Say Goodbye To Revolutions

Conversations With My Barber

Some days you realise you take your freedoms for granted. These days those reminders come from places like communist China or Putinist Russia during election time, or North Korea all the time, but occasionally you're reminded that there are some countries that continue to be very uncomfortable for personal liberty without reaching a lot fo headlines like Iran.

My local barber says he is Persian. I asked him about how it is that he identifies himself in that manner. 

"Aren't you Iranian, in modern parlance?" I asked. 

"But I feel like I'm Persian. Being Persian makes more sense to me than what is going on there today in the country that cals itself Iran."

I tried to dig deeper into the sentiment, trying to catch the drift of his defiance. There wasn't much to it - he basically disagreed with the theocracy that has been in place since the Revolution. Otherwise, he likes customising Japanese cars and driving really fast. He likes middle eastern cuisine and thinks Shakira is still hot. Things the Revolutionary Council in Tehran would not like. 

I remember the damn Revolution taking place on TV no less (unlike the song about revolutions not taking place on TV) but my barber is way too young for that experience. To him, the Revolution is somewhere in the deep mists of history where dinosaurs lurk with Don Bradman. 

I asked him if he remembered anything about the time a young woman by the name Neda Agha-Soltan was shot in the chest by the paramilitary during protests. He did not recall the incident, but he said he hated all of that civil unrest and going-on in Iran. Being Persian allowed him to disown all of it. I guess that's defiance enough to be called cultural. 

Come Join The Fun!

Quick Shots - 04/Jan/2016

Belatedly, Happy New Year To You All!

Here's to the new year, may it be better than the last one.
I'm doing okay, I hope you are all okay or much better than okay. :)

Iran, Saudi Arabia, OPEC, Oil

This business of Saudi Arabia beheading people is the quiet problem nobody's willing to talk about. Thinking back to Gulf War I, the western media has always played reports on Saudi Arabia with a favourable view, by and large because they were most supportive of Bush Snr.'s Gulf War. They cemented that media handle by being all-in behind GWB's Iraq War, and beating up on Saddam. With Saddam gone, and the West largely withdrawing from the colonial project, Saudi Arabia is now at loggerheads with Iran because, well, religion and race are different.

And so it's now a Sunni versus Shi'ite spat with Saudi Arabia executing a Shi'ite cleric and of course Iran being the land of religious fundamentalist rule, they're not taking this lightly. Brent crude has gone up 6.5%.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the price rise was directly linked to the political unrest.

"News that Saudi Arabia has cut diplomatic relations with Iran has led to short covering in early trading on the oil market as traders build risk premium into prices," said Mr Spooner. 

"While there is no immediate threat to production implied by this situation, political unrest that directly impacts major OPEC producers is unsettling.
"Oil markets will be concerned that this could be an incremental step in a deteriorating political situation that might ultimately threaten world oil supply."

I guess it's a case of it-never-rains-it-pours. OPEC is as good as dead if nobody is sticking to the cartel's own supply plans. Saudi Arabia is trying to max out on market share through over-production which is surprising because if the peak oil advocates are to be believed, they're bringing about their own doom much sooner. One would think temperance would dictate they cut supplies to maintain prices.

Of course, Saudi Arabia being the strange place that it is, it is also fighting a waring Yemen and lots of the ruling elite are tacitly handing out money to ISIL (who are ostensibly Sunni crazies) ; ISIL is flooding the market with their cheap oil which they pump through Turkey, and Russia's trying to earn as much foreign currency as well as it struggles under sanctions so they're not exactly going to cut their oil production either. If peak oil is even remotely a true-ish concept, the rate at which we're pumping out crude oil beggars belief.

Turnbull's Frontbencher Woes

It's amazing how fragile the balance of agreements that places MPs as ministers on the frontbench. It might not even be their own good talent or character at all - it might just be that they're the right factional member with the right amount of seniority. It's hard to imagine why Mal Brough had to be brought back to Parliament after 2007's election wiped him out. The cloak and dagger conniptions involving Peter Slipper and his underling revel him to be a man of not-so-great character, but of course with the Abbott-Disposal and the rise of Malcolm Turnbull, he had to be a frontbencher.

