LeftClick

Ideology and Populism after the Penrith By Election.

Published on 2010-06-19 23:46:00

The malaise at the heart of Australian electoral politics is this: not only the active rejection of the Labor Party as indicated by the Penrith by election, but the realisation that the option is a pack of dogs also. There's a treadmill sense about it without a policy difference between them worth a snippet of excitement.Howard's industrial policies be dammed, go ask Ark Tribe about that one. Two more diggers killed in Afghanistan -- killing business as usual....At the same time, the coalit

VIDEO Origins of CHAT - German Philosophy -- Andy Blunden

Published on 2010-06-08 21:41:00

Talk given at the Monash University Monash Education Research Community, by Andy Blunden . The talk is the first of a two-part seminar for the International Course on Cultural Historical Activity Theory. It covers the contributions to this current of thought derived from Descartes, J G Herder, Goethe and Hegel. Part Two, to follow, deals with Marx.Origins of CHAT - German Philosophy from Andy Blunden on Vimeo.Cultural-historical psychology (also called the school of Vygotsky, soci

VIDEO SATIRE Make homosexuals get married (like the rest of us)

Published on 2010-06-07 18:20:00

If you disagree with the homosexual lifestyle, why not overturn prop 8 and make them get married, like the rest of us?

CRIME FICTION Henning Mankell, Wallander author on the Gaza Flotilla he was part of

Published on 2010-06-05 18:43:00

Henning Mankell, the renowned Swedish crime writer and author of the Wallander series, was on board the Sophia, which formed part of the Gaza Flotilla, when Israeli commandos raided the ship.Speaking at a press conference in Berlin after spending 24 hours in an Israeli cell, Mankell accused the Israelis of “going out to commit murder” and says he witnessed the shooting an elderly passenger with a stun gun.Mankell described how he was woken at 4am and told that the ship Mavi Marmara was under

VIDEO When the Dust Settles -- Uranium Mining and the ETU

Published on 2010-06-05 01:12:00

A movie explaining the decision by the QLD ETU to take a stand against the expanding uranium mining and nuclear power industries in Australia and around the world. We can only hope the lessons learned from the use of asbestos are applied to this dangerous industry. Some things are more important than $$$.

VIDEO SATIRE This is the Story of Your Enslavement...

Published on 2010-06-03 00:22:00

This is a truly masterful exposé of our  collective existence from a libertarian POV.Wow! If there were more vids like this we'd create a new dialogue .Love the tone: black, bleak, shocking, mocking...scary.We can only be kept in the cages we do not see. A brief history of human enslavement - up to and including your own. From Freedomain Radio, the largest and most popular philosophy conversation in the world.http://www.freedomainradio.com

SATIRE The Pillars of Society = 21st Century Barbarians

Published on 2010-06-02 06:06:00

Lodging a complaintI have had my head around the world, both man and boy,  for many a year . I've strutted and fretted;  witnessed my share of hi fidelity  sound and ferocious fury.But when it comes down to it I gotta say: "Bah!"Hello! Are you listening?Way back when I knew something was wrong. It was as plain as the smell under my very own nose.It wasn't that I was intellectually  precocious or party to a special knowledge or insight. I just knew that the

Housing with corrugated Iron: Build it well to last

Published on 2010-05-26 01:53:00

A while back I did a series of posts on Solutions to the Housing Crisis and in a fit of architectural verve pointed out:Inasmuch as I have any building knowledge the irony is that the historical preference for wood and corrugated iron construction in Australia is a lot more environmentally friendly than the modern preference for bricks and mortar. [Solutions to the Housing Crisis IV Build with what? -- The example of corrugated iron.} I argued that the alternative preference for thermal mas

AUDIO Web privacy/web piracy?

