What A Shock!

Hello Fellow Rambling Masses,

My God! What a shock! Beige Howard is going to fight the election on an economic front. What a surprise. I never expected him, the great money-over-all-else man, to forsake all rhyme, reason, environmental concerns, worker disregard, infrastructure indifference, etc., etc., just for a braindead grab at votes.

So, here we are, in an economic boom that has absolutely nothing to do with the governing party and their (lack of) policies, and they are once again touting and flogging that old, old dead warhorse of political spin "oh, we've done so well with the economy - how can you possibly trust the country with anyone else?" caper.

Let me tell you that a blind, toothless, rude spit-roaster with halitosis, a racking cough and a tendency to hit on your girlfriend at barbeques could have done just as good a job at running the Australian economy as the current 11-year old regime that likes to claim all the kudos for what is a worldwide economic phenomenon tangentially affecting Australia. Nice work, Beige. Well done. We couldn't possibly have done it without you.

Now, just a bit of advice for the 5-week election campaign that looms - don't get anywhere near a real policy. That's dangerous. Just stick to tax cuts and continuous re-runs of the "interest rates would be higher under labor" statements that won you the last election. It will all be okay. I am sure that the electorate is every bit as dense and dimwitted as last time...

AWAy Forward?

Greetings Rambling Masses,

I won't rabbit on too long about AWA (workplace agreements between employers and their employees which are replacing collective bargaining as the new standard for the establishment of employment conditions), but I feel that there is one very important thing that is NOT being said in the debate about them as we move towards a federal election.

Australia, along with many other parts of the world, is enjoying a time of almost unprecedented economic boom. Unemployment is very low, due in only a very small part to Beige Howard and his band of smarmy men. How can this government take the credit for something that is happening on a global scale, something that they have no control whatsoever over? Without the demand for resources from China, India and other developing super-powers, Australia would not be enjoying the current walk in the park.

When people debate the introduction of the AWAs, which gives a huge amount of power back to the employer, there are a few things that need to be considered. At the moment, economic times are great! The world is our oyster. The cases of mistreatment and exploitation of workers are not that great in number. There are a few cases where greed and the unhealthy capitalist urge to chase ever-greater profit margins have resulted in workers' rights being unacceptably trampled on, but on the whole, there has not been too much to report negatively about. Low skilled and low paid workers will continue to bear the brunt of the AWAs, since their bargaining power is next to nix.

Now, let's change the parameters slightly and see what is going to happen. It doesn't take a world-class fortune teller to look into the depths of the crystal ball to realise that when times start to get tough again (and this is indeed a certainty) then the pendulum will swing, and everyone will start to get raped and pillaged by the AWAs. The government's pretend safety net (the so-called "fair go" ombudsman) will be swamped with millions of cases of unfair dismissal, sub-standard conditions, stripping of holiday pay and penalty rates, unacceptable work hours, and pay rates that will dive like the stockmarket worms on a bad day.

Now, I agree that during the 70's and 80's, the unions had way too much power. We had a strike every second day, and there were rolling blackouts and lack of services aplenty when this happened. I personally don't ever want to go back to those days. However, I also don't want to go back to the days of legalised sweatshop conditions, child labour, unsafe work practices, and ridiculously long working hours. It was these things that led to the formation of unions in the first place, and it was these things that the unions battled against, fighting for worker rights. Okay, they then went on to become fat cats and part of the problem, but we must guard against swinging the pendulum too far the other way. Beige Howard has done just that.

When did a company in a competitive capitalist environment ever introduce policies that safeguarded workers' rights without having pressure brought to bear on them? Very rarely. If we disempower the unions too much, we lose the balance that is crucial in all facets of society.

For it is all about balance. Don't give the unions too much power. Don't give the owners of capital too much power. Try to tread the middle path. This is why I think that AWAs are one of the most backward steps since feudal lords crunched their fine boots down on their vassals' necks.

A Message To Be Respected (And Listened To)

Greetings and Salutations, oh Rambling Masses,

Here I am on a Saturday morn, having just seen my wife off in her 5:30AM taxi to the airport. I am not tired, so I flick the teev on and see what it has to offer. After getting the latest blast of gangstas rapping about hos and bling on early morning Rage, and wondering why in Australia we have this fascination with all of this American crap, I decide to flick through the stations and see what else is on.

Being in Sydney, I get the local independent station TVS (station 31). We often tune in just for a laugh at the sometimes amateurish content, but every now and then there is a diamond in the rough.

Prem Rawat is just such a diamond. For those who don't know him from a bar of soap, let me tell you a bit about him. Also known as Maharaji, he is a 50 year old Indian man who tours around the world talking about peace, love and understanding. He is not associated with any religious movements, and in my humble opinion, his philosophies are indeed a thing of beauty that should be heard by more people.

When you mention philosophy, people usually think about the egghead "If a tree falls in the forest and there's no-one there to hear it, does it still make a sound" stuff. However, philosophy is all this and much more. Philosophy is about investigating and defining our place in the world, and about the path towards better understanding of ourselves, others, and the universe at large. Prem Rawat's philosophical discourses are approachable, palatable and practical, and for that I applaud him and have the utmost respect for him.

Also, when he talks, he sounds like The Late Show's parody of Desmond Tutu - "What we neeeeeeeeed..."

I would like to share with you the transcript from the show that I caught. It is all about peace and happiness - things that we should all be striving for with all of our energy. It is not pie-in-the-sky stuff, but real and practical words of wisdom. For those who would like to know more about Prem Rawat and his lectures, you can visit his website. Without further ado, here is one of his lecture transcripts.

The Fundamental Need - by Prem Rawat

We talk about peace, but do we ever stop and wonder, "Where did this idea of peace come from?" Why do human beings across the face of this earth even want peace?

If peace is a luxury, then you can say, "Well, it would be nice to have peace." But it’s an innate and fundamental desire, a need, a necessity that gets acknowledged in a human being. Something stirs from within and says, "Without peace, the whole equation is incomplete." Throughout the world’s civilizations, peace has always been something that has been acknowledged.

The importance I am giving peace is that it is just as important as being able to breathe, just as important as being able to see, just as important as being able to exist. Something within each human being stirs every single day and says, "Let me feel, let me experience the state in which I am not burdened with conflict. It is important for me to feel that simplicity in my life."

Whether we live in what we call a free society or in prison, we need to feel something. What is so fundamental to us is not the boundaries of countries or even our ideals, for in the midst of the ideals, we have forgotten the fundamental human thing.

In this existence, we forget what the primary purpose is. What is the most important thing to you as a human being? To welcome that and not find it mysterious because it isn’t mysterious, not to find it routine because it is not routine. To acknowledge that the life I have is an exquisite gift, and I need to make the most of it.

An empty pitcher, an empty well, cannot fill other vessels. A dry well? You can throw 10,000 buckets into it, and all that will come out is sand. And that’s if you’re lucky. For a lamp to light other lamps, that lamp has to be lit. For a candle to light other candles, that candle has to be lit. Peace is a noble objective; helping mankind is noble. But it has to begin with a lit lamp. First and foremost, peace has to be recognized in a person’s own self.

Everybody’s requirements are different when it comes to this world: somebody likes a blue car; somebody likes a green car; somebody likes a white car. I’m not passing judgment on that. That’s fine. But there is one need that is the same for all. The name for water is different in different languages, but water in itself is not different. Its ability to quench thirst is not different.

We are free to understand the gift that we have been given. That is a freedom no one can take away from us - not another government, not a terrorist. There is a peace that resides equally in the heart of every human being. It is not a peace that somebody hands us on a platter, because that peace can be taken away some day. This is a peace that no one can take away from us.

This is a peace that can be felt even in a battlefield - the innate peace, fundamental to everyone. The fundamentals of every human being: freedom, understanding, peace, joy, happiness.

Feel that peace in your life. Feel that joy in your life. Feel that understanding in your life. Come from that place, and there will be no end to how much you can be filled with beautiful understanding and gratitude. Make it real, make it practical. Make it the way it is supposed to be - every life, everywhere touched because a lit lamp came by and was able to light the unlit lamps. This is the possibility for all of us, but first we need to be lit.

Is it asking for a lot? Probably. Is it impossible? Absolutely not. It is very, very possible. It will take a lot of effort, but then effort is one thing we can make. And it is up to us.

Economics 101

Hello Rambling Masses,

Here's my rather simple take on the economy, be it a local, national or global one. Apart from the occasional injection of currency from various countries' mints, money is not created or destroyed. What makes a successful economy is merely the constant movement of money. A recession or depression is merely the stagnation of this natural movement of money.

Phew! What a mind-blow! Now that we've got that out of the way, I would like to apply this rather simple philosophy to the current problem of the environment. The Federal Government of Australia has continually postulated that the reason for its foot-dragging regarding the environment is purely economic - we don't want to do anything that risks jobs or puts us at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the world.

Erm, yeah, okay. The absolutely revolutionary concept that I want to put forward is that if you show leadership and invest in an industry, then the money will follow. If the government had anything other than glass balls in their scrotum, they would invest some of that $20 billion they are sitting on, and push to become one of the world leaders in renewable energy research and development. The long-term gains would far outweigh the initial investment, and that's just looking at it from an economic point of view.

I have incredible respect for the amount of investment that Germany is engaging in, mostly in the solar and wind sectors of renewable energy research and implementation. Imagine that - Germany, which gets a tiny percentage of the amount of sunlight that Australia gets, investing hugely in solar technology. Now, that's balls for you.

What is our excuse? None that I can see. To borrow from a rather forgettable Hollywood movie - "If you build it, they will come". Instead of renewable energy companies shutting down their operations here in Australia and moving elsewhere (where the political will is stronger), they would flock to our shores and help to build a powerful industry that would provide jobs, business investment and a future for us all, instead of the fossil fuel graveyard that we are currently building for ourselves.

It takes only a cursory dip into my somewhat feeble intellect to come up with further suggestions for sustainable industries that could yield incredible profits, whilst still providing much smaller ecological footprints than current destructive practices. For example, non-THC hemp plantations (THC is the psychoactive constituent of hemp that gives the "high" when smoked or otherwise ingested, but non-THC varieties of hemp are available) could replace all wood-pulp industries currently in operation. The growth rate of hemp is such that it yields much greater fiber returns per square metre with much less irrigation requirements than any tree plantations in operation. The fiber can be used to make clothing, rope, paper, even particle board and other manufactured wood products. The cost involved in migrating current manufacturing and processing equipment to hemp fiber instead of wood is minimal when the big picture is considered, and timber industry workers could be reskilled with no loss of Beige Howard's precious jobs-figures that he likes to tout as one of his government's great achievements.

One of the big problems associated with solar and wind power technologies is that they cannot provide base load power - when the sun isn't shining and when the wind isn't blowing, there's no power, right? Well, all it takes is a little bit of innovative thinking, and that's something that Australians have always prided themselves on. Battery technology is not at the point where power can be usefully stored for later consumption. However, batteries are not the only method of energy storage. For example, pumps could be run off solar/wind power during the day, pumping water up to a reservoir at the top of a hill. The water could then be released during the evenings to run turbines, thereby generating power at night. This isn't rocket science, you know, just simple engineering and application of the conservation of energy principles.

Tidal power and geothermal power are other technologies that warrant much more research because of their great potential.

