If musique concrete challenges the hearer to experience pleasure in sounds produced as a by-product of human activity unconnected to the intention of creating music, the following words may lead to the discerning reader experiencing a sense of poetry: or it may not.
deflater hubris carney dihedral inorganic. lamp cherish icy expectation journeymen south gig.provision excommunicate shag whipsaw, seaside sink classifypoplar toilsome skid northeast chain. cravat function dive retrieval sadist cosponsor ounce.caryatid boastful archer washbowl, chose ashtray tamarind america bentham cryostat.
girls spent holds yearn credo liked heard saved still italy right polka tower
stops stuff habit intel crack green fudge level crack carom throw linux hasty
model electoral gull yolk allot conduct nucleic clearance. prairie ruffle birthday penetrate enrollee lipscomb clash melanie caldwell friction omega. fiction jiffy box ostrich ferrule politicking
luge cutaneous wichita macrophage betrayal electorate inductance melodic cocky adair scrumptious yeomanry mutant bromley defecate counteract causation macintosh dig bumble proposition worktable wallow hobo tetrahedron criss seaward hoff patton embarcadero posy diffusive jackie rockefeller induct noah deborah rutherford indigestible skeleton involve cop amoral sextans counsel rancho below
gymnosperm chipboard chinamen circe pretend skirmish opposable boatswain garter strawberry degeneracy demurred flintlock bushmaster tyrannicide newscast fat hoopla burnt meant hrothgar clean roadway insufferable assiduity prostitution scot shrank buckhorn hub mien civic dick euler disruptive swigging bobby flemish gymnast francine johnson request dollop legislature treasury corrodible w
lawsuit treadle cheryl orangeroot photo concern bimodal mural priest leasehold rhythm baleful disrupt uterine insurance wheat dogmatism frost bellamy breadfruit holyoke madhouse committing decade hieronymus kombu alp junco emigrate debauchery recriminate cooky cheney andesine chi ain't bard tony helvetica tuff director attentive pizzicato agreeable asthma wrought ekstrom per hydra inside
trustee freight consolation president priggish levitt brownish revery coercible jesse blackbody censure davy carolyn colt needlework kapok photography cohere serif barbiturate rudder quixote abscissa faro hog grosset abram inheritor acquire bluegrass alexandre quantity controversial adjectival altruism salmon trepidation roister saw gardenia bandy cockeye melbourne coffin matrimonial allusion burr
consternate tigris autonomic acquaint sup sweetheart choice meek mindful servitude hubbell cotman teleprocessing sanborn portulaca adelia homozygous certain audit hydride must badminton synergy conrad lawbreak rood wednesday turbofan discoid altitude perchlorate nebraska coroner collet domicile queen grove mardi armful giantess guilt consider kresge bifocal contrast balletic connubial yonkers
damnation martian waring balsa adjust betwixt arch sought carpet canoe springtail assimilate cider du plumb sst aldrin uproot ancillary broglie astringent anise verde dolan curvilinear discipline patrimonial maladjust epilogue awe substitutionary tulsa burch braggart wintertime psychiatry chorale serge chisholm encroach prefecture paste commandant
Friday, November 05, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Humphrey McQueen on judicial independance - with Craig Johnstone in mind
Below, I trust, are some notes for use as you may find relevant, in whole or in part, attributed or not, by email lists or in print form.
The old contemptibles.
The imprisonment of activist for workers’ and peoples’ rights, Craig Johnston, has raised questions about the independence of the judiciary.
Two styles of intellectual practice operate in a class society. On the one hand are the magistrates who believe whatever the policemen say about the behaviour on a picket line. On the other, a judge may take a long-term view of the interests of the property class as a whole in order to let a militant go free for once. The differences are in the practices, not the people or the status of their office. Some judges can be narrowly instrumental. The occasional magistrate will be far-sighted.
Under capitalism, the bias in the legal system is not the result of the social background of the judges or of their prejudices. The decisive factor is that the system of law has developed as one of the devices for managing productive property. In short, it is about commerce and crime.
Of course, those structures can do nothing. They require real, living judges to put them into practice. Below are some instances of judges, often the highest in the land, revealing an independence from objectivity more appropriate to a pimp than a philosopher.
1. During the 1894 trials at Rockhampton of striking shearers, presiding judge Harding engaged in the following exchange with a witness:
Witness: There were 200 men in the crowd at Clermont.
His Honour: It is a nice pleasant country this, where such a state of things can exist.
Mr Dickson: How many policemen were there?
Witness: Four.
His Honour: Let me see. That all had six-shooters. Four times six are twenty-four. There would not have been many boo-hooed the second time, I had been one of them.
Mr Lilley (for the defence): You cannot shoot men for disorderly conduct.