Published on 2010-05-25 01:14:00

This is a very useful over view of what is happening in the Web 2.0 share and I don't care universe. I don't care, but do you?The privacy paradox - Background BriefingGenerational change and the power of social media has dramatically altered notions of privacy and as personal data files expand, our lives are going public by default. Will our data footprints strip us bare, or set us free? Reporter, Ian TownsendPlay Audio : Download file. Stephen Colbert: But shopping and sex, surely we can

AUDIO: Justifying racism and eugenics in the name of good doctoring -- The long hand of Nazi germany.

Published on 2010-05-22 19:06:00

This program from the ABC's Health Report is a horrific story of complicity and diabolical consensus which tags the extent that racist and eugenic views can be embedded into sectors of any population and then rationalised  and excused even years after they were found top be "ethically wrong". The Health Report: lack of medical ethics - from the 19th century to Nazi GermanyThis program is a very disturbing look at the lack of ethics in the history of the health profession. Medical histo

AUDIO: Giles Ji Ungpakorn -- Debating the Crisis in Thailand

Published on 2010-05-18 20:40:00

Democracy Now!: Debating the Crisis in Thailand: Is Red Shirt Movement a Genuine Grassroots Struggle, or Front for Ousted Ex-PM, Billionaire Tycoon?In Thailand, the government has rejected an offer by anti-government protesters to enter talks after a bloody week in Bangkok that has left at least thirty-eight protesters dead. Some fear the standoff could lead to an undeclared civil war. The protesters are mostly rural and urban poor who are part of a group called the UDD, the United Front for Dem

SATIRE Entrance Examination: Australia

Published on 2010-05-18 07:47:00

Candidates must answer four questions: both parts of Section A, and two questions from Section B. All of Section C is compulsory. Marks will be awarded for correctness of the answers; none for presentation or handwriting. Marks will be deducted for facetious answers. Time: 15 minutes.SECTION ALITERACY/CULTUREIt has become clear to the examiners that candidates are finding it much easier in recent years to express themselves in English. However, since

SATIRE The Little Aussie Battler (reg'd trademark)

Published on 2010-05-18 07:35:00

There is a funny idea abroad (by which I mean, of course, in this dry brown land in which we dwell) that there exists a minor figure of such truthful grit that every attribute of ordinariness is congealed within their being.This entity, I am led to believe, is now thought to be putting aside a characteristic reticence and a mug of tea, throwing the Akubra into the ring and stepping flat-footed into the political arena. Their mission? To wake up Australia.As soon as I heard that such a quintessen

LatinRadical has a refit

Published on 2010-05-09 19:02:00

Among RatbagMedia's many projects is LatinRadical  where I handle the webside existence of Warrick Fry's weekly radio program. All good stuff it is too -- interviews focusing on Latin American politics  with occasional detours to Timor Leste.Since I was in web makeover mode, LatinRadical has had a refit and now offers some kick ass internal engineering that makes audio an easy to use listening pleasure.The internals -- a Yahoo code -- takes online audio  to a new level of pos

On no! Not the Blogger versus Wordpress debate! What about loyalty?

Published on 2010-05-02 21:03:00

Unbeknown to the faithful, LeftClick has been going through a crisis of direction in recent times as its resident chief cook and bottle washer shifted his online focus -- at least that's the intention/ still- in- motion thing: shift focus.As part of that upsurge, a shift from Blogger (our current platform) to Wordpress was being considered as WP has over the last couple of years really advanced its online offerings.I've always been with Blogger and resisted the WP hype so I established a couple

New audio flash players on LeftClick

Published on 2010-04-30 20:05:00

Historically, here at LeftClick I've used a smart little hack to create a flash player option for listeners. Rather than having to download the audio file to play on your desktop or link with it through a desktop player or have a QuickTime web player option  installed...Unfortunately recently the flash players I have created for use here -- and elsewhere where I install them -- won't now play in Internet Explorer if thats' your web browser and are collapsing in Firefox due to my guess recen

AUDIO Sam Watson's play 'Oodgeroo: Bloodline to Country'

