The Greens have a historic result in the ACT, picking up the final seat in the wake of the election. The ACT Electoral Commissioner has announced the final result. After a tight preference count, Caroline Le Couteur has won a fourth seat for the Greens in Molonglo at the expense of the Liberals. Labor now has 7 seats, the Liberals 6 and the Greens 4. At the point where a decision was made between Le Couteur and Julie Jones for the Liberal Party, Le Couteur was 921 votes in front.

The results show the fairness of the ACTs' Hare-Clark electoral system.

Party	% first preference votes	Seats won	% of seats	1st pref. quotas if single electorate	Possible seats if single electorate
Labor	37.4%	7	41.2%	6.73	7
Liberal	31.6%	6	35.3%	5.69	6
Greens	15.6%	4	23.5%	2.81	3 or 4
Motorists' Party	5.0%	0	0.0%	0.90	0 or 1
All others	10.4%	0	0.0%	1.87	0
	100.0%	17	100.0%	1.87	0

The ACT Greens say they will pursue further talks with the major parties next week before they decide who should lead the next Territory government. The Greens say they have made progress in today's talks with both major parties but are not yet ready to say who they will back.

Greens candidate for Ginninderra Meredith Hunter says: "We'd like to assure the people of Canberra that we are working very hard, that we know that there's a lot of people waiting on some outcomes here," she said. "But it's very, very important that we take our time, that we consider things properly and we take the necessary time to have the conversations and discussions that we need to do." The negotiations have largely focussed on how the ACT Assembly can be run more transparently. A potential cabinet position for the Greens is yet to be discussed.

Mainichi Japan reports (20 Oct 08) that while watching a football between Kim Il-sung University and Pyongyang University of Railways, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il lost his temper and denounced several players' long hair as "disgusting," according to a source close to the North Korean government. "I can't tell if this is men's soccer or women's soccer," he said. His mood grew steadily worse until the end of the first half, at which point he announced he would not be watching the rest of the match.

Far more 'disgusting' than any hair was the way in which the dictator's ill-tempered whim evoked a slavish response; his outburst was followed by a nationwide ban on long hair for men. Shortly after the incident, a notice was posted in workplaces across the country banning long hair for men. Staff at Kim Il-sung University were witnessed carrying out particularly stringent checks.

This isn't the first time the North Koreans have had such a ban. There was also a ban in 2005, exhorting men to trim their hair "in accordance with the socialist lifestyle". Singapore had such a ban once, but it is long gone.

Meanwhile, in the South, Hair stylists like BombheaD give Korean men’s hair its freedom (pictured).

Superb young Canberra singers will perform extracts from W.A. Mozart's comic opera Così fan Tutte on Thursday 6th and Saturday 8th November 2008, at St. Philip's church, cnr MacPherson and Moorhouse Streets, O'Connor. Admission: $10 at the door. Singing will be Katie Cole, Tanuja Doss, Christine Forbes, Daniel McMillan, Stephen Hines, Peter Laurence and Sheena Smith.

Australian critics are raving about Burn After Reading, lauding it as very funny. James and I went along and were bored and disappointed -- clichéd spy jokes and marital infidelity and incompetence on a grand scale. As Eureka Street's reviewer, Tim Kroenert, comments, Burn After Reading, "is preoccupied with issues of sexual identity and fidelity, which bear disproportionately on the events." Yawn.

Brad Pitt's campy caricature as Chad the gym-bunny air-head was great, however, and gave a smile or three. It seems that the NYT's reviewer Manohla Davis agrees (12 Sep 08)

Burn After Reading, the clubby, predictably self-amused comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, has a tricky plot, visual style, er, to burn, but so little heart as to warrant a Jarvik 8.

Not that you probably won't choke up a couple of ho-ho's in between a few hee-hee's whenever Big Daddy Brad Pitt, as a nitwit gym rat with a Pepe Le Pew two-tone hair-stack, twitches across the screen or the camera nuzzles one of the other goofy gargoyles so beloved by the Coens. Mr. Pitt’s Chad is the overripe second banana to Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand, Joel Coen's wife), who has some vague job at the gym where the two sort of work. Chad's a buffoon (the hard body as soft brain), and Mr. Pitt has been charged with delivering a caricature rather than a character, but because the actor loves playing sidemen and conveys such natural, irrepressible (irresistible) sweetness, he's also one of the film’s saving graces.

