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Amos and the Arab Spring, Refugees, Social Activities
Yesterday gave an address at the Unitarian Church on The Book of Amos and the Arab Spring, arguing that the poetic apocalyptic prophecies of Amos should be viewed in terms of justice and that the events of the Arab spring are a genuine and legitimate desire for freedom and democracy (it is extraordinary that this still has to be argued). As events that are generating asylum seekers, it is noted that the Australian Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers has come up with the worst possible set of recommendations, short of shooting people out of the water. The submission I wrote to the panel was orientated towards processing in Indonesia.
Friday night attended a work social function to see The Dark Knight Rises. I was less than impressed (apparently a dangerous claim to make). Saturday was another afternoon with Jacqui and Damien, working our way through the Monty Python Cheese sketch, followed by a large gathering for a father and son birthday dinner (73 and 49 respectively) for Frank and John.
Next Saturday will be presenting at the Linux Users of Victoria Beginner's Workshop with an pretty thorough introduction to the command line, followed by a meeting of the Victorian Secular Lobby with Jamie Gardiner, Vice-president of Liberty Victoria, former member (2000–2009) of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, speaking on changes to the Equal Opportunity Act and Federal perspectives.
Friday night attended a work social function to see The Dark Knight Rises. I was less than impressed (apparently a dangerous claim to make). Saturday was another afternoon with Jacqui and Damien, working our way through the Monty Python Cheese sketch, followed by a large gathering for a father and son birthday dinner (73 and 49 respectively) for Frank and John.
Next Saturday will be presenting at the Linux Users of Victoria Beginner's Workshop with an pretty thorough introduction to the command line, followed by a meeting of the Victorian Secular Lobby with Jamie Gardiner, Vice-president of Liberty Victoria, former member (2000–2009) of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, speaking on changes to the Equal Opportunity Act and Federal perspectives.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-08-15 12:18 am (UTC)(link)I was an ALP member and supporter for many years, before moving to the Greens via the NDP and then progressive independents. I feel fine in the Greens. There are a few wankers, but you get them in any party.
My dad was a building worker and mum was a factory machinist, but I won a teacher's scholarship and ended up joining the middle class. A lot of Greens have travelled the same route.
The Greens genuinely maintain a blend of environmental and social justice policies. A lot of the social justice policies are what the ALP used to believe in.
The Greens' industrial policy is certainly better than the ALP's.
I agree with you that the ALP and Greens need to find better ways to work together.
Good luck!
Mike Puleston
no subject
The great difficulty with the Greens is that they are not going to be the party of government for some time. It is certainly true that they do have the ideas, and the vision, to be a transformative organisation, but that does mean that they will have to work with majority political forces between now and that time of transformation. In a very real sense they are even further behind than, and have a bigger task ahead of them, than the Labor Party was when they started.
Just as the Greens need the Labor Party as the vehicle to implement some of their policies, the Labor Party needs the Greens in order to have any chance of gaining a sufficient majority to govern. The two organisations are going to have to work together in order for their mutual benefit, and survival.