Palestine, Elections, UNIX and Science!

Last Thursday attended a University of Melbourne forum with Dr. Ghada Karmi speaking on the need to establish a "one (secular, democratic) state" solution in Palestine; as a two-state solution simply isn't possible anymore; there were some 250 people there with an hour for the talk and an hour of questions afterwards. It was also a discussion around her latest book Married to Another Man, which is a well-referenced, accessible and personal introduction to the topic. Her talk in Adelaide, has attracted some debate. On the tram on the way back home there was a small group of young pro-Israelis discussing the talk (although during the presentation they scattered themselves throughout the lecture theatre). One rather enthusiastically rejected Dr. Karmi's suggestion to read the works of Jewish scholar Norman Finkelstein on the grounds that he is a holocaust denier. I really should have opened my mouth at that point; Finklestein is a critic of what he justly calls the "holocaust industry"; but that's not the same thing as denial: Finklestein's parents were both in the Warsaw ghetto. His mother was shipped to Majdanek concentration camp, his father to Auschwitz.

In a more local country where the Basic Laws don't dictate a particular religion, an election has been called. Opinion polls indicate that the Howard government is well and truly on the way out and I suspect that he knows it as well. This is why, I suspect, that he has turned to indigenous reconciliation and has just claimed that Medicare shows that the Coalition is caring. When one spends their life in public office, typically one wants to be remembered from something positive; to date the Prime Minister has left behind of that nature. So expect a "kinder, caring" slate of promises from the PM in this election. Frankly however, as The Age editorial remarked on the indigenous issue: Sorry Mr. Howard: Too Little, Too Late.

Attended one day of AUUG 2007 and was delighted to talk at some length with Marshall Kirk McKusick. Was especially impressed with Enno Davids' presentation and have put in a request for a related to talk at Securecon. Challenging talk by arjen_lentz; will be dining with him tonight.Also testing the waters to see if VPAC will be interested in a FreeBSD cluster. Military's "gay bomb" (sounds like an X-rated "Get Smart" movie) wins Ignoble Award, although with some serious challengers. British court notes nine minor errors in Al Gore's film, as he wins the 2007 Noble Peace Prize.