It appears that the Australian group seemingly involved is MelbourneIT -- tho' people have also been tracking back to places registered as co.uk, a Canadian telecom, and a firm in Delaware, just like that nice American citizen, Mr Murdoch's, News Corporation moved to. Seven more hours until 9am Monday here, too. Time for a nice batch of outrage to build up.
Sigh.
A long (1989), somewhat sorry, history behind that place; the joys of privatizing 'n' all that. This will just add to their history of difficulties.
A quick remark on Peter Pan, from memory. It was originally a play, became very popular, and was published as a book. Don't know timeframe. It stayed as a popular perennial production for decades.
But I wonder if there was much problem (like Shakespeare & others had) with 'pirate' <ahem> versions being performed? Slightly modified, perhaps.
In such pre-movie*, pre-radio* and pre-television days, plays, music hall/vaudeville and, in some cultures, opera were more frequently popular entertainments than they tend to be now.
[*Don't pick nits on me here. They weren't big until 1920s & beyond.]
History, again, usually shows that the majority of people acquiescing in, and sometimes even carrying out, what we think of as 'evil', or just 'bad' deeds do consider what they are supporting or doing either 'good' in itself, or 'necessary in order to carry out an ultimately good end' (even if they're rather uncomfortable with it).
One example that has been discussed a lot over about the last decade or 15 years (??) in Australia is the whole "Stolen Generations" controversy in relation to Aboriginal children.
(FAR too long and difficult to try & summarise here, but not altogether different to what happened to other indigenous peoples, and even somewhat similar to the "British Orphans" exported to Canada & Australia.)
[Skirting Godwin, look carefully at the history of how assorted deceptions were used to persuade Jews to leave their homes for 'resettlement', including getting local communities to organise committees to organise it. We do forget these things because with hindsight we know how things turned out, but most don't realise what it was like trying to work it out while you were in the middle of it. It is a great example to study, simply because so much detail has been recorded from many different actors.]
"...saying that good intentions do not entirely excuse evil results." -- Bruce Baugh
Is it not said that the road to Hell is paved with just those Good Intentions?
"gnoscophile" - jennie: I like it; I like it a lot. Think it may end up in a few of my places ;) Thank you.
[Or would this be preferred? 'jennie; I like it. I like it a lot' OR 'jennie, I like it. I like it a lot'? Ahem. Doubtful as it may be, a virgo with strong libran overtones seems to fit much of my personality.]
Will now have a look at the newgle google thing.
m: but there have been quite a few groups over several hundred years convinced by numerous signs in their time that they were living in "end times". All have suffered a Great Disappointment. Some here would be able to give examples & links of histories. It seems to fulfil some psychological need among some people, alas, they can cause great damage.
Perhaps widespread TV documentaries & popular historical features in tabloid papers covering a bunch of these could be part of a "fightback" to get people into a less frightened, more thoughtful & future-oriented state of mind? (Realistic, even.)
Carlos: "It's meant to skim off the bigot vote, by providing it with a socially acceptable, in fact nearly unimpeachable cover for much less acceptable motives." Somewhat OT, a large jolt to my enjoyment of "O Brother, Where Art Thou", was the disgust of the 1920s small-town southern public on knowing someone was involved with the Ku Klux Klan. It seemed quite unrealistic.
Some pertinent definitions of revival:
A restoration to use, acceptance, activity, or vigor after a period of obscurity or quiescence.
A time of reawakened interest in religion.
A meeting or series of meetings for the purpose of reawakening religious faith, often characterized by impassioned preaching and public testimony.
An evangelistic meeting intended to reawaken interest in religion.
Looking at British history -- which we were taught rather more than Australian, and much more than American -- there was a religious underpinning to the social movements in the nineteenth century towards equality, bettering prison & working conditions (e.g. getting children out of mines & factories & into school), less cruel treatment of animals & so forth.
Of course, religion had been used before -- as it sometimes is now -- to justify these things, as with apartheid in South Africa. The loss of religious faith & "social Darwinism" was used to justify or excuse those who wanted to (and still wish to) not change those conditions, or to remove as many of the improvements as possible.
Support of country, family & religious values as well as fighting "godless" ideology is often used to cloak &/or justify much State torture, terror & repression as seen in Greece, Spain & parts of South America, Indonesia & so forth. In other countries or at other times, of course, the ideology is used in almost exactly the same way for the same purposes.
Basically, this history has led me to deep suspicion of such political & religious ideologies.