It could use a few more.

As I was thinking about Rob's death, a friend showed me this: Death is outside life but it alters it: it leaves a hole in the fabric of things which those who are left behind try to repair. Perhaps it is because of this we are minded to feast at funerals and it is said that certain children are conceived on the eve of a departure, lest the separation of the partners be permanent. When in ancient stories heroes die, the first thing their comrades do, having made due observances to the gods, is sit and eat. Then they travel on, challenging, with their frail vitality, the large enigma of non-being. -- the first paragraph of Miss Garnet's angel, by Sally Vickers. London: Fourth Estate, 2000)

... which reminded me of this: And I see losing love Is like a window in your heart Everybody sees you're blown apart Everybody sees the wind blow . . . And I may be obliged to defend Every love, every ending Or maybe there's no obligations now Maybe I've a reason to believe We all will be received In Graceland -- from the lyrics of the title song of Paul Simon's Graceland.

Burdened by cancer, our much loved rector of St. Philip's, the Reverend Rob Lamerton, died peacefully this morning, Friday, at about 3am, at Clare Holland House in Canberra. His wife, Sandra, was with him. Earlier, many of Rob's family had gathered around him, as a priest who has been a long-time friend of Rob's led in praying the last office. We pray for Sandra, John, Jane and Gareth and all of Rob and Sandra’s family. We pray for the St. Philip's community and each other. We give thanks for all that Rob has been and always will be for each of us. God of the dark night and the new dawn bring courage and peace, we pray. You were with Jesus praying in the garden; you were with Jesus as he went to the cross; and you raised him to everlasting light and glory. Help us to recognize you now, as we grieve with Rob's family. Help us through any anger and shock, help us accept our distress, help us to remember that you care for us, and that in your will is our peace. P.S. Rob's funeral was on Monday 20th.

Photo: Revd Linda Anchell

Until a couple of days ago, how many would have recognised the name Martti Ahtisaari?

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. -- Matthew 5.9

This year, the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee selected a laureate who has actually made peace. And not once, but several times. It would be hard to name another mediator who has had more success resolving intractable conflicts around the world than the former Finnish president, Martti Ahtisaari.

Nobel-worthy peacemakers come in two distinct varieties. The more renowned are the statesmen who negotiate with one another and sign treaties or cease-fires. . . . Ahtisaari belongs to a less visible, more self-effacing category. He plies his trade as a firm but patient arbitrator. Like a surgeon for wounded nations, he is called in to heal the injuries of ethnic, territorial, or religious conflicts.

His persistence helped bring about the birth of an independent Namibia in 1990, freeing the people of what had been South West Africa from apartheid-era South Africa. He was acting at the time as a UN envoy, as he was in 1993 when he served as special adviser to the UN secretary general on the former Yugoslavia.

But then his peacemaking vocation was interrupted from 1994 until 2000 while he served as president of Finland. Even so, he responded to a call from the European Union in 1999 to go to Belgrade, where he succeeded in persuading the bellicose Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic to accept NATO's terms for ending the war over Kosovo.

In 2005, Ahtisaari brought together leaders of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh movement to negotiate a peace accord ending a war for secession that had lasted for 30 years.
(IHT 12 Oct.)

Good news: the Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—Superannuation) Bill 2008 passed the second reading (in principle) stage in the Senate on 16 October. The Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other Measures) Bill 2008 passed all stages and on 17 October and has been returned to the House for final concurrence.

Details of the superannuation bill are yet to be considered in Committee on a future sitting day. It is yet to be seen what amendments the Opposition or other Senators may propose. In a Senate Committee report on the legislation and in speeches in the second reading debate-in-principle, senators found numerous points to criticise about inconsistent definitions, lack of comprehensiveness, etc. A committee report on the removal of discrimination against same-sex discrimination in the area of superannuation, tabled on Thursday, failed to reach consensus on definitions.

Senators will be spending next week in estimates committees and the Senate will next meet on 10 November 2008.

