Barnaby Joyce still defensive

Barnaby Joyce is still trying to defend himself in a recent editorial. Who has made a joke of Australia's biosecurity? Barnaby Joyce. The world now knows that those with private jets weren't being subjected to sniffer dogs and bag inspection. Or, at least they weren't until Barnaby Joyce needed to defend that two dogs got through. A dog wouldn't be able to smell another dog? Come on, Barnaby - someone wasn't doing their job. But instead of admitting there was a security breach, your answer is to jump on the world stage and threaten the death sentence for two Yorkshire terriers? Nice diversion, but yes, as they say, something about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted?

Your message about biosecurity might be taken a little more seriously if you'd just admit that someone screwed up and stop trying to defend your ridiculous bluster that the offending terriers needed to be put to death. - Barnaby Joyce: why I let fly at Johnny Depp

Aboriginal anti-hero

Not bad for a white fella? I got a "Distinction" on my Contemporary Indigenous Health and Wellbeing essay. But there is something that was never quite explained in the class. "WARNING: use caution viewing this film, as it may contain images or voices of dead persons."

I asked. I got an answer: the deceased needs to get on with their journey. When you use their name, you are calling them back. It is a sign of respect to not call them back and disturb their spirit by using their name.

Yet a big part of the class was learning about - "naming", if you will, deceased Aboriginal "heroes". In my mind, I developed an elaborate mental construct of a culture that didn't have heroes. What is a hero after all? It's making someone larger than human; it's the pinnacle of a hierarchical society - becoming a hero. In the hero culture, notable historical figures are no longer human, but shining, flawless creatures. I imagined a culture where there were no heroes, no hierarchy; only humans, with the elders representing the cultural wisdom - as humans, not heroes. And I imagined that the class needed to name Aboriginal "heroes" because white people needed the "hero version" to respect Aboriginal culture; they couldn't just respect people for being people. I imagined a culture where no matter how impressive or large someone was in life, once dead, they pass into the realm of The Dreaming, and the dreaming is everyone and everything; not just reserved for heroes. History books are filled with heroes; The Dreaming is the reflective moment in everyone's mind.

I imagined the strange irony of white culture posting images of Aboriginal "heroes" everywhere, as an attempt to generate respect, but at the same time, disrespecting by calling the deceased back from their journey.

It turns out my imagined culture was not quite right. I consulted with the spirits of my culture - Wikipedia - and they told me that after a couple of years, you can name the deceased. That the restriction on naming is not just about calling the deceased back from their journey, but it's also about the pain of the living, and to help the living get on with their journey out of sorry business. After a few years, the pain is not as intense, and the deceased are settled in The Dreaming, and the cycle goes on.

Is that right? Is the Bible right? Everybody's got their own interpretation and there are countless branches of religion. Hey, Wikipedia also says in Aboriginal culture, I don't have to talk to my mother-in-law?!

Barnaby Joyce, redux

I always wonder if I'm stating the obvious.  But Barnaby Joyce has sparked my imagination, so there's more...  The incident illustrates so many issues.

First: the true face of nationalism in the modern world.  People in
Australia have dogs for pets.  People in the US,  France,  and any
number of other developed nations not only have dogs for pets,  but also
nearly the exact same level of veterinary care for those dogs.  Any
international traveler,  even from an undeveloped country,  if they can
afford to bring their dog on an airplane,  likely has a high level of
veterinary oversight of that dog. Yet most nations likely have more
streamlined procedures for bulk shipping of carcasses than individual live
pets that have likely received a higher level of veterinary oversight.  Every
nation likes to pretend it's guarding its borders against foreign
pestilence,  but likely only has spot checks for the high volume of
commercial traffic in plants and animals.  Sure,  shippers get certified
or inspected.  Sure,  corruption and shortcuts exist in every country. 
Except on Barnaby Joyce's watch!*

*except private planes

The petty bureaucrat gets his moment in the spotlight. In this moment,
the unspoken hero guarding borders and keeping Australia safe from
pestilence becomes MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SEXIEST MAN ON EARTH. Just ask
him!  He can put these animals to death!  It's the law!  Power often
makes people,  especially men,  more sexy than their physical bodies
might suggest. But even though Barnaby Joyce is strutting his power and Australian might to the world, he would never be corrupted that way.  Nor would he
consider that the department of agriculture might potentially make some
really good income operating a high end quarantine "spa"  for pampered
jet-setting pets. Nope -  they must be put to death.  Because Australia
must set an example -  not just for the world of Johnny Depp fans who
may be tempted to smuggle small lap dogs,  but for poor asylum seekers
as well.  Pistol and Boo weren't even offered the Nauru or Papua New
Guinea option,  and if Barnaby Joyce were in charge of immigration, 
Australia could cut millions from its asylum seeker offshore prisons.*  Just think of the tax savings?!