For God's sake, Australia, wake up and see the sun shine. Investment in sustainable industries now will not put us at a competitive disadvantage or risk job security. To think that is pure folly, unless you are a recalcitrant backward-thinking slug whose head is still stuck back in the 1950's somewhere. The challenges of the future await us, and they should be met with the ingenuity and hard work ethic that our forefathers used to get us all to where we are now. We have been slumbering lately, and it's time to realise that the fossil fuel honeymoon is over. It is only through environmentally sustainable practices and sound judgement that we will survive it with anywhere near our current levels of wealth and ease.

I have faith in the human race to overcome the obstacles that are looming. However, without political leaders who have the will, the guts and the determination to make the hard decisions, we will be lost. The world will slowly slip into ruin, as we listen to the latest Pop Idol tune on our iPods or watch the latest tax-payer funded advertising campaign on our plasma screens, telling us that the government is "really serious" about the environment.

Environmental Issues Closer To Home

Hi Ramblers,

And just in case you were wondering, because of my rather anti-Liberal government leanings of late, no - I am not a Labor man. This counts especially for you Dad, just in case you read it.

It's not like Labor has much of a track record. Let's face it - it's the Labor governments of WA, and now NSW, who have made the monumentally idiotic decision to build desalination plants as a supposed fix to our water shortages.

How the building of a $4.5 billion plant that will require almost the total output of a whole power station, and cause irreparable damage to the marine ecology in the area, is going to be in the best interests of the planet is something that I haven't quite figured out yet, but I am obviously a simpleton that doesn't have access to the incredible depths of scientific knowledge that our esteemed state leaders have.

So, what is the political solution to our woes? Neither Liberal nor Labor have had much of a stab at anything dangerous like actual policies, preferring instead to stick with tried-and-tested spin, waffling and hyperbole. The Greens, as rather well described by someone whom I forget, used to be like a watermelon - green on the outside and red on the inside, but now they are more like an avocado - hard green on the outside, soft green on the inside, with a Brown nut in the middle.

I guess the only thing we can do is to try to communicate to the leading contenders in this upcoming election that we will no longer stand for delaying tactics, smokescreens and total disregard for the ramifications of our current destructive ways. Through organisations like GetUp!, we have a chance to be part of a groundswell of popular lobbying, so I would urge that you all get up from your comfortable seats and spend a few minutes of your valuable time in contemplation and investigation of how you can empower yourself to make a difference.

I personally have had an absolute gutfull of these self-serving muppets who try to tiptoe through their terms in office, avoiding policies, decisions and controversy, letting our country slowly gurgle down the drain. Enough is enough! I am doing my small bit, in the hope that a whole lotta small bits will add up to make a big enough bit to be noticed. If I stand by and do nothing, I am as bad as those ineffective assholes who should be running our country.

Harumph!

Tas-Mania & The Art Of Pretending To Be Environmentally Responsible

Greets Oh Rambling Masses,

Once again, the Federal Government of Australia has proved to be at least 100 years out of touch with the need to be environmentally sustainable and responsible in this modern age of mass consumption and destruction. I sometimes think that Beige Howard and his cronies are trying their darnedest to win the how-to-screw-the-planet-up-most award.

It's wonderful to see that the government will spend $23 million of our taxpayer dollars on an advertising blitz to show how in touch with environmental concerns they are, and then cave in to big business in one of the few unspoiled corners of the planet (Tasmania), agreeing to build a delightfully destructive pollution-machine in the shape of a pulp mill.

"Oh, but we have put safeguards in place, ensuring that it is world's best practice." Yeah, I guess that's right when you compare it to the strip-logging of Amazonian forests or the clubbing of seals, but in the broad scheme of things, it's about as anti-environmentally aware as you could possibly get. This government is one of the most out-of-touch, anachronistic dinosaurs that has ever had the incredible good fortune, due to voter ignorance and/or apathy, of leading a supposedly progressive nation in the modern age.

The decision by the environment minister Malcolm Turncoat to back the Gunns pulp mill in northern Tasmania is nothing short of environmental terrorism. I am sure that he will defend his decision by quoting "Australia's chief scientist" Dr. Jim Peacock, whose terms of reference were limited to a mere pinprick of ecological ramifications.

