STOP the Sydney Presses! This is how the Revolution started in Australia: Construction workers on the Chatswood underground rail link are furious after being ordered to shave their beards and moustaches and don masks to stop them inhaling dangerous silica dust. There lies a sleeping giant. Let him sleep, for when he awakens he will shake the world ;-) Barricades on the Harbour: Close shaves get tunnel workers in a lather (Can anyone imagine mmmmwwwaaa without a moustache? We need Vaclav Havel, Now!!! Ach, memories and family traditions held dear)
The intellectual struggle worldwide today is now between the beliefs encapsulated in the American Revolution and those in the French. It is interests versus reason. For most of the 17th and 18th centuries, the State and Freedom therefore existed in uneasy equilibrium -- neither complete, both limited. Then, in the late 18th century two momentous revolutions destroyed this balance, triggered a great battle between the State and Freedom.
Is the next revolution likely to take place in a remote island of Australia? [Balmain Boys Don’t Shy Away from The Freedom to Agree to Disagree] The issues of the State and Freedom are creating headlines in the mainstream media and the rivers of blogosphere be it federalism, health, education, corporatism ... The American Vs. French Revolutions
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Who Should Govern Who Governs?
Dennis Thompson (Harvard) is a thoughtful academic who has a knack for making news like no other academic:
If in a democracy the people have the authority to choose their representatives, then it would seem to follow that they should have the authority to choose the procedures by which they choose their representatives. Yet in nearly all democracies the procedures that govern elections have been established by officials or representatives themselves
Legislatures, courts and commissions rather than popular initiatives or constitutional conventions created and continue to control the electoral process in most democracies. Until recently, attempts to change any electoral system were rare and rarely succeeded.
But in the past decade, electoral reform has been gaining a place on the political agenda
in many democracies. In the 1990s, many newly emerging democracies designed their own systems, and nine established democracies made far-reaching changes in their existing systems
• The Role of Citizens in Reforming the Electoral System [Google: Who Should Govern Who Governs? in PDF and Word Fromat; A review of books on democracy and the judiciary. From Democracy to Juristocracy ; Tony Vinson, a good friend of John Hatton, writes: Education is the key to keeping people out of prison Punishing the hapless is the true crime ]
• · Michelle Wiese Bockmann End of the umpire: Independent Parliamentary Speaker ; Downer under fire over overseas childcare centre warnings
• · · I don't like John Bolton's management style. Nor am I a big fan of his foreign policy views. He doesn't really believe in using U.S. power to end genocide or promote democracy. But it is ridiculous to say he doesn't believe in the United Nations. Loudly, With a Big Stick ; Dramatically broadening the scandal surrounding the United Nations Oil-for-Food program Oil-for-Food Scandal Broadens With New Charges
• · · · via Memeorundum: At least 39 members of Congress have engaged in the controversial practice of paying their spouses, children or other relatives out of campaign funds, or have hired companies in which a family member had a financial interest, records and interviews show. Paying his wife and daughter out of PAC funds is, frankly, the least of Tom DeLay's problems Nepotism: Political Payrolls Include Families; How an S.F. campaign finance law got fledgling online journalists all up in a tizzy Caught in a blog bog
• · · · · There are plenty of bloggers out there criticizing press coverage, but surprisingly few actually pro-actively suggesting questions the press should be asking. Kevin Hayden, who runs the progressive American Street blog, recently posted quite a few. Questions a 'real' press would ask ; Australia's biggest jail terms for businessmen ; China is responding to US politicking with a charm offensive Dragon's lure: arms before arms
• · · · · · Medicare: Howard unleashes policy whirlwind ; Economic development is being blocked by a $25 billion backlog of infrastructure investment to upgrade water, energy and land transport, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia says Lack of investment in infrastructure putting brake on growth