Darkness at Noon

This is an example of the use of machinima – the use of animation engines usually from games to tell a story. The youtube clip below tells the story of the ‘Wee Shu Min elitism scandal’.

The Wee Shu Min elitism scandal was a Singaporean scandal in October 2006 in which Wee Shu Min, daughter of parliament member Wee Siew Kim and then-eighteen year-old student on Raffles Junior College’s scholarship programme, found herself in controversy after posting on her blog what were viewed by some Singaporeans to be elitist,[1] naive, and insensitive statements against heartlanders.[2]

Dismissing the views of Derek Wee who voiced concerns on job security and age discrimination on his blog, she shot back with a take-no-prisoners diatribe,[1][3] calling Wee a “stupid crackpot”, belonging to “the sadder class” and overreliant on the government. Her post also called for Wee to “get out of my elite uncaring face.”[4][5] Her response triggered an avalanche of criticism, as it came on the heels of the sensational suicide of an individual (said to be facing financial difficulties) at Chinese Garden MRT Station.
Link and Details

The machnima below tells that story but in a visual and three dimensional way that makes compelling viewing. It also can potentially help in terms of going across issues such as the digital divide and other barriers such as literacy.

(The sound for this is quite bad.)

In this ABC Big Ideas Podcast, Geoffrey Robertson dissects the issue of the bill of rights and deals with the various criticisms of such a possibility. I especially enjoyed his ideas around having ‘activists judges’ argument. He looks into, in detail, the potential of having a bill of rights. And points to the fact that Australia, while doing well in various indicices globally, is not doing as well as most think.

Why is Australia the only developed nation in the world without a bill of rights? What harm would it do to have one and how would it help ‘ordinary’ citizens and improve standards of governance and public services?

This lecture by Geoffrey Robertson QC is a Sydney Writers’ Festival special event.
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I couldn’t help but be somewhat alarmed when I read this last week:

THE Northern Territory Government will concentrate its development efforts in 20 remote Aboriginal communities in a policy revamp aimed at improving access to investment, law and order, education and health services.

But the Government has vowed not to force Aborigines to move to the centres and promised to maintain funding to existing outstations.

The 20 identified “growth towns” will be aimed at both indigenous and non-indigenous people and offer secure land tenure and the chance to attract private investment and access to transport, secondary education and law and order.

In announcing a revamp of its indigenous settlement program, the Northern Territory Government said it had mostly accepted the recommendations of consultant Patrick Dodson, who argued in a confidential report that larger outstations should be serviced in an identical manner to similar-sized remote communities.

The Rudd Government is understood to be strongly behind the territory’s plan, as it mirrors Jenny Macklin’s policy of developing key communities.

The report’s website is here: http://www.workingfuture.nt.gov.au/

Clearly this could lead to the closure of schools and clinics in more remote areas and place a reliance on these ‘central hubs’ which may be many hours drive away, further limiting access to the essential services that white Australians take for granted.

As Green Left Weekly point out:

The homelands and communities have helped to preserve traditional languages and cultures that might otherwise have died out.

The homelands developed alongside advances, albeit limited, in native title and self-governance legislation. It was here that the “permit” system first came into practice. This allowed Aboriginal people some control over who could and could not enter their lands.

and as Bob Gosford points out:

Lets be clear on one thing – the policy behind this brave new world for remote townships in the NT was not an original idea of the NT Government, Minister Anderson, her advisors or anyone else north of Canberra – no-one in Henderson’s now-marginal, single-seat majority government has the intellectual or moral wit, rigour or vigour to think outside of the prevailing assimilationist paradigm that now runs in Australia’s management of indigenous affairs.

This policy comes straight out of the Canberra office of Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, and the chief drivers of this, and similar policies in her office is her left-hand man, senior advisor Mike Dillon and a group of like-minded cronies.

I don’t think I could say it more clearly than that.

Why don’t you email NT Minister for Indigenous Policy Alison Anderson here alison.anderson@nt.gov.au and and Chief Minister Paul Henderson here paul.henderson@nt.gov.au. I’m sure they would love to hear form you.

Obviously Mike Meloni over at Somebody Think Of The Children has been paying close attention to the Senate’s Estimates Committee (a transcript of which will be uploaded here here when it is ready and can be listened to live).

It is worth reposting some of his latest post here:

In response to Senate questions, ACMA admitted this evening that their current blacklist contains only 32% child abuse material. During a Senate Standing Legislation Committee for Environment, Communications & the Arts, they revealed that the list contains 51% refused classification material (which includes child abuse material), meaning the other 49% is rated X18+ or less.

Given these numbers, 68% of the current list is almost definitely legal content.

This groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged from the earliest days of silent film to today’s biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs–from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding “terrorists”–along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today.

Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and internationl policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.
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The Age has reported today:

LOBBYING firms with close links to the State Government have been involved in at least a quarter of the major development projects fast-tracked by the Government since February.

Projects such as a massive apartment development on St Kilda Road, the Pentridge Prison redevelopment and plans for the development of the Chirnside Park golf course site have been supported by lobbyist firms Hawker Britton and CPR, both with strong links to the Labor Party.

Development deals have always made good use of dodgy backrooms. Developers are some of the biggest contributors to the hip-pocket of political parties. And Victoria doesn’t even have the decency to set up a simple electronic register of lobbying activity.

There really isn’t much else we can say about this – it’s dodgy and needs to stop.

Ban all political donations – cap election spending!

I love DJ Danger Mouse, I love him so much.

I’ve just come across the news that he has a new album out Dark Night of the Soul which he can’t release due to ongoing legal disputes with EMI. So he’s released a CD, complete with 100 page booklet and album work, containing a blank CD.

He’s released the following statement:

Danger Mouse’s new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.

The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.’

Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.

Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is.

Now I’ve a sneeking suspicion that if you Google searched ‘Dark Night of the Soul Torrent’ you’d find something that you could put on that blank CD.

Ellie Rennie spoke at one of ACDJ’s forums on community media (you can download it from here)

She has an article at APO on the effect the budget will have on Community Media which is worth a read:

FORGET media diversity in the fast broadband world. The new model for local media is top-down and centrally controlled.

While community media was largely ignored in the 2009–10 Federal Budget, the ABC reaped $15.3 million to begin providing “regional broadband hubs.” The money will be used to train local “user-generated” content makers and to employ a new cohort of ABC regional staff to manage them.

APO also have an article on Improving access to government through better use of the web.

Friends of the Earth Melbourne have launched a new website called A Green New Deal for Victoria and I think it’s one that is worth having in your RSS feeds.

The site is: “a proposal for a collaborative and integrated response to the triple crunch of recession, climate change, and peak oil.”

Get on board and join in the conversation – it’s a particularly important one.