And to all of those proponents of the Timber Industry (Forest Rapers Inc) who claim that the pulp mill is an essential injection of jobs for hard-pressed timber workers, I have only one word for you - reskilling. Use your not-insubstantial lobbying power to suggest to the government that a modest investment in the renewable energy industry and reskilling of timber workers to be part of it will reap incredible rewards, as well as the respect of this and future generations.

Once again, thank you Beige Howard for shortsightedly considering business and the economy above everything else. In the dim, dark, smog-filled future, I must remember to track down your grandchildren and remind them that you were the asshole that fucked up our last great wilderness.


Until the next time that I breathe the acrid, pollution-filled smog that passes for air, I remain your ever-faithful ranter, oh Rambling Masses.

Don't forget to vote when the cowardly miscreant finally decides to pull an election date out of his Beige you-know-what.

Ani DiFranco - This Sums It Up Pretty Well

Hi Rambling Masses,

Ani DiFranco, an American independent singer/songwriter/guitarist, is an inspiration to many feminists. To me, however, she is an inspiration because of her views concerning artistic freedom. She has consistently refused to sign to a major label, instead building (with help from friends) a small indie label of her own.

She wrote the following open letter to Ms. Magazine (an American-based feminist magazine), pointing out that her success should not be viewed in purely financial terms, but rather in artistic terms. She says it very eloquently, and I have taken the liberty of reproducing her open letter without alteration below. It rings true to much that I believe about art, capitalism and integrity.

November 5, 1997

Marcia Ann Gillespie
Editor in Chief
Ms. Magazine
135 W. 50th Street
16th Floor
New York, NY 10020

    So I'm poring through the 25th anniversary issue of Ms. (on some
airplane going somewhere in the amorphous blur that amounts to my
life) and I'm finding it endlessly enlightening and stimulating as
always, when, whaddaya know, I come across a little picture of little
me. I was flattered to be included in that issue's "21 feminists for
the 21st century" thingybob. I think ya'll are runnin the most bold
and babe-olishious magazine around, after all.

    Problem is, I couldn't help but be a little weirded out by the
paragraph next to my head that summed up her me-ness and my
relationship to the feminist continuum. What got me was that it
largely detailed my financial successes and sales statistics. My
achievements were represented by the fact that I "make more money per
album sold than Hootie and the Blowfish," and that my catalogue sales
exceed 3/4 of a million. It was specified that I don't just have my
own record company but my own "profitable" record company.  Still, the
ironic conclusion of the aforementioned blurb is a quote from me
insisting "it's not about the money." Why then, I ask myself, must
"the money" be the focus of so much of the media that surrounds me?
Why can't I escape it, even in the hallowed pages of Ms.?

    Firstly, this "Hootie and the Blowfish" business was not my
doing. The LA Times financial section wrote an article about my record
label, Righteous Babe Records, in which they raved about the business
savvy of a singer (me) who thwarted the corporate overhead by choosing
to remain independent, thereby pocketing $4.25 per unit, as opposed to
the $1.25 made by Hootie or the $2.00 made by Michael Jackson. This
story was then picked up and reprinted by The New York Times, Forbes
magazine, the Financial News Network, and (lo and behold) Ms.

    So here I am, publicly morphing into some kinda Fortune
500-young-entrepreneur-from-hell, and all along I thought I was just a
folksinger !

    Ok, it's true. I do make a much larger profit (percentage-wise)
than the Hootster. What's even more astounding is that there are
thousands of musicians out there who make an even higher profit
percentage than me! How many local, musicians are there in your
community who play gigs in bars and coffee shops about town? I bet
lots of them have made cassettes or CDS which they'll happily sell to
you with a personal smile from the edge of the stage or back at the
bar after their set. Would you believe these shrewd, profit-minded
wheeler-dealers are pocketing a whopping _100%_ of the profits on the
sales of those puppies?! Wait till the Financial News Network gets a
whiff of _them_!

