Time is important, but no social progress will occur on its own.

The belief that it will is a Whiggish fallacy. Martin Luther King Jr debunked this myth when he wrote:

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men (and women) willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”

I don't mind our pollies having hobbies but, Lindsay, I would have preferred an article about T3, or media ownership or something related to the "harder" portfolio you have.

A lot of this "comunity" stuff is Blairite babble, lightweight spin to distract us from the fact that our pollies have given up on the hard stuff (or had too much of it).

One reason , aside from all the others, that Latham fell over was he would rather read books to kids than talk about interest rates.

Lindsay, the message is: Mark now has a lot of time to improve his kids reading skills. Get it ?

Tanner's discussion is legitimate, relating to his shadow portfolio responsibilities dealing with real world problems. To solve the problem, first state it.
Specialisation is the basis of modern labour. We live in a Tower of Babel" where no individual can relate to all others and personal, subjectively-driven goals are often antagonistic rather than complementary.
Mark Latham, for example, may be an excellent economist, yet necessarily with things as they are, be short of sufficient skills and maturity to know how or where to apply abstracts in a real world. The "body of knowledge" is so vast, nowadays. Latham actually supplies an example of apparent "reducing" due to ignorance, regarding cultural theory involving feminism and Greer ( if the press is to be beleived ). Better educated in other fields, he apparently should have known that the problems of social and cultural change are NOT better understood through emotion-driven ventilations. Those blamed are likely as much reactors to and victims of social change, as himself. Feminism has been both a symptom of and articulate explicator of social phenomena, not a malicious plot.
Many remember childhoods where mothers were FORCED to walk away from fraught relationships, because men were too "conditioned" to adjust to changing conditions. This was reinforced by reactionaries peddling "wedge", telling men that women were stealing our "rights", rather than advising us to reassess ourselves.
By analogy, one can consider certain parallel cherished neo lib ( as opposed to social democrat ) notions that bring ease for a propertied Self, even if at the cost of everyone else. Likewise, a family must be about more than just one person's drunken Saturday night shag?
Closing, how can mortals see things "from the point of view of God"?
Given his portfolio, Tanner must be in a difficult position. If called through altruistic vocation, he will be attempting to estimate outcomes in terms of human well-being rather than just as a logistics exercise (crammed skyscraper flats), or worse, as quick profits at community expense.
It's harder to build something than destroy it, so best not to malign the better-intentioned of our politicians.

A Muslim cleric has written a letter to Mr. Peter Costello to condemn his speech about Turkey as Muslim model state. Ayatollah Boroujerdi in his letter says that if the Treasurer has not studied about Islam and doesnt know about Quran, he has no right to teach Muslims that which society is true Islamic society and which one is not.The Ayatollah also adds that to realise and introduce the sample of Islamic system to Muslim world is a cleric's job, not a treasurer's job. This Muslim cleric that seems to be an Australian citizen in the end of the letter says: