble
2006-12-02 15:51:05
Okay, so I've renewed my membership in the ALP. Does it make me feel like a dirty whore? Not really. Probably something closer to a garbo, and there's nothing wrong with garbos.Still, I do have my resignation from the party ready as a draft copy. Heck, that was half the reason I paid up; better to quit while you are financial after all. Besides, if I do quit, I want a new membership card. I'll scan my card, torn up, if I ever quit the party, and my current one is dog-eared.Of course, I could all be quite toungue-in-cheek about all of this. Most of you will never know just how serious I am; unless of course I do quit. I'll certainly be less serious than Harry Quick, but I suspect a tad smarter about it.On occasion, I may tell the tale of the occasional Labor party hack that I have a run-in with (unless it's pre-empted by a run-away on their part). I think I'm more likely to critique dumb ideas floated by "Labor thinkers" who's piles of credentials are so thick, they rank up th...
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Damn the Dam, Save the Lungfish!
2006-12-02 15:51:05
Neoceratodus forsteri is a particularly significant fish. There are only six species of the order Dipnoi known to still exist, and Neoceratodus sp. may be on the way out! These critters have been around for over 370 million years and they evince (thanks Arthur) traits of evolutionary significance, as PZ Myers will tell you. So what's the threat?The damming of the Mary River in Queensland, that's the threat. Of course there are a couple of things you can do about it;1) Send an email of concern via one or all of the MPs listed at Pharyngula.2) Sign the online petition!Thanks go to Romana and PZ Myers for keeping us all up to speed on this.Tags: Environment, Conservation, Lungfish
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A good bit of union news!
2006-12-02 15:51:05
On Monday, I blogged about how cleaners in Houston TX were being treated like dirt by Chevron. Good news folks! Things have changed!Instead of a crappy $20 a day, no health benefits and a total lack of respect, workers have finally got a well deserved victory. Houston Justice for Janitors tells us;" The contract will lift hundreds of janitors out of poverty, more than doubling their income within 24 months and guaranteeing secure affordable health care. Houston is the second major victory for janitors in less than a year, and is being seen as a major breakthrough in the South and for low-wage workers around the country.(Houston Justice for Janitors, 2006)Very good news. Let's hope it sets a precedent!Arthur commented that he'd had some difficulty finding media coverage of the industrial action prior to the victory, however Andrew from the LHMU has sent me some links to some post-victory news. I should really ask some of the "Humanism Crowd" to give us their view of the US coverage...
More About: News , Union

Global Warming for Dummies - Almost Ready ;)
2006-12-02 15:51:05
I'm setting myself the deadline of next Wednesday night to have my 'Global War ming for Dummies ' blog entry up and posted. I almost felt like I had re-invented the wheel when I glanced 'Dummies Guide to the latest Hockey Stick Controversy' in the sidebar of a website. Fortunately, it actually compliments what I've written about the 'Hockey Stick', rather than making it redundant.So those who are waiting (I guess that's you Ninglun), 'Dummies Guide to the latest Hockey Stick Controversy' should hold you over to Wednesday. Enjoy.Tags: Global+Warming, Hockey+Stick
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ABC AWB Deception
2006-12-02 15:51:05
This should form the basis for a few Punditocracy Watch psots for a while to come.Fact: John Howard said that if Terence Cole QC asked for an expansion to the terms of reference to include the Government, Terence Cole would get it.Fact: Terence Cole said it would be inappropriate for him to ask for an expansion to the terms of reference.Fact: The scope of the Cole Inquiry did not expand to investigate the role of the Government.Fact: An inquiry that does not investigate the role of the Government, can neither condemn nor clear the Government.So what the hell is with all this "Government Cleared" rubbish? The Government can't be cleared by the inquiry! It was never investigated!"Government Cleared in AWB Probe", says the ABC. Wrong. Untrue. False. The fact that the ABC has repeatedly covered the fact that the Cole Inquiry did not have the scope to investigate the Government makes this "mistake" inexcusable. It makes the idea that this is a mistake incredible. Hanlon's Razor doesn'...
More About: Deception

Don't Panic!
2006-12-02 15:51:05
If things look a bit funky here at the moment, or in the near future, I am experimenting with the (already experimented with) template that I use with this blog. Most of the stuff that I have tinkered with doesn't have an effect that you can outwardly observe, but the code is a lot neater at my end.When the code gets a bit more elegant, than I'll be making to more serious changes. I may even try applying the template to a "blogger beta" account/blog to see how it looks.In the meantime, chill, relax and don't panic! In the meantime, feel the power of the mane!Update: Okay, I'm off to bed now. Note the ugly patch of green to the right of my banner? That's there because I've increased the width of the content. I'll remake a title banner when I'm sure I'm going with the altered code. Something I'm going to look at is merging the blog header (it's in two parts for blog title and blog description.) I won't be fixing the title banner until I've finished with the header...Tags:...
More About: Panic

A Bad Day for International Unionism: Iran Jails Union Leade
2006-12-02 15:51:05
Okay, this'll be a quick one for my part. Just passing on a call to action by Eric Lee." Last winter, the Iran ian capital city of Tehran was practically shut down by striking bus drivers. The reaction of the regime was swift and brutal -- hundreds of workers were arrested in an attempt to break their union. The union leader, Mansour Osanloo, was jailed for 8 months and finally released on bail -- but last Sunday was arrested again while on his way to the Labour Ministry. Osanloo was verbally and physically assaulted, threatened with a gun, and driven away by plain-clothes police.Union s around the world are reacting, demanding that the Iranian government release Osanloo immediately.(Eric Lee, 2006)You can read more details and participate in the campaign by adding your voice here; 'Iran: Free Mansour Osanloo now'.Tags: Unionism, Iran, Mansour+Osanloo, Civil+Rights, Human+Rights
More About: International , National , Inter

