The Gillard Government has blood on its hands. Prime Minister Julia Gillard should resign. These tragic drownings at Christmas Island are a direct result of her reckless boat people policies. Again and again she was warned those policies — fatally relaxed in 2008 — would result in exactly this loss of life.
Andrew Bolt Herald Sun 16 Dec 10

Dear Editor,
Andrew Bolt has blood on his hands. He stridently insisted on the invasion and killings in Iraq which led to millions fleeing. Some of those millions ended up in the ocean off Christmas Island on Wednesday.
Andrew Bolt's call, while bodies were still in the ocean, for Julia Gillard’s resignation (but the Labor Party opposed the war in Iraq) lacked human decency. He should resign.
Senator Bob Brown

Grady Hendrix laments in The Slate (6 Dec 10) that projectionists will soon be no more. "[N]owhere is technology eliminating the need for human labor faster than in motion-picture projection." Yet, the projectionists' tales that Hendrix relates show that the world's finest projectors "can never be a projectionist." The article is about wide-screen—35mm, 70mm and the like. But years ago a licence was required even to operate a 16mm projector in a public venue. Threading and smoothly operating the machine was tricky. But the big hazards were high voltage electricity and fire. In Victoria, there was a Board of Examiners of Cinematograph Operators established by the Cinematograph Operators Regulations 1935 made under the Health Act 1928. In 1973, I took a 13 week course and passed two formal examinations to get a 16mm Cinematograph Operator's Licence that allowed me to show films for church and other gatherings. It wasn't too long before it was all technologically redundant, with video tapes, VCR and, now, DVDs. The 16mm operator's licence was abolished.

The United Nations created the state of Israel in 1947. Six decades later, says Robert Wright in The New York Times (13 Dec 10), the UN should pass a similar resolution creating a Palestinian state. The UN’s unique advantages, utilized properly, would go a long way toward ensuring a lasting peace in the Middle East.

There is a strategy that could actually work. It would take boldness on President Obama's part, but it could win him a place in history and the enduring gratitude of most Jews and Palestinians.

. . . The United Nations created a Jewish state six decades ago, and it can create a Palestinian state now. It can define the borders, set the timetable and lay down the rules for Palestinian elections (specifying, for example, that the winners must swear allegiance to a constitution that acknowledges Israel's right to exist).

Establishing such a state would involve more tricky issues than can be addressed in this space. (I take a stab at some of them at www.progressiverealist.org/UN2states.) But, however messy this solution may seem, it looks pretty good when you realize how hopeless the current process is.

Palestinians and Israelis have taken turns impeding this process, and lately Israel has been in the lead. A raft of American inducements failed to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forgo for even three months the construction of Israeli settlements that are banned under international law. It would be nice to think that this is just a phase, the product of an ephemeral far-right coalition. But there are signs that Israel’s drift to the right runs deep.

. . . As chances of a deal shrink, international impatience grows. This month Brazil and Argentina recognized a Palestinian state with 1967 borders. By comparison, a United Nations solution looks Israel-friendly. Borders could be drawn to accommodate some of the thickest Israeli settlements along the 1967 lines (while giving the new Palestinian state land in exchange). But perhaps the biggest advantage is the political cover this approach would give President Obama.

. . . A prediction: if the United Nations does take the initiative, [American] domestic resistance will be largely confined to the right wing of American Jewish opinion. Vast numbers of American (and Israeli) Jews will rally to the plan, because lasting peace will finally be within reach.

Well, if Christmas ain't gonna be Christian, this is much more fun and inventive than Department store Muzak!



"Jingle Bell with a south indian & gujarati flavor for MTV & Nick,India."
Design & Direction: Nupur Bhargava
Music Director: IshQ Bector
Singers: Shree Dayal, Prajakta Shukre & Sonny Ravan
©MTV,Viacom18,India

We had an informal 'Soirée' with our Parish Advent dinner this year. I read this:

The ballad of old man Noah

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard . . . ¹
—R. F. Brissenden

Here's a health to Father Noah    Who built his ark of wood, Packed wife, kids, birds and beasts aboard    And saved them from the flood! But there's another reason    Why you should raise your glass— So listen to my story, boys,    And let the bottle pass. After months of weary sailing    Beneath the weeping sky Noah muttered, "All this water, Lord,    Sure makes a man feel dry. "Don't think that I'm not grateful:    I'm glad we didn't sink And I've grown quite fond of animals    —But, Lord, I need a drink! "And, mate, I don't mean water!    Please, when I beach this boat, Could you give me something stronger    To soothe my thirsty throat?" And the Lord said "Noah, baby,    I'm tired of water too: So park your ark on Ararat    And I'll tell you what we'll do: "We'll plant a little vineyard    And we'll get the sun to shine; And when the grapes have ripened    We'll turn them into wine."

So when the flood subsided    And the rainbow spanned the sky, And all God's creatures, two by two,    Went forth to multiply, Noah set the first grapes growing    Upon a sunny hill, And vintaged them, and vatted them    Then sat to drink his fill. He took one sip, and laughed aloud;    He shouted: "Thank you, Lord!" He drank, he sang, he drank again,    And then lay down and snored. Flat on his back lay Noah,    His hairy legs spread wide, With his bunch of grapes and vine rows    All standing in their pride. That's how Ham, Shem and Japheth    Found their old dad lying bare; So they fetched a rug and covered him    With tender loving care. It's all there in the Bible—    Genesis, chapter Nine: The flood, the naked drunk old man    The water and the wine. So, lift a glass to Noah, boys;    Don't pike when it's your shout; Praise the Lord and pass the bottle;    And let it all hang out.

From: The Flight of the Emu: contemporary light verse, edited by Geoffrey Lehmann. North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1990, pp.9-10.

1. Genesis 9.20

From Welland Ontario, 13 Nov 2010. Good fun. Maybe St Philip's should try this!

Recently I found these pictures, taken at the time, of the grounds of the high school I attended in the 1960s. The teachers, by and large, were decent and hard-working and the classes interesting enough. But for long periods outside class time there were no facilities at all, nothing to do and few places to sit. Which is why, sadly, although I gained an education, my dominant memory of high school is sheer boredom.