We've all heard of Murphy's law, the Peter Principle, Parkinson's law, etc. There's a long list here.

My contributions:

• McKinlay's law of leave: The amount of work still to be done varies inversely with the time remaining before going on leave.
• McKinlay's superannuation stricture: The amount of desired retirement savings varies inversely with the time remaining before retirement.

This is Charley Boorman, motorbiker and adventure film maker, photographed superbly by Adam Knott. I have had boring hair almost all my life, but I do like Mr Boorman's. Maybe I should copy it and begin to age dis-gracefully.

The opinion polls, political pundits and both major parties all agree that after next week's ACT election, the Greens are likely to hold the balance of power in the new seventeen member assembly. Votes are likely to move from Labor, further left to the Greens, with the right-of-centre Liberals retaining their present numbers.

Labor and the Liberals are both attacking the Greens strongly and wrongly.

The Greens say their election will prove the party is responsible. Greens lead candidate Shane Rattenbury says the main objective "really is to just win enough seats to bring an end to majority government. With a single house and small parliament we actually need to have a cross-bench so there's a level of scrutiny and government doesn't have the ability to railroad decision through." What the Greens won't do is be obstructionist. "We want to get things done."

There's some common ground between the Greens and Labor leader Stanhope, so some form of coalition is possible. Labor has done well and deserves to be returned to Government, but the addition of few Greens to the Assembly would also be a responsible choice. Here's my How to Vote ticket for the election next Saturday.

Brindabella (5 seats) A) Canberra Liberals 12 Steve Doszpot 11 David Morgan 10 Steve Pratt 13 Audrey Ray 9 Brendan Smyth B) Community Alliance 7 Val Jeffery 8 James Sizer C) Australian Motorist Party 14 Ben Doble 15 Burl Doble 16 Brian McLachlan 17 Geoff Rake 18 Bruce Ritchie D) The Greens 1 Amanda Bresnan 2 Sue Ellerman E) Australian Labor Party 7 Joy Burch 5 Mick Gentleman 4 John Hargreaves 6 Tracy Mackey 3 Wayne Sievers

Ginninderra (5 seats) A) Australian Motorist Party 20 Deborah Hannigan 21 Chris Seddon 22 Andrew Simington 23 Denis Walford 24 Wayne Whiting B) Australian Labor Party 7 Chris Bourke 6 Adina Cirson 5 David Peebles 4 Mary Porter 3 Jon Stanhope C) Community Alliance 8 Mike Crowther 9 Roger Nicoll 10 Jane Tullis D) The Greens 2 James Higgins 1 Meredith Hunter E) Canberra Liberals 11 Alistair Coe 15 Vicki Dunne 13 Jacqui Myers 12 Andrea Tokaji 14 Matthew Watts U1) Ungrouped 16 Harold Hird 17 Cathy McIlhoney 18 Mark Parton 19 Adam Verwey U2) Ungrouped Darren Churchill Eddie Sarkis Barry Smith

Molonglo (7 seats) A) Pangallo Independents 28 Luciano Lombardo 27 Frank Pangallo 29 Phil Thompson B) Australian Labor Party 5 Andrew Barr 7 Eleanor Bates 6 Simon Corbell 8 Louise Crossman 4 Katy Gallagher 9 Mike Hettinger 10 David Mathews C) Community Alliance 14 Alvin Hopper 13 Owen Saddler 12 Nancy-Louise Scherger 11 Norvan Vogt D) Richard Mulcahy Canberra Party 30 Joanne Allen 31 Richard Mulcahy 32 Ben O'Neill E) Australian Motorist Party 33 David Cumbers 34 Kim Evans 35 Stuart Green 36 Angus Laburn 37 Darren O'Neil 38 Stephen Rowland 39 Anthony Seddon F) Liberal Democratic Party 15 David McAlary 16 David Pinkerton G) The Greens 2 Elena Kirschbaum 3 Caroline Le Couteur 1 Shane Rattenbury H) Canberra Liberals 19 Belinda Barnier 18 Jacqui Burke 20 Jeremy Hanson 21 Giulia Jones 22 Gary Kent 17 Zed Seselja 23 Clinton White U) Ungrouped 12 Helen Cross 24 Tony Farrell 25 Greg Tannahill 26 Kerri Taranto

The Guardian (Editorial 9 Oct 08) is just one of many commentators to remind us that in the present financial mess we should be giving serious though once more to Keynesian macroeconomics. Monetary policy alone will not be enough. Rather than belt-tightening and the accumulation of surpluses (as in Australia) governments should be spending big, while spending responsibly or, at least, giving tax cuts. Monetary policy might then be used to limit inflation, with interest rates steady, not declining.

