Nguyen & the death penalty

A dead man and thousands of legal dollars later, what have we learnt?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1521407.htm

Should the State Take Lives?
- Most of the time the State doesn't know what its doing. Why should we ever trust it with any one's lives? The death penalty is the utmost explicit form of state inflicted violence. No one should have the moral right to determine whether others should cease to live.
- Most of the time the legal system of the state is designed to benefit the power holders, the ruling class - It is culturally biased and ideologically biased. It is inheretantly unfair and injust in its fundamental set up. Why do you think there are more blacks in US prisons and more Maoris in NZ prisons?

Singapore - What developed economy?
- The post-war economic development and high education achievement has obviously made no impact on the social conscience of this supposedly developed country. Like other civilised societies such as China and the US they still punish people by death. Not just murderers that take lives, but economic torts.
- A country looses its ability to continue to flourish when its people are numb enough to not question. Singapore is one of those sterile police states when they are tied on a leash and pumped out as money making machines, bloodless and brainless.

Race
- Howard decides to go ahead with Prime Minister's XI cricket match on day of execution, and has been accused of being careless towards Nguyen because he is not Caucasion.
- Yeah I think that's true. But not uncharacteristic of JH nor white Australian psyche in general.
Why the bloody hell are they up and arms about Shapelle Corby getting 20 years, when for three years Nguyen's case has been mentioned quite a often in the media? Cos he's Vietnamese and not your girl next door. Vietnamese criminal deserves to rot in hell but ofcourse Shapelle's totally innocent cos she hasn't provided any evidence to proove that she's is actually innocent. So some human rights groups do a bit of a rah rah a month before he's hung and the rest of the public just shrugs it off.
- Personally I think its sad that he had to die, but there are many many thousands of others on death row around the world. Not mentioning others in "slow deaths" of poverty, starvation, torcher, despair.

Drug Trade Death Toll
- More ppl die of overdose than capital punishment, by the way. Other drug dealers die in hideous ways such as being gunned down on the side of the road or on remote hills. All over the world. Not stats recorded. You just don't hear about it cos its not sexy, and no body cares. They've learnt nothing from Nguyen being hung.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

I Miss Taipei

Waltzing in the slowness that exists in a vaccume in the chaos of the vast city

Old and new, trendy and tacky, all coexists and get by just fine

The heat in the air incriculating my skin, the heat from the burning concrete... and young girls with sun-umbrellas escaping the burn

Sitting at a street stall for lunch on a wooden stall with its paint peeled off - smell of garlic, aniseed and coriander steaming by, or was that a barbequed chicken heart kebab

Stray dogs barking tirelessly at the traffic, or the cat that stole its lunch

Incense streaming by from a nearby shrine to a local god

Old ladies yelling at their neighbours about the latest gossip - My grandson got better in the exam than yours

Sullen bus drivers patronisingly accepting your coins and tells you to move to the back

Passing by power poles underneath the shades of the copper trees and being thankful for a sip of sharp cold ice lemon tea

On 16 November 2005

3 holes and $210 later...

I am (supposedly) immuned to Hepititis A, typhoid and to rusty stuff. OOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHHHHHHH!!! I had this done this morning and I could not feel my entire arms (one jab in each, then one on the left butt cheek) for a whole day. Particularly admirable is that this is all on a hangover as well. Was told to steer clear from alcohol because that would clash with the tetnus shot. Then there's those malaria tablets I'll be on too. Bloody hell.

However, this would also mean that I will be pretty set up to go to Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. I will be spending some time in the rural areas, particularly in Cambodia where my project is (near Siem Reap). Dr Brazynsky (my polish patriarch doctor) tells me that I have to steer clear of animals, cos I didn't get enough time to get immunised for rabis.

Neither did I get a vaccine for the birdflu - didn't I hear that they started stock piling that stuff? Anyway I am WaWa afterall and it is very WaWa like to get away with being killed.

Gotta shine and polish this instrument I have to drag around for the rest of my life yah?

How did I become a Baroness?

A popular and well loved Australian Government department allowed me to select the title "Baroness" in a drop down bar in a eye-rollingly tedious form I had to fill out online. It was a better option compared to others available such as Archbishop, Petty Officer, or Seaman.

Why Blog?

At the end of next week, I’ll be heading off on a 6 week holiday to Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia then onto Taiwan. Instead of having to mass email a whole bunch of my mates scattered across the world, and get told off for fogetting to cc' in some one that hasn't bothered keeping in touch with me, I am putting on a blog to record some of my travels (and fingers crossed pictures). And give every one an opportunity to leave me messages as well. Read on to find out what I am doing there in a few secs.

In the near future I would ideally like to develop this log into more of a space for my rants and thoughts - I am a political junkie that likes to rant, that's just how I was born and raised - to question and to push boundaries physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually - so why not in cyber space?

Also, I'd like to use it as a space to share my love for food and cooking. I've always loved food. I live to eat. But in the last year I think its spawn on me - I have been whipping up some crazy shit in various people's kitchens and I have been inspired to make food bit more than just a favourite chore. And there are very many political and social issues surrounding food I'd like to explore more. What cooking and food means - in a political context and political existence. You'll hear my rants, just you wait.

Bring it on blogging!!

Re this picture: I only put this pic on so I can use if for my profile. Can some one tell me how I can upload my pic on my profile without having to have a URL?? Hmm. Anyway, so this pic was taken when I was a cast member for the Canberra ANU Women On Campus production of the Vagina Monologues in Feb 2005. I played the Angry Vagina, amongst other things, and had quite a few triple orgasms on stage. Go Eve Ensler!!
TWFL

First Post

Is always bloody boring...