One of the things that has led me to not condemn outright all religion & strong political & economic faiths is that people of good will can twist them to serve good purposes as well as the greedy & ambitious twisting them to serve their lusts. Unfortunately, as Yeats said, "the worst are full of a passionate intensity"
For these reasons, I determined in the last census to say "no religion", because some people have been using these figures to justify their hate-full versions of religion as having public support. Unfortunately, some have also characterized the "no religion" people as being 'adrift and lost' and without faith or spiritual beliefs, which I would feel deeply untrue of myself at least.
julia's remembrance above, , of a struggling worker donating money to help "Jim and Tammy [Bakker] after they got caught" brought back the disturbance I felt at the end of the Coen Bros latest, a "re-imagining" of [Spoiler Alert The Ladykillers where the money looks like it's going to a dodgy-sounding religious cause (it doesn't seem like the sort of place that is throwing itself & its money into relieving the suffering of the poor & sick).
Well, it looks like Usama was involved in an "October Surprise" -- our news Osama drops in to play and an Australian reaction: Bin Laden message a wake-up call
Elsewhere: It will be interesting to see how things work out with that 'shred the Democrat registrations' story.
... and on the work front:
The Decatur Daily September 12, 2004 ( via )
Woman says she lost job for sporting Kerry sticker on car
by Clyde L. Stancil - Staff Writer
MOULTON, Alabama. Lynne Gobbell never imagined the cost of a John Kerry-John Edwards bumper sticker could run so high.
[She] didn't pay a cent for the sticker that she proudly displays on the rear windshield of her Chevrolet Lumina, but said it cost her job at a local factory after it angered her boss, Phil Gaddis ...
Bumper Sticker Insubordination
A Kerry fan gets fired, and then hired, for her politics.
By Timothy Noah (Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004)
One of this column's various mandates is to keep track of people who get fired from their jobs solely for holding certain political beliefs. Firing a person because you don't like his or her politics runs contrary to just about everything this country stands for, but it is not against the law ...
Theoretically "Firing a person because you don't like his or her politics" is against the law in Australia, but probably not for much longer. One of the big pushes on now that the Liberal Party (sorta like UK Conservative or US Republican) was returned to government on October 9th with more seats, is "amending" the Unfair Dismissal legislation that the former Labor [sic] Party government brought in. This legislation means you have to give some reasonable cause for sacking someone. By "amending", they basically mean "make inoperative", though as usual there is some cover of words to smooth over the ugly truth.
... and on the work front:
The Decatur Daily September 12, 2004 ( via )
Woman says she lost job for sporting Kerry sticker on car
by Clyde L. Stancil - Staff Writer
MOULTON, Alabama. Lynne Gobbell never imagined the cost of a John Kerry-John Edwards bumper sticker could run so high.
[She] didn't pay a cent for the sticker that she proudly displays on the rear windshield of her Chevrolet Lumina, but said it cost her job at a local factory after it angered her boss, Phil Gaddis ...
Bumper Sticker Insubordination
A Kerry fan gets fired, and then hired, for her politics.
By Timothy Noah (Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004)
One of this column's various mandates is to keep track of people who get fired from their jobs solely for holding certain political beliefs. Firing a person because you don't like his or her politics runs contrary to just about everything this country stands for, but it is not against the law ...
Theoretically "Firing a person because you don't like his or her politics" is against the law in Australia, but probably not for much longer. One of the big pushes on now that the Liberal Party (sorta like UK Conservative or US Republican) was returned to government on October 9th with more seats, is "amending" the Unfair Dismissal legislation that the former Labor [sic] Party government brought in. This legislation means you have to give some reasonable cause for sacking someone. By "amending", they basically mean "make inoperative", though as usual there is some cover of words to smooth over the ugly truth.
GGNNnnnnn.... <frustration> Had a look recently at the Australian SBS television website feedback page. It hasn't just been me hassling them about bringing back The Weekly Daily Show. (Assuming the full-strength Daily Show doesn't get overseas at all.)
It's been very irritating to read all the good reviews & comments on what they've been doing.
<picture goes all wavy> Remember hearing about all those soapie fans who would mail up-to-date tapes of General Hospital or whatever to us in The Outer Darkness who were months & years behind? <picture goes back to normal>
You'd think that these days that sort of thing would not be needed. Perhaps there is a secret "Daily Fix" group here in Oz with contact Over There? <rousing music> I should investigate.
Begone, ye worshippers of the Golden Calf!
Google GMail - less a pyramid, more a telephone tree?
How come your spam-catcher catches me, & not them? Ah, well...
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