He was about the last person you would expect to devise an economy theory for state intervention. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, a don with a flair for making money, and a Bloomsbury group aesthete, John Maynard Keynes enjoyed nothing more than proving Victorian morality wrong. So he relished the paradox of thrift: the idea that if everyone saves at the same time, the collapse in demand drags down national income to the point where the value of what is being saved is reduced. Keynes's greatest thinking is contained in an indigestible tome called The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money [1935]--a title which aped Einstein's magnum opus (modesty was not one of Keynes's many favourable attributes). In it, he said that government action was often the only route out of recession; that insight still provides our best hope of avoiding a rerun of the Great Depression today. No intellectual was more engaged with the world of his times. After the first world war, he was a delegate to the Paris peace conference, where he predicted the trouble that would flow from the vindictive war reparations being imposed on Germany; after the second, he brokered the creation of the Bretton Woods system. His name was posthumously associated with the sloppy notion that paying ourselves ever more would lead to prosperity, but his thinking was more subtle than that. Keynes had no patience with economists who argued that everything would work out in the long run. He wrote: "In the long run we are all dead."

In the light of this, I am glad that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday that he will spend from the surplus to stave off the threat to the Australian economy. This is a change of emphasis, as the Government had previously stressed the importance of a big surplus as a buffer. Even with the expected revenue drop from slower economic growth, surplus funds would be available. Recent data shows an increase in Australian unemployment rate to 4.3%; in last May's budget, the Government forecast a jobless rate of 4.75%per cent by next June, while some economists expect it to go to 6%.

Mr Rudd said he would spending the surplus on infrastructure to stimulate economic activity. "If you're serious about bringing forward the nation-building program, it means drawing on funds available in the surplus for that effect. I've made no secret about that in the past. . . . That's what they're there for."

The International Herald Tribune -- which I find to be excellent -- is, of course, the international edition of the New York Times. Both are highly critical of John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as running mate and of her performance in the vice-presidential candidate's debate. It's interesting to compare the two editorials and see how one evolved into the other.

I agree with both. Not that my opinion matters. As well, when Mrs Palin winked at the camera, it was as if she was saying to the viewers, "C'mon, we all know this is bullshit. Just vote for me and we'll end this political crap." As the IHT editorialises, "The problem with Palin's candidacy, which she underscored in her appearance at the debate on Thursday night . . . is her disdain for knowledge, education, experience and contemplative leadership."