His Honour: Very probably they could have found justification.
2. In 1919, the second Chief Justice, Adrian Knox, introduced a different species of prejudice. Not wanting to be seen to be biased, Knox sold his shares, even those in the Colonial Sugar Refinery, the monopoly that his father had expanded on the backs of indentured Island labourers. Realignment of his finances could not sever attachments to his father’s circle. The 1920 diary of the Managing-Director of the BHP, G. D. Delprat, documents a free-and-easy interplay between magnates and the judiciary that had to adjudicate between them and their workers:
15 May: Dined at Melbourne Club with Chief Justice (Knox), Judge Stark [sic], Judge Cussen, Judge Duffy, General White, Admiral Grant.
2 October: Taken silver plate out of the safe deposit for Tuesday’s dinner.
4 October: Invited Chief Justice and Stark[e] to dinner, next day – they accepted.
5 October: In evening gave dinner party at my house … Guests [names four BHP directors] and Rt Hon. Chief Justice Knox and Mr Justice Stark[e].
Ten days later, the chair of the Coke Industry Tribunal, Mr Hibble, granted pay rises to miners employed by the BHP. Delprat challenged the validity of Hibble’s award before the High Court.
18 December: High Court decision – (in our favour).
This confusion of the bench with boardroom continued until March 1930 when Knox resigned as Chief Justice in order to manage his half-share in the million pound estate inherited from the New South Wales Coal Baron, John Brown. The government had dropped its prosecution of Brown for locking out his wage-slaves in 1929.
3. After several years as the President of the Commonwealth Arbitration Court, High Court justice Chas Powers wrote to the Attorney General begging for a knighthood because he had blocked the findings of the Basic Wage Commission to add 39 shillings a week, restored the 48-hour week, and cut 12 shillings a week off the wages of fitters and turners:
All these were very unpleasant duties but necessary in the interests of the Commonwealth … Imagine for 11 years refusing requests to increase the basic wage … Where men have families of more than two it is hard work to insist on them getting only the basic wage.
Powers got his gong in 1929.
4. The next Chief Justice but one was Sir John Latham who, as anti-Labor Attorney General had amended the Crimes Act in 1925 to outlaw sedition in an attempt to advance his numerous proceedings against militants, who would not be intimidated. Latham had a long history with Naval Intelligence and went on to become founding patron of the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom in 1951.
5. Another Tory Attorney-General who went on to bestride the high court was Sir Garfield Barwick, that “walnut-hearted” anti-Semite. Barwick led the Menzies government’s case before the High Court to ban the Communist Party in 1951. He made amends for his failure on that occasion by rescuing ASIO from the mess it got itself into during the Petrov Commission. Barwick’s other connections with the security forces can be inferred from his updating in 1960 of Crimes Act to make sure that no sedition went unpunished. Barwick’s predecessor as Chief Justice, Owen Dixon, had also advised ASIO and the Petrov Commissioners.
6. The judge who gaoled Clarrie O’Shea, Sir John Kerr, came with equally long connections to the world of spooks from his wartime service. Kerr was active in several CIA fronts, such as LawAsia and Quadrant. He later did his duty by sacking Whitlam who had just exposed the CIA’s presence at Pine Gap.
Slips from judicial objectivity have not been confined to Australia. In 1794, at the Edinburgh Trial of the Scottish Martyrs, one of the accused, Joseph Gerrald, argued that his advocating reform was not a bad thing because Jesus Christ had also been a reformer. The Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Braxfield, responded: “Muckle he made o’ that; he was hanget”. The reformers were transported to Australia. The government was too scared of the popular reaction to hang or flog them too.
You will be relieved to see that all these cases relate to judges who have gone to their rewards. That elevation is just as well, because if it were necessary to expose the class bias of any sitting judge, he or his mates would do you for contempt.
The old contemptibles.
The imprisonment of activist for workers’ and peoples’ rights, Craig Johnston, has raised questions about the independence of the judiciary.
Two styles of intellectual practice operate in a class society. On the one hand are the magistrates who believe whatever the policemen say about the behaviour on a picket line. On the other, a judge may take a long-term view of the interests of the property class as a whole in order to let a militant go free for once. The differences are in the practices, not the people or the status of their office. Some judges can be narrowly instrumental. The occasional magistrate will be far-sighted.
Under capitalism, the bias in the legal system is not the result of the social background of the judges or of their prejudices. The decisive factor is that the system of law has developed as one of the devices for managing productive property. In short, it is about commerce and crime.
Of course, those structures can do nothing. They require real, living judges to put them into practice. Below are some instances of judges, often the highest in the land, revealing an independence from objectivity more appropriate to a pimp than a philosopher.