Jamie Briggs is weirder. I've never even heard of this 37 year old idiot until he misbehaved and got himself into a world trouble. For the life of me I can't figure what exactly this man has done to be so deserving to be a frontbencher, but there he was until he fucked up.

Today, the news is turning into a discussion about Peter Dutton and his abusive text sent to a journalist. These people are proving to be far less professional than the local community theatre group.

I don't exactly have a lot of faith in the current crop of ALP frontbenchers after watching that Sarah Ferguson doco that dissected them, but this business shows just how lacking the Liberal Party is when it comes to proper, professional talent. Career politicians are going to ruin this country.

If It's So Good, Why's Everybody So Keen To Leave?

it's a genuine question. The Middle Flower Kingdom likes to beat its chest about all kinds things but somehow everybody seems to want to leave. They want to send their money overseas and get out. So despite being the world's second largest economy, they have to exert capital controls like Malaysia in the 1990s during the Asian Financial Crisis.

The latest move comes just three months after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) ordered banks to scrutinise clients' foreign exchange transactions to prevent illicit cross-border currency arbitrage between the offshore and onshore yuan. 

On Wednesday, the country's foreign exchange regulator also said it would improve its reserve position and contingency plans to curb risks from abnormal cross-border capital flows. 

"The main purpose is to crack down on excessive currency speculation and arbitrage, which may hurt the economy," said a senior economist at a think-tank linked to China's Cabinet. 

"They are worried about falling FX reserves. The yuan faces obvious depreciation pressure as the Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) may continue to raise interest rates, so policymakers are concerned and intend to take effective measures to respond."
A source at one of the affected banks said China's central bank asked them to disclose the names of their foreign exchange clients buying spot and instructed any state-owned enterprises among them to stop trading. 

"The PBOC is robbing us. They're not being reasonable; even if we comply with everything, we provide all the documents, our spot volume is too large," the person said.

That's a great way to start the year. China's deep in the process of dealing with the end of its own financial bubble. It's not going to pull off any kind of soft landing. 

'Argo'

The Joy Of The Known

The deal on 'Argo'  was that it won 'Best Picture' at the Oscars without even getting nominated for 'Best Director'. I don' often agree with the Motion Picture Academy, but in this instance I could see the good sense in the outcome.

Like it or lump it, the singular beneficial feature of this film is that it is an ode, a love song in praise of Hollywood. How can the Academy not lavish praise on a film that praises Hollywood so? It's hardly artful in its direction, so it is no surprise it didn't get nominated in the directing category. The Academy it seems retains a little bit of pride about what it does.

What's Good About It

Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Dire Straits, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin. Pulling one over the Nasty Iranians.I believe the Iranians are particularly insulted by this picture. Clearly they don't understand that they're not meant to like it seeing that they are the butt of the joke. In some ways, anything that gets up the nose of that horrible Theocracy is good fodder.

What's Bad About It

The suspense is hardly exciting once the premise gets under way. We know they get out, so it hardly seems the process is all that suspenseful. It seems to be missing a couple of really difficult obstacles to make it a truly riveting film.

What's Interesting About It

Watching this film was like getting plugged in the Gen-X memory machine. I remember the days when the Iranians stormed the US Embassy and held those hostages fr 444 days. I'm sure it s a proud moment for the likes of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad - who it turns out wasn't there after all - but it's one of those moments for which Iran has not paid its price. So it seems fitting that they cop a bit of retcon-humiliation from Hollywood. There's nothing like the ridicule from Hollywood as Saddam Hussein found out.

Still, the Iranian complaints seem entirely motivated by hurt pride that they should be portrayed as being so backward and craven and abusive masters of torture. Their claims that the film distorts history is probably true but I'm yet to see any film that doesn't distort history so that's not saying anything special in the context of this film. You accept that it probably didn't go down the way Ben Affleck directed it (and thank goodness for that).

Fortunately, they're not the only ones put off by the movie. The Canadians are also upset that they don't get a good enough credit for their role. What's really interesting about the outrage about the rewritten history is that New Zealand gets a mention in the list of people upset by the picture. Anything that upsets so many people must have something artistic going for it.