NY Times(2 Oct 08)	International Herald Tribune(3 Oct 08)
We cannot recall when there were lower expectations for a candidate than the ones that preceded Sarah Palin's appearance in Thursday night's vice-presidential debate with Joseph Biden. After a series of stumbling interviews that raised serious doubts even among conservatives about her fitness to serve as vice president, Ms. Palin had to do little more than say one or two sensible things and avoid an election-defining gaffe.	We cannot recall when there were lower expectations for any candidate going into a national debate than preceded Governor Sarah Palin's appearance in Thursday night's vice-presidential debate with Senator Joseph Biden. That's a big plus: All the candidate has to do is show up, say one or two sensible things and avoid an election-defining gaffe.
By that standard, but only by that standard, the governor of Alaska did well. But Ms. Palin never really got beyond her talking points in 90 minutes, mostly repeating clichés and tired attack lines and energetically refusing to answer far too many questions.	By that standard, the governor of Alaska beat expectations.
Senator Biden did well, avoiding one of his own infamous gaffes, while showing a clear grasp of the big picture and the details. He left Ms. Palin way behind on most issues, especially foreign policy and national security, where she just seemed lost. It was in those moments that her lack of experience -- two terms as mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb and less than two years as governor -- was most painfully evident. Asked about Israel, Ms. Palin reeled off her support for "a two-state solution, building our embassy also in Jerusalem, those things that we look forward to being able to accomplish with this peace-seeking nation. " Asked about the possible use of nuclear weapons, she declared "nuclear weaponry, of course, would be the be-all, end-all of just too many people and too many parts of our planet. " On Iraq, all she had to offer was the false accusation that Barack Obama wants to surrender. Mr. Biden directly challenged Ms. Palin's debate prep on Afghanistan -- pointing out that the commander there had disagreed with Mr. McCain's call for an Iraq-style "surge" in Afghanistan. Ms. Palin tried to contradict him, but the most memorable part of her answer was that she got the general's name wrong. One can argue (and her supporters will) that Ms. Palin is a newcomer and can't be expected to know all of the wonkish details, that what matters is the image she projects. Except, anyone who is running for vice president in these very dangerous times needs to have detailed knowledge.	Biden did as well, avoiding one of his infamous gaffes, while talking confidently with a clear grasp of the big picture and the details.
When it came to domestic issues, Ms. Palin mainly relied on enthusiasm and humor, talking about hockey moms, soccer moms and Joe Sixpack almost as often as she used the word "maverick" to describe Mr. McCain or herself.	But this debate was more about Palin than Biden. Just as she did at the convention, Palin showed that she can deliver prepared remarks with enthusiasm, wit and a fluency in the language of class warfare. She nearly always referred to Americans, especially middle-class ones, as "we" or "us," and tossed in references to hockey moms, soccer moms and Joe Sixpack at seemingly every opportunity. "Go to a kid's soccer game on Saturday and turn to any parent," she said, after being asked for her assessment of Washington's handling of the financial bailout. She added, "Betcha you're going to hear some fear in that parent's voice. "
But she offered virtually no detail -- beyond the Republican mantra of tax cuts -- for how she and Mr. McCain would address the financial crisis or help Americans avoid foreclosure or what programs they would cut because of the country's disastrous fiscal problems.	But she offered few to no details when it came to giving concrete answers on how she and McCain would address the financial crisis, help Americans avoid foreclosure or what programs would have to be cut to address the country's disastrous fiscal problems.
Ms. Palin's primary tactic was simply to repeat the same thing over and over: John McCain is a maverick. So is she. To stay on that course, she had to indulge in some wildly circular logic: America does not want another Washington insider. They want Mr. McCain (who has been in Congress for nearly 26 years). Ms. Palin condemned Wall Street greed and said she and Mr. McCain would "demand" strict oversight. In virtually the next breath, she said government should "get out of the way" of American business.	Indeed, Palin's primary aim seemed simply to repeat the same thing over and over: John McCain is a maverick, and so is she. She is a governor. She understands Americans. To stay on that course, she had to indulge in some wildly circular logic: America does not want another familiar Washington figure. But they want McCain (who has been in Congress for 26 years). Palin sounded like a prairie populist when she said McCain would "demand" strict oversight of Wall Street. In virtually the next breath, she said government should "get out of the way" of American business.
There were occasional, disturbing flashes of the old, pre-campaign Sarah Palin. Asked about the causes of global warming, Ms. Palin suggested that man had some role -- but she wasn't saying how much.	There were also occasional, disturbing flashes of the old, pre-campaign Sarah Palin. When asked about the causes of global warming, Palin suggested that man had some role - but she wasn't saying how much.
In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Ms. Palin's candidacy: Mr. McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice that shattered the image he created for himself as the honest, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment. It was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment.	In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Palin's candidacy: She can learn her talking points and make a good impression under controlled circumstances. But McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice when he picked someone with far too little experience or evident knowledge for the post. That choice shattered the image that McCain created for himself as the tempered, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment. Picking Palin was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment.
	The ensuing weeks cemented those images in our minds. Palin initially injected some energy into the McCain campaign, especially among members of the right-wing Republican base, who never liked or trusted the Arizona senator -- and still do not. Then, she began lurching from one embarrassing public appearance to another, culminating in her shocking performance in interviews with Katie Couric. In those exchanges, Palin was inarticulate and shockingly unable to answer the most basic questions about government policy and even her own political philosophy. The Republicans have tried to present the negative reaction to Palin as a matter of liberal elites sneering at someone who does not share their privileged backgrounds. That is a distraction. The problem with Palin's candidacy, which she underscored in her appearance at the debate on Thursday night, is not that she didn't attend a fancy school or go backpacking in Europe after college. It is her disdain for knowledge, education, experience and contemplative leadership.