1. During the 1894 trials at Rockhampton of striking shearers, presiding judge Harding engaged in the following exchange with a witness:
Witness: There were 200 men in the crowd at Clermont.
His Honour: It is a nice pleasant country this, where such a state of things can exist.
Mr Dickson: How many policemen were there?
Witness: Four.
His Honour: Let me see. That all had six-shooters. Four times six are twenty-four. There would not have been many boo-hooed the second time, I had been one of them.
Mr Lilley (for the defence): You cannot shoot men for disorderly conduct.
His Honour: Very probably they could have found justification.
2. In 1919, the second Chief Justice, Adrian Knox, introduced a different species of prejudice. Not wanting to be seen to be biased, Knox sold his shares, even those in the Colonial Sugar Refinery, the monopoly that his father had expanded on the backs of indentured Island labourers. Realignment of his finances could not sever attachments to his father’s circle. The 1920 diary of the Managing-Director of the BHP, G. D. Delprat, documents a free-and-easy interplay between magnates and the judiciary that had to adjudicate between them and their workers:
15 May: Dined at Melbourne Club with Chief Justice (Knox), Judge Stark [sic], Judge Cussen, Judge Duffy, General White, Admiral Grant.
2 October: Taken silver plate out of the safe deposit for Tuesday’s dinner.
4 October: Invited Chief Justice and Stark[e] to dinner, next day – they accepted.
5 October: In evening gave dinner party at my house … Guests [names four BHP directors] and Rt Hon. Chief Justice Knox and Mr Justice Stark[e].
Ten days later, the chair of the Coke Industry Tribunal, Mr Hibble, granted pay rises to miners employed by the BHP. Delprat challenged the validity of Hibble’s award before the High Court.
18 December: High Court decision – (in our favour).
This confusion of the bench with boardroom continued until March 1930 when Knox resigned as Chief Justice in order to manage his half-share in the million pound estate inherited from the New South Wales Coal Baron, John Brown. The government had dropped its prosecution of Brown for locking out his wage-slaves in 1929.
3. After several years as the President of the Commonwealth Arbitration Court, High Court justice Chas Powers wrote to the Attorney General begging for a knighthood because he had blocked the findings of the Basic Wage Commission to add 39 shillings a week, restored the 48-hour week, and cut 12 shillings a week off the wages of fitters and turners:
All these were very unpleasant duties but necessary in the interests of the Commonwealth … Imagine for 11 years refusing requests to increase the basic wage … Where men have families of more than two it is hard work to insist on them getting only the basic wage.
Powers got his gong in 1929.
4. The next Chief Justice but one was Sir John Latham who, as anti-Labor Attorney General had amended the Crimes Act in 1925 to outlaw sedition in an attempt to advance his numerous proceedings against militants, who would not be intimidated. Latham had a long history with Naval Intelligence and went on to become founding patron of the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom in 1951.
5. Another Tory Attorney-General who went on to bestride the high court was Sir Garfield Barwick, that “walnut-hearted” anti-Semite. Barwick led the Menzies government’s case before the High Court to ban the Communist Party in 1951. He made amends for his failure on that occasion by rescuing ASIO from the mess it got itself into during the Petrov Commission. Barwick’s other connections with the security forces can be inferred from his updating in 1960 of Crimes Act to make sure that no sedition went unpunished. Barwick’s predecessor as Chief Justice, Owen Dixon, had also advised ASIO and the Petrov Commissioners.
6. The judge who gaoled Clarrie O’Shea, Sir John Kerr, came with equally long connections to the world of spooks from his wartime service. Kerr was active in several CIA fronts, such as LawAsia and Quadrant. He later did his duty by sacking Whitlam who had just exposed the CIA’s presence at Pine Gap.
Slips from judicial objectivity have not been confined to Australia. In 1794, at the Edinburgh Trial of the Scottish Martyrs, one of the accused, Joseph Gerrald, argued that his advocating reform was not a bad thing because Jesus Christ had also been a reformer. The Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Braxfield, responded: “Muckle he made o’ that; he was hanget”. The reformers were transported to Australia. The government was too scared of the popular reaction to hang or flog them too.
You will be relieved to see that all these cases relate to judges who have gone to their rewards. That elevation is just as well, because if it were necessary to expose the class bias of any sitting judge, he or his mates would do you for contempt.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Sing Along
The words of this song came from a musician residing in Nimbin named "Daddy Cool". I'm unsure if the words were composed by him. In any case they scan and rhyme beautifully; unlike much poetry created by sensitive souls which has only its worthy sentiments to commend it. The content may not be as topical as it was when created but it's still amusing.
Sing Along
To the tune of “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands”
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the markets are a drama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!