    I sell approximately 2.5% of the albums that a Joan Jewelanis
Morrisette sells and get about .05% of the airplay royalties, so
obviously if it all comes down to dollars and cents, I've led a wholly
unremarkable life. Yet I choose relative statistical mediocrity over
fame and fortune because I have a bigger purpose in mind. Imagine how
strange it must be for a girl who has spent 10 years fighting as hard
as she could against the lure of the corporate carrot and the almighty
forces of capital, only to be eventually recognized by the power
structure as a business pioneer.

    I have indeed sold enough records to open a small office on the
half-abandoned main street in the dilapidated urban center of my
hometown, Buffalo, N.Y. I am able to hire 15 or so folks to run and
constantly reinvent the place while I drive around and play music for
people. I am able to give stimulating business to local printers and
manufacturers and to employ the services of independent distributors,
promoters, booking agents and publicists. I was able to quit my day
job and devote myself to what I love.

    And yes, we are enjoying modest profits these days, affording us
the opportunity to reinvest in innumerable political and artistic
endeavors.  RBR is no Warner Bros. But it is a going concern, and for
me, it is a vehicle for redefining the relationship between art and
commerce in my own life.  It is a record company which is the product
not just of my own imagination, but that of my friend and manager Scot
Fisher and of all the people who work there.  People who incorporate
and coordinate politics, art and media every day into a
people-friendly, sub-corporate, woman-informed, queer-happy small
business that puts music before rock stardom and ideology before
profit.

    And me.  I'm just a folksinger, not an entrepreneur.  My hope is
that my music and poetry will be enjoyable and/or meaningful to
someone, somewhere, not that I maximize my profit margins.  It was 15
years and 11 albums getting to this place of notoriety and, if
anything, I think I was happier way back when.  Not that I regret any
of my decisions, mind you.  I'm glad I didn't sign on to the corporate
army.  I mourn the commodification and homogenization of music by the
music industry, and I fear the manufacture of consent by the
corporately-controlled media.  Last thing I want to do is feed the
machine.

    I was recently mortified while waiting in the dressing room
before one of my own shows. Some putz suddenly takes the stage to
announce me and exclaim excitedly that this was my "largest sold-out
crowd to date!"  "Oh, really?," I'm thinking to myself, "that's
interesting...too bad it's not the point."  All of my achievements are
artistic, as are all of my failures.

    That's just the way I see it.  Statistical plateau or no.  I'll
bust ass for 60 people, or 6,000, watch me.

    I have so much respect for Ms. magazine.  If I couldn't pick it
up at newsstands my brain probably would've atrophied by now on some
trans-Atlantic flight and I would be lying limp and twitchy in a bed
of constant travel, staring blankly into the abyss of the gossip
magazines.  Ms. is a structure of media wherein women are able to
define themselves, and articulate for themselves those definitions.
We wouldn't point to 21 of the feminists moving into the 21st century
and define them in terms of "Here's Becky Ballbuster from Iowa City,
she's got a great ass and a cute little button nose..."  No ma'am.
We've gone beyond the limited perceptions of sexism and so we should
move beyond the language and perspective of the corporate patriarchy.
The Financial News Network may be ultimately impressed with me now
that I've proven to them that there's a life beyond the auspices of
papa Sony, but do I really have to prove this to _you_?

    We have the ability and the opportunity to recognize women not
just for the financial successes of their work but for the work
itself.  We have the facility to judge each other by entirely
different criteria than those is imposed upon us by the superstructure
of society.  We have a view which reaches beyond profit margins into
poetry, and a vocabulary to articulate the difference.

    Thanks for including me, Ms., really.  But just promise me one
thing; if I drop dead tomorrow, tell me my grave stone won't read:

         ani d.
         CEO.

Please let it read:

         songwriter
         musicmaker
         storyteller
         freak.


-Ani DiFranco

I doff my hat to you Ani. Thank you for your sanity in this world at-times-gone-mad.