All The Best Lines Go To LA (and so do the chicks)


The most insightful lines in the film pertain to Hollywood and not the real world at all. The best character for the best lines was the fictional producer Lester Siegel played by Alan Arkin, followed by John Goodman's John Chambers. The line about the bullshit coalmine and fitting right in with the superficial and fickle LA set pretty much define the tone of the film: Hollywood is *it*.

In some ways this is a film that probably belongs in the genre of films about film making, without there actually being a film. The way they get the diplomats out of America almost is an adjunct to the story of faking a film production convincingly.

This is what the Iranians don't get. Young, beautiful women don't exactly travel to Tehran to become good Muslims anywhere near the same rate as they go to Los Angeles hoping to become a superstar. Los Angeles might be a toilet of a city but its allure is still streets ahead of Tehran, the capital of a country that is in massive deficit of Gross National Cool. All the great films they make are not going to change this international perception.

Is it really Zionism? Or is it that Iran has made itself firmly into an unattractive nation? 'Argo' hardly seems to be the problem.

Not How You Do It

Elections, Iranian Style

The country that offered up in no particular order, Ayatollah Khomeini; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Theocracy in the 21st Century;  the worst cuisine in the world; is undergoing elections. Of course, this being Iran, the news coming out is hilariously disjointed.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's interior ministry said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took nearly 70 percent of the early votes counted, but his pro-reform rival countered that he was the clear victor and warned of possible fraud in the election.

The dispute rose up even before polls closed early Saturday, heightening tensions across the capital where emotions have been running at a fever pitch. Mir Hossein Mousavi, the reformist candidate, suggested he might challenge the results.

The messy and tense outcome capped a long day of voting — extended for six hours to accommodate a huge turnout. It raised worries that Iran's Islamic establishment could use its vast powers to pressure backers of Mousavi.
During the voting, text messages were blocked — a key campaign tool for reformers — as well as some pro-Mousavi Web sites. Security officials warned they would not tolerate political gatherings or rallies before the final results were known.

Even before the first vote counts were released, Mousavi held a news conference to declare himself "definitely the winner" based on "all indications from all over Iran." But he gave nothing more to back up his claim and alleged widespread voting irregularities without giving specifics — suggesting he was ready to challenge the final results.

Moments after Mousavi spoke, however, Iran's state news agency reported that Ahmadinejad was the victor. The report by the Islamic Republic News Agency also gave no details.
With more than 15 million votes counted, Ahmadinejad had 67.7 percent and Mousavi had 30.3 percent, said Kamran Daneshjoo, a senior officials with the Interior Ministry, which oversees the voting.

It was not reported whether the results were from locations considered Ahmadinejad strongholds or where Mousavi hoped to make headway.

The turnout was not immediately known, but election officials had predicted a possible record among the 46.2 million eligible voters.

That's a lot of voters. It's always a bad sign when 2 candidates go to the polls and both claim victory. Reminds you of Al Gore and GWBush? Of course, this being Iran, the theocracy gets to have the final say and they will pick the Holocaust-denying Nuke-building demagogue that is Mr. Ahmadinejad.

I guess Iranian elections are much like their western counterparts, a kind of punch and judy show fronting for the industrial interests of their country.

Succession North Korean Style

Here's an interesting column about the North Korean transfer of leadership from Kim Jong-Il to his 26year old son.

On June 2, it was reported that 26-year-old Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's youngest son, would succeed his father as North Korean leader, probably this fall at the end of a 150-day "struggle" period. Shortly before the "struggle" began, Pyongyang engaged in a series of provocative acts. On April 5, North Korea illegally launched a long range missile under the guise of a satellite test. On April 16, Pyongyang expelled United Nations nuclear inspectors before taking steps to begin processing uranium at the Yongbyon nuclear facility. On May 25, as the struggle period reportedly began, the North tested a nuclear weapon and test-fired three short-range, ground-to-air and ground-to-ship ballistic missiles.