*Australia's Guantanamo

Pistol & Boo buggered off...

Nothing against Mr. Depp, but I would bet that Pistol and Boo are healthier than he is.  Although Mr. Joyce is entirely correct, he might have been a bit more diplomatic in his approach.  He doesn't portray the effort to keep a nation free from invasive pests in as positive light as the matter deserves.  Instead, like many self-important Australians, he wears the anti-American chip proudly on his shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssIoi7r_u-Q

Nice for Cyclists

Sydney has a small stretch of bicycle lanes like this, but for much fo the suburbs it's a cycling hell of honking cars. Raised bike lanes

Tomato - precious commodity?!

In Australia, numerous meals come with "chips", or as we refer to them in the US, french fries. The problem is THEY DON'T GIVE YOU KETCHUP!!! You have to pay extra for condiments at a horrendously inflated price. Someone who works in a restaurant argued, "well why should non-consumers be forced to subsidize the cost of this?" For one thing, I've never been in a restaurant that charges for salt, pepper, sugar, or cream. For another, the PRICE IS RIDICULOUS. The person argued that those little packs are expensive. Fifty cents each?! Give me a break. The best answer I can come up with, if the restaurants are being overcharged, is that Master Foods seems to have a monopoly on ketchup pack distribution in Australia. I'm no fan of McDonald's, but it's one of the few places in Australia that give you complimentary ketchup. Or tomato sauce, as they refer to it locally, and often it's just that - not the appropriately spiced blend that it is in the US. This article only tells 1/2 the story!

Wars and Holidays

The United States has Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. Veterans Day is celebrated as Armistice Day elsewhere (end of WWI). Memorial Day was formerly Decoration Day to commemorate the dead soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Independence Day is the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from Britain.

In my last five years in the US, it seemed that these three holidays had psychologically merged into similar generic "support our troops" flag-waving holidays. Of course the predominant message in the American media is HOLIDAY SALE!!! But the "serious" sentiment was moving towards stripping these holidays of their original meaning and shifting the focus towards a generic "support our troops". Veterans Day and Memorial Day were especially more prone to this generic merging than Independence Day, which seems to have become referred to more as "July Fourth" or the "July Fourth Holiday" than Independence Day; more about BBQ and less about England. Of course, flag-waving (and retail sales) predominate on all three occasions. There have been some really good articles published about how the general American public has become removed from the hardship of war and of realities faced by soldiers - hence increased mythologizing and praise for these increasingly rare participants.

And so with this perspective, I encounter the 100th Anniversary ANZAC Day, and attempt to get an immigrant's perspective on Australia's two major holidays - ANZAC Day and Australia Day. As an American, both of these holidays were unknown to me. As the curmudgeon that I am, the more I see, the more I put them into the same category as the strangely merged American "support our troops" triumvirate, which is to say, Celebrations of Empire.

ANZAC Day is an especially odd celebration of nationalism in the face of its citizenry being fed into what was a meat grinder at Gallipoli. Australia Day is taking on the same sickly tinge that has added pallor to Columbus Day in the United States. Australia Day and Columbus Day both more realistically commemorate a meeting of civilizations where the original inhabitants did not fare well (inadvertently introduced diseases killing more than actual warfare).

Although all Australian holidays can be seen as occasions for extended alcohol consumption, I give the Australians more credit than the Americans at least in terms of maintaining the storyline of their holidays, and a larger focus on meaning. Even if that meaning is blatant, nationalistic propaganda, and has sometimes not-so-subtle overtones of white supremacy. Here and there, Americans acknowledge that the national theme is all about an elusive (to most) get-rich-quick scheme (the pursuit of happiness). But there's a great American pretense that all holidays are celebrating some historical event, rather than what they really are, which is the larger agenda to promote consumerism.