merry christmas everybody

mood: tired.
state i'm in: ready for a not so well-earned sleep.
tune: dead silence.


from the ghostly quiet streets of brisbane, where all is missing is a few pieces of tumbleweed...

merry christmas all.

get home now!

mood: pretty flat.
state i’m in: about to hit the pool.
tune: marvin gaye “what’s goin’ on”.

twice this morning, australian terrorist suspect david hicks, now held for five over five years in guantamo bay without charge, refused to take a call from father terry. mr hicks is now convinced his son is suffering severe mental problems, exacerbated by spending the past nine months in solitary confinement.

"he's really struggling, he's just not coping. for him to do that, it shows he's just not right. the emotional stress on him must be terrible, mr hicks said.

“we have been worried about david's mental state for three years. this shows he's not as well as everyone says he is. the australian government says he's okay ... but they're cold, they have got no heart, they don't care about him."

i’m afraid i have to agree with mr hicks on that.

melbourne psychiatrist prof paul mullen, part of the legal team trying to convince the nation’s highest court that the what the australian federal government is doing, in its neglect of an australian citizen, is illegal, added, “no one is going to survive unharmed for this length of time. he doesn’t know if he is going to be out next week, or never get out. it is totally destabilising,” he added.

remarking on david hicks’ mental state, prof mullen commented, “last time i saw him, i think you could call it fragile”.

get this poor silly bastard home now!

dearest suffien...

mood: SADAFACES.
state i'm in: all lonesome and shit.
tune: jill scott "it's love".


happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear suffien,
happy birthday to you.


miss you lots baby.

j. xoxo..

from kim to kev

mood: feeling a little more lifted.
state i'm in: almost cyanotic.
tune: ed harcourt "she fell into my arms".

i haven't had much chance to voice my opinion about political matters of late, but i couldn't let a change in the leadership of the australian labor party pass by without throwing in my two cents.

essentially, i'm very happy about it. whilst well-liked in the ALP, it was time for kim beazley to depart - his used by date had well and truly expired. as a leader, he was never going to win a federal election. the man is simply too verbose, rarely able to connect with the australian people, whilst simulataneously appearing too passive in his convictions. mr beazley never seems resolute when speaking his opinion to the media

in his place comes kevin rudd, whose political career i have been watching with a keen eye for some years. exceedingly intelligent, forthright in speech, and with a wardrobe of snappy suits and ties, he has always shown promise. what's more, when considering any dirt from the past that could be brought up to discredit a blossoming political career, it appears as if mr rudd has a clean nose. during the visit of the chinese president, hu jintao, in 2003, mr rudd addressed the man in fluent mandarin. jealous parliamentary onlookers described him as le poseur.

personally, i believe the country needs mr rudd as prime minister. he has the brains and the political brawn to bring the country back to a more positive heading. some i speak to beleive there is no avoiding a wreck now for the australian economy, but i think they are wrong. for every loss we bear from a weakening american economy, asian consumerism props us back up. i am not merely referring to australia being china's mine, but by the insatiable appetite of both asia's consumer and industrial sectors keeping the world afloat in general. this is the case for the world economy as a whole, and australia, i think, will happily drift along with it. however, at a personal level, many australians are at risk of financial ruin, which inevitably leads to higher rates of morbidity. i think this can be avoided with the superior economic and industrial relations policy that mr rudd will bring.

i also believe that mr rudd will be somewhat less dogmatic than john howard in his quest for any vindication of social reform agendas he might have. where mr howard recently demonstrated his despicable attitude by declaring "we have won the culture war" on issues relating to traditionally christian values, i beleive mr rudd will be more open-minded to what the whole political party, as representatives of the entire australian electorate (and not just the older generation), has to say.

where mr rudd has his shortfalling, is that he is so damn smart. is he too smart for the australian people to vote for? hopefully that's where deputy leader julia gillard comes into the equation. ms gillard talks straight, without much dull or trailing rhetoric. she has scarcely had her feathers ruffled as shadow health minister, opposing none other than so-called 'head-kicker' tony abbott. now ms gillard gets a position where she is more at home; as a former industrial relations lawyer, she should be even more comfortable as the shadow industrial relations minister. yes, she is a woman, but not at all in the vein of 'shoulder-pad brigade' stars like amanda vanstone or bronwyn bishop - ms gillard is sensibly feminine. in mr rudd's deputy, one can find brains, as well as an ability to talk directly to the average person on the street. very importantly, she can easily engage a commonly neglected 50% of the electorate - women. it's just a shame the media has been more concerned with her hairstyle and the colour of her skirts than what she has to say.

add this to the electorates increasing disgruntledness with the governments unpopular policies on the war in iraq, climate change, [lack of] work choices reforms, interest rates, 'market fundamentalism', as well as constituent's detachment from mr howard's so called 'culture war' rhetoric, and there is an apparent shift in public opinion. people are talking; there is excitement in the political landscape, the likes of which haven't been seen since mark latham's star dramatically rose and fell. this time, however, the star is a lot more stable, and the excitement feels a lot less misplaced. i believe there is a lot more public confidence in mr rudd to go the distance and to serve with a keen public interest.

watch this space!!


ps. i met mr rudd in 2004. he came into where i previously worked (and was fired from under new IR legislation) and purchased from me a few classical cd's. well dressed at the time, taller than i suspected, and possessed of an aura of power and intellect.

fuck optus

mood: a little low.
state i'm in: almost frozen in the new biol library.
tune: everything but the girl "two star".

ok, another two weeks have drifted by, and i still have no internet at home. four fucking weeks! now they say, "ok, the modem must be faulty". now i have resorted to taking my little iBook down to uni and hooking it up there. feels so good to be pluggin away on the flat keyboard again.


coincidentally, optus called to see how the service had been (some quality control bullshit). my roomie told them what we thought.

optus chickie (this time an aussie): "and have you considered changing to another provider in light of the service you have received"

leah: "yes, we're going to"


the message: optus sucks. indian call centres suck (although indians are normally lovely people, of course), having no internet sucks big time!

the moral: don't go with optusnet!