This reminds us of the 70-day campaign Kim Jong-il directed in 1974 as part of his transition to senior leadership. The struggle then was economic, and it resulted in Kim Jong-il being awarded the title of Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a glory that is likely to be seen in the younger Mr. Kim's future. The recent provocative acts are no doubt tied to the transition as a means of solidifying support for the regime among the party apparatus and giving the young Mr. Kim some needed bona fides for assuming the top post.

I think they're ripe for another parody by the South Park boys. The Axis of evil is more like the Axis of bad governments.

Here's an interesting interview with one of Kim's sons.  If you watch the video, it's amazing how much of regular dude this son of Kim appears. Very disconcerting in that he at least has probably watched 'Team America' and understood it very well.

Headline Watching

Still Workin'
I've been busy lately so my posts have correspondingly become sporadic, I guess.
I'm quite annoyed with myself that I seem to spend so much time on talking politics, in particular about the anti-terror legislation and 'sedition' laws instead of review movie andd records and natter on about baseball. I guess it is the off-seaon in the top half of the world.

Still, recently I feel as if all I'm ever doing is making a compendium on the stupidity and the misery of mankind on this page. It'ss a right drag. This was not the world I thought I'd grow up into. Really, it's not.
Anyway, here's today's headline notables...

1. Holocaust Was A Myth According to Iranian Politician.

TEHRAN (AFX) - Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh attack against Israel, describing the Holocaust as a 'myth' and saying the Jewish state should be moved to Europe or North America.

'They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets,' the outspoken president said in a speech carried live on state television.

'If somebody in their country questions God, nobody says anything, but if somebody criticises the myth of the massacre of Jew, the Zionist loudspeakers and the governments in the pay of Zionism will start to scream,' he said.

'Our proposal is this: give a piece of your land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska so they (the Jews) can create their own state,' said Ahmadinejad, who was speaking to thousands of people in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

What a classic. And that high point of journalism, Tehran Times actually applauds and agrees with this position. Talk about people wanting to stir a hornet's nest. Aryan Islamists. Oh boy.

2. Australian Police Prepare For more Racial Violence.

Sydney's racial violence erupted at Cronulla last Sunday when some 3,000 people, some yelling racist chants, attacked people of Middle East appearance, saying they were defending their beach from Lebanese youth gangs.

Police said white supremacists incited violence at Cronulla.

Lebanese and Muslim youths retaliated with two nights of violence in several different beachside suburbs.

The burning to the ground of a church hall on Tuesday night, smashing of church windows and shots fired at a Catholic school, prompted authorities on Wednesday to say they would focus on places of worship to ensure they were safe from violence.

"Special attention will be paid to places of worship, our churches and our schools," said Morris Iemma, premier of the state of New South Wales (NSW).

"Obviously we have to be on guard for this, and these hooligans and criminals will not destroy the fabric of our society," Iemma told a news conference.

The NSW state parliament will hold an emergency sitting on Thursday to pass legislation giving police extra powers to allow them to "lockdown" suburbs and areas of unrest in Sydney and impose alcohol prohibition on areas.

Uh-huh. There's an old Robert Menzies observation that Australia would never go revolutionary and take to the streets as long as its people lived in quarter-acre blocks with their own backyards to worry about. I heard it in the faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney when I was still a Medical student. There's a certain kind of truth in that Menzies notion that actually measures the weakness of people who own stuff, and their inability to fight for causes - look at all those materialistic inward looking people living in their McMansions with Satellite TVs. they've got too much to lose!
It's quite deft politics, but it brought about urban sprawl of McMansions. seemingly it was a kind of self-perpetuating apathy machine, but now we have a higer density of population and increasing inequalities in our society. Who knows where this is going to go? And in case you're wondering, I'm not inciting anything.

What's interesting about this exercise is that if Police can lock down suburbs and barricade people in and out, isn't that a replay of one of the state actions that led to the 1848 French Revolution in Paris? You know, the one portrayed in Les Miserable?
I just thought I'd point that out before bricks came through our windows.