Back to the scripting...
2006-12-02 15:51:05
That little alteration I made to the width of my page made things look pretty awful didn't it? Just a couple of variables was all it took! I decided to stop tinkering with my page code and create a new banner to go in the header, because the placeholder was just that ugly.The new one I've got is pending review, as there are other tricks I can do with The Gimp, and I reckon I can do better. Still, it's a better place holder than before.Let's just hope that my future changes don't require quite so much effort over so little. I doubt the effects in future will be so dramatic.I nice little change I've made is to define the class used by my technorati tags. You will notice my older tags are smaller, because they have had the bold/tiny treatment twice over: once manually, then once again from the class definition.Now I just need to enter the tags into the user script I'm using (with the greasemonkey plug-in for Firefox), hit the "Append Tags" button and voila; the tags auto-format....
More About: Script , Back , Scripting

Latest on The Cleanstart Campaign
2006-09-30 11:33:05
Andrew, from the LHMU, draws my attention to the pending 6 month mark of the Clean Start Campa ign and perhaps a more important milestone; participation in the United Nations International Anti-Poverty day (October 17). Of particular interest to my fellow Adelaidians should be the screening of the Ken Loach film, "Bread and Roses", which is about the struggle of low-paid cleaners in Los Angeles. More details on that (bookings, times, location) when I can get a hold of them. In other news, ISS, the global cleaning giant will be signing on to the Clean Start values by the looks of things. "Today their employer, the biggest contract cleaning company in Australia, the global giant ISS, will take an important step in being the first property services company to sign on to the Clean Start: Fair Deal for Cleaners principles," Jeff Lawrence, LHMU Cleaners Union National Secretary said. (LHMU, 2006) So there you go, if ISS is willing to do it, then other employers should be prepared to f...
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Inane
2006-09-25 10:57:06
Thanks go to Romana for this inane little tidbit... I had to give the test a go as well. This is how I turned out; Which OS are You? Which File Extension are You? Perhaps Arthur should have a go. He likes inane little personality tests ;)

ROBERT RAY: DO NOT DISPUTE WITH THE DALEKS!
2006-09-25 10:57:06
Apparently ALP heavyweight Robe rt Ray, has a problem with Daleks. Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has dismissed comments by a party heavyweight that Labor is controlled by "factional daleks" who are sabotaging its chances of winning office. Former federal minister Robert Ray warned that control freaks in factions are blocking new talent from coming into Labor by putting their own interests
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GetUp! Campaign for Natural Justice
2006-09-18 16:09:01
Having lobbied out spineless federal government on the issue for a while now, GetUp! has decided to lobby the US Government directly, in protest against the newly planned, draconian and unfair means by which they now seek to trial detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Having had the previous plans for a military tribunal thrown out, the US Government is planning even worse attacks on natural justice and due process... This week the US President will attempt to push new legislation through the US Congress for trying Guantanamo detainees - including David Hicks. Unfortunately, the new system is actually worse than the old unfair one the US Supreme Court threw out. America sees Australia as the closest of allies. Every handcrafted, personal email American leaders receive from Australians will get noticed; and importantly help reinforce resolve in Congress to stand up to the President and insist on a real system of justice. (GetUp!, 2006) You can add your name to the petition here.
More About: Justice , Natural , Just , Campaign , Campa

Newspeak Dictionary Entry: "Officialtrue"
2006-09-07 20:45:26
Official true ( ??f???l tru ) Adjective The version of the truth thought by all members of the outer party. The latest revision of an invariably correct history. Opposite of thoughtcrime. The version of the tale of 9/11 ("Path to 9/11") coming on Channel 7.
More About: News , True , Speak , Dictionary

Union News: 107 Workers Screwed by new IR Laws
2006-08-30 13:57:01
Eric Lee from Labour Start writes; The Howard government in Australia is one of the most anti-union in the world, breaking new ground in its efforts to smash the trade union movement in that country. Among its first victims are 107 construction workers, who are being prosecuted for alleged "illegal" industrial action following the sacking of a union delegate. According to Kevin Reynolds, Secretary of the West Australian Branch of the CFMEU union, "Under the Howard Government, the basic right to vote to take strike action in support of better conditions and a safe workplace has now been criminalised." Labour Start have set up a campaign for fellow workers (YOU!) to send a message to Government officials. You can participate by spending a few moments sending an email to Kevin Andrews, using this form. Unfortunately, things are even uglier than described above. Eric also writes; The families of the 107 are facing fines of A$28,600, meaning massivefinancial hardship and destitutio...
More About: News , Workers , Laws , Work , Union

Post-Colonial Narcissism - Part 3a: Wooly Thinking
2006-08-29 19:48:07
Originally, this was going to be just one post. However, documenting mistakes in some of the reasoning instrumental to the polarised revisionism of the History Wars, even within a finite terms of reference, is proving laborious. Hence, I have chopped the blog entry up somewhat, and will be serving it to you in smaller chunks... Introduction This is the third and the last of the blogs that I will be writing under this series, or at least it is the last that I promise to do under the title of Post -Colon ial Narcissism (PCN). I may use the title/term again, but then again, it may be superfluous as a lot of what PCN describes can be seen as part of the collective motivation behind the revisionists in the Australian History Wars. Last time I wrote in this line of blogs (here), it was to demonstrate an example of cherry picking of data (including material omissions and incorrect/unsupported interpretations) in order to support a pre-determined set of premise (the pre-determination/preju...
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