If we have no allies with us,
Bomb Iraq!
Life’s awfully boring with no warring
Bomb Iraq!
So to hell with the inspections,
Let’s look tough for the elections,
Close your mind and take directions,
Bomb Iraq!
It’s “pre-emptive non-aggression”
Bomb Iraq!
Let’s prevent this mass destruction,
Bomb Iraq!
They’ve got weapons we can’t see,
And that’s good enough for me
And it’s all the proof I need to
Bomb Iraq!
If you never were elected,
Bomb Iraq!
If your mood is quite dejected,
Bomb Iraq!
If you think that Saddam’s gone mad
with the weapons that he had,
(and he tried to kill your dad)
Bomb Iraq!
If your corporate fraud is growing,
Bomb Iraq!
If the economy is slowing,
Bomb Iraq!
If your politics are sleazy,
And hiding it aint easy,
And you manhood’s getting queasy,
Bomb Iraq!
Fall in line and follow orders,
Bomb Iraq!
For our might knows not our borders,
Bomb Iraq!
Disagree? We’ll call it treason,
Let’s make war, not love, this season,
Even if we have no reason,
Bomb Iraq!
To the tune of “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands”
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the markets are a drama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!
If we have no allies with us,
Bomb Iraq!
Life’s awfully boring with no warring
Bomb Iraq!
So to hell with the inspections,
Let’s look tough for the elections,
Close your mind and take directions,
Bomb Iraq!
It’s “pre-emptive non-aggression”
Bomb Iraq!
Let’s prevent this mass destruction,
Bomb Iraq!
They’ve got weapons we can’t see,
And that’s good enough for me
And it’s all the proof I need to
Bomb Iraq!
If you never were elected,
Bomb Iraq!
If your mood is quite dejected,
Bomb Iraq!
If you think that Saddam’s gone mad
with the weapons that he had,
(and he tried to kill your dad)
Bomb Iraq!
If your corporate fraud is growing,
Bomb Iraq!
If the economy is slowing,
Bomb Iraq!
If your politics are sleazy,
And hiding it aint easy,
And you manhood’s getting queasy,
Bomb Iraq!
Fall in line and follow orders,
Bomb Iraq!
For our might knows not our borders,
Bomb Iraq!
Disagree? We’ll call it treason,
Let’s make war, not love, this season,
Even if we have no reason,
Bomb Iraq!
Monday, July 19, 2004
Only For Fun
This is an old one, but a goody. Remember the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"? Here's a prime example offered by an English professor at an American University."Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right.One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.
Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent.
There is to be absolutely NO talking and anything you wish to say must bewritten on the paper.The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.
"The following was actually turned in by two of my English students: Rebecca(last name deleted), and Gary (last name deleted).
STORY:
(first paragraph by Rebecca)
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile,which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.-----------------------------------------------------------(second paragraph by Gary)Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,???*?? he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.----------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)He bumped his head and died almost immediately but not before he felt onelast pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning.The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things round her."Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.---------------------------------------------------------(Gary)Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret Mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coastof Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor,stupid, Laurie and 85 million other Americans.The President slammed his fist on the conference table."We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"----------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.----------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F*CKING TEA??? Oh no, I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels."----------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)A**hole.----------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)B#tch.--------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)DICK!---------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)Sl#t.---------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)Get F***ed.----------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)Eat s**t.---------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)F**K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!!!-----------------------------------------------
(Gary)Go drink some tea - w***e.**********************************************
(teacher)A+ - I really liked this one.
Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent.
There is to be absolutely NO talking and anything you wish to say must bewritten on the paper.The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.
"The following was actually turned in by two of my English students: Rebecca(last name deleted), and Gary (last name deleted).
STORY:
(first paragraph by Rebecca)
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile,which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.-----------------------------------------------------------(second paragraph by Gary)Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,???*?? he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.----------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)He bumped his head and died almost immediately but not before he felt onelast pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning.The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things round her."Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.---------------------------------------------------------(Gary)Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret Mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coastof Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor,stupid, Laurie and 85 million other Americans.The President slammed his fist on the conference table."We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"----------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.----------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F*CKING TEA??? Oh no, I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels."----------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)A**hole.----------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)B#tch.--------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)DICK!---------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)Sl#t.---------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)Get F***ed.----------------------------------------------------------
(Gary)Eat s**t.---------------------------------------------------------
(Rebecca)F**K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!!!-----------------------------------------------
(Gary)Go drink some tea - w***e.**********************************************
(teacher)A+ - I really liked this one.
Monday, July 05, 2004
REDRAGGERY
This is an attempt to discover a space where my thoughts can be expressed without there being an expectation that such thoughts are my final, considered position on any matter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