3. 'Hot For Teacher' - Oz Version
There have been a number of these cases being reported lately. Thirty-something school teacher seduces young male student, only to get reported and in court, then prison.
Question... If you were a teenage boy, would you refuse a blowjob from this woman?:

A 36-YEAR-OLD female teacher has been charged with sex offences after she allegedly seduced one of her 15-year-old male pupils.

Natalina D'Addario, a languages teacher at a school in Melbourne's outer north, allegedly started a sexual relationship with the boy, who cannot be named, in May this year.
It is alleged the pair engaged in oral sex on six separate occasions between May and July.

None of the encounters are said to have taken place on the grounds of the school, or during school hours.

Most are alleged to have occurred in parks in the inner-west suburb of Ascot Vale, and Dallas, in the city's northwest.

The affair allegedly ended in September when the boy informed the school's assistant principal of the sexual liaisons.

The school then notified the boy's parents and the police. Ms D'Addario, who was employed at the school in April as a part-time languages teacher, was immediately suspended without pay.

On November 16, she was charged with six sex offences, including sexual penetration with a child aged under 16, wilfully committing an indecent act with a child under 16 and sexual penetration with a 16-year-old child who was in her care, supervision or authority.

Yesterday, she appeared briefly in Melbourne Magistrates Court for a filing hearing.

Would a teenage boy refuse any blowjob? Could a teenage boy refuse a blowjob?
"Blowjob!" Frank Zapa pointed out it was the most profound experience a teenage boy can hope for.
Another teacher-seductress Karen Ellis' case went before Justice Michael Kirby some months ago in an appeals court and Justice Kirby tossed it out on he grounds that there should be gender equality under the law. It may be the case on paper and in theory, but the facts are that if you're a hetero-sexual male high school student and a female teacher who was not unattractive offered sex, you wouldn't hesitate. Girls might hesitate with male teachers, but boys just wouldn't. Seriously. And while girls might claim after such events to have been traumatised, it's hard to imagine too many boys claiming to be traumatised by such an event - heck you'd expect they'd celebrate it. After all, what the hell is this song about?

Spoken:
Oh wow, man ! Wait a second man. whaddaya think the teacher’s gonna look like this year ?
My butt, man!
T-t-teacher stop that screaming, teacher don’t you see ?
Don’t wanna be no uptown fool.
Maybe I should go to hell, but I’m doin’ well,
Teacher needs to see me after school.
Chorus:
I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.
Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad,
I’m hot for teacher.
I got it bad, so bad,
I’m hot for teacher.
Spoken:
Hey, I heard you missed us, we’re back! I brought my pencil Gimme something to write on, man
I heard about your lessons, but lessons are so cold.
I know about this school.
Little girl from cherry lane, how did you get so bold ?
How did you know that golden rule ?
Chorus
(guitar solo)
Oh man, I think the clock is slow
I don’t feel tardy
Class dismissed

You've got to think there' something not quite right with the law if it can't tell the difference between 'Don't Stand So Close To me' and 'Hot For Teacher'.

4. Nomar To Yanks Rumours Fail To Die
Yep MLB stuff again. It takes my mind off the horrible reality that is Sydney 2005. :)
Besides, somebody's got to sign Nomar this off-season.

The New York Post, citing several industry sources, reported the Yankees have made an offer to Garciaparra to play first base.

Garciaparra would join such ex-Boston luminaries as Babe Ruth, Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs who went on to don pinstripes.

But before fans go imagining a shortstop-studded infield of Garciaparra at first, Derek Jeter at shortstop and Alex Rodriguez at third base, Yankees GM Brian Cashman and agent Arn Tellem refused to confirm or deny an offer has been made to Garciaparra.

And FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports the Astros are also on the list of teams interested in Garciaparra. The Astros would play Garciaparra in left field. He also could serve as a backup for shortstop Adam Everett.

The competition for Garciaparra is intense, but two factors could weigh in the Astros' favor: Minute Maid Park would be conducive to Garciaparra's right-handed power. And Garciaparra's wife, Mia Hamm, is from Austin, Tex.

The Braves, Blue Jays, Indians, Dodgers and Orioles are among the other clubs interested in Garciaparra.

The rumour is that there's an offer on the table.