Published on 2010-04-30 00:20:00

Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, formerly known as Kath Walker, from Stradbroke Island in South East Queensland, was one of Australia's best-known writers and leaders. What is not commonly remembered is her experience on a hijacked BOAC aircraft in 1974 when Palestinian terrorists threatened passengers and took the life of a young German banker.Kath Walker pleaded for the banker's life and the lives of the other passengers. The experience and the man's execution haunted her deeply. B

SLIDESHOW ..and media coverage of the Resistance Conference

Published on 2010-04-29 03:59:00

WIN TV News, Mon Apr 26 Illawarra Mercury, Mon Apr 26 - Resistance, Norrie undress social rights issues: Illawarra Mercury, Sat Apr 24 - Conference to save the world!(right) Northern Leader, Thu Apr 22 - Resistance strives for equal rights: Northern Leader, Thu Apr 1 - Resistance forum first for W'gong: Wollongong Advertiser, Wed Mar 31 - Youth have their say on contentious issues:Click on image for enlarged viewMade with Slideshow Embed Tool

VIDEO Resistance Conference Thirroul , Illawarra, 2010

Published on 2010-04-28 05:20:00

Watch this news report of the 2010 conference of Resistance, socialist youth conference, titled 'the world can't wait'!Featured are Jess Moore, conference organiser and Richard Downs, spokesperson for the Alyawarr people, NT.

VIDEO SATIRE Capitalist bail outs -- what's in it for Jobless Jack?

Published on 2010-04-28 02:33:00

This satiric animation video by Mark Fiore from the USA is called Goldman Sachs to Jobless Jack.Nifty title, eh? there must be a song in it somewhere.Tip Dear kitty

SATIRE Comrades come sally -- the SSY's Lydia Teapot (et al)

Published on 2010-04-27 21:29:00

The Scottish Socialist Youth is the young person's outgrowth of the Scottish Socialist Party . With their sericeable Wordpress (lucky them! sigh!) website and all, they are making their webological mark with a voice that is aggressively populist and aggro, abusive even...and so terribly Scottish.Aw naw man.Here, ma wee chumpos and chumpettes, you’ll no believe this, bit ah’ll huv tae tell ye.Thur out there. Lit sum kinna fucken zombie invasion, they walk amung is. They look lit normal

VIDEO SATIRE Capitalism in 13 minutes -- Isle of Flowers

Published on 2010-04-27 20:28:00

 "An acid and entertaining portrait of the mechanics of the consumer society. Following the trajectory of a simple tomato, from planting to be thrown out, the short throw wide the process of generating wealth and inequalities that arise in the middle of the road.'Documentary Jorge FurtadoSource You Tube TVTip: Kasama. Isle of Flowers (Portuguese: Ilha das Flores) is a 1989 Brazilianshort film by Jorge Furtado. It tracks the path of a tomato from garden to dump with the help of a m

SATIRE Party On, Dave.

Published on 2010-04-27 09:45:00

I'm a party person. I like to enrich my calendar with the occasional rage. If there's a turn on somewhere, I'll be there — usually in the kitchen in close proximity to the refrigerator. Although my tipple has changed over the years, I imbibe more than the odd glass.In four states, I've partied. I've B my O G to many a domestic venue excused with such terms as "house warming", "birthday", "twenty-first" and "fundraiser". My partying has taken my ear from Bob Dylan to Arrested Development. I'm a

Alan Sillitoe 1928-2010 -- the long distance runner has run his lonely course.

Published on 2010-04-26 04:55:00

English  novelist Alan Sillitoe died yesterday.  He may  not be a writer many are familiar with.  His stories  of working class life were brutal takes on everyday  hard ship alleviated  only by hard fought for transcendence, the likes  of which -- with their rages and protests   -- became increasingly rare after the end of  the 1960s. His two best known works, The Loneliness of  the Long Distance Runner and  Saturday Night and Sunday&nb

Photomontage Gallery III -- Klaus Staeck

Published on 2010-04-24 23:49:00

Profile:Klaus Staeck (in German)Cut and Paste comment on and select gallery of Staeck's work