Thank God that, among some good ministerial appointments, South Africa's new president, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, has appointed Ms Barbara Hogan.as health minister in place of Ms Manto Tshabalala-Msimang who,

embraced Mr Mbeki's denialist views of HIV/AIDS, to the horror of many abroad and at home, including many in her own department, and did not do much to improve the crumbling public-health system. She has been dispatched to a ministerial portfolio in the presidency. . . . Ms Hogan is known for speaking out when many in the ANC fell in line with Mr Mbeki over HIV/AIDS. Anti-AIDS campaigners, who fought against the former health minister and have been calling for broader antiretroviral treatment for years, were overjoyed by the news of her appointment, serenading her in front of her Cape Town flat that same evening and offering her champagne. Government relations with AIDS campaigners are looking up. Whether Ms Hogan will be able to improve the creaking and demoralised health system before the next election is another matter. (Economist 2 Oct 08)

Possibly, just possibly, the South African government may now be able to contribute leadership to anti-HIV/AIDS efforts in its own country and in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa has a huge HIV caseload, but has done too little in prevention or to help the 5.5 million estimated to be HIV positive. There are possibly 500,000 new infections and over 300,000 deaths per year. "You don't have to be a health expert to understand the challenge this country is facing when it comes to the Aids pandemic," Hogan told a press conference. She said awareness about HIV and AIDS was improving among young South Africans, but "persistent and consistent work and political leadership" was needed to get the message across about prevention and treatment. "We regard HIV/AIDS as one of the most serious health challenges facing this country." Ms Hogan said she would press for a fundamental shift in policy and more funds for anti-retroviral drugs.

If the recent Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week show in Miami is anything to go by, the fashion industry have little idea of what the average bloke would want to wear at the beach. Forget the fashionistas, Billabong, Rip Curl, Mambo, or Aussiebum will do very fine. There was the conventionally sexy ---> and the plain boring. ---> Others were morbid, ---> And a few were fun and wearable. --->

<--- the silly and the too small, <--- Some were short, and some too long. <--- or simply tragic.

I am not a great footy supporter, as I have said, and rugby league is not really 'football' (This and this are football.) but, emboldened by the Hawk's victory last weekend, perhaps I may raise a cheer or three in support of the Melbourne Storm?

Postlude (5 Oct): 'Twas not to be

Manly defeated Melbourne 40-0, the biggest ever winning margin in a grand final, with Melbourne also the first side since Cronulla in the 1978 replay to be held scoreless in a grand final. The defeat avenged the 34-8 flogging of Manly by the Storm in last year's grand final. Melbourne had but one premiership to show for a period in which they won 80 per cent of their games and three minor premierships.

The South Korean National Assembly Research Service forecasts that Obama would seek a direct Washington-Pyongyang dialogue in an attempt to resolve the nuclear standoff, while encouraging China to play an active role, according to the The Korea Times. On several occasions, Obama has said that he may be willing to sit down face-to-face with leaders like North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, if that is what it takes to resolve the continuing nuclear standoff. If McCain wins the election, the Research Service says the situation would evolve in a very differently. "As McCain stresses complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement of the nuclear programs, he will hold out both pressure and dialogue under the current six-party talks framework when dealing with Pyongyang," it said.

Michael J. Green, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, observes however that "Obama's position on North Korean affairs is moving toward that of McCain." He explained that Obama's pledge to sit down with the North Korean leader without conditions, which he made eight times in the Democratic Party national convention, was not popular among U.S. voters, and that there was a change in his stance on the North.

It seems to me that a position based on reality would be better than ideology--a reality that includes not only North Korea's nuclear ambitions but also takes into account the need to change its appalling human rights record and relieve the sufferings of its people, too many of whom face starvation. Whatever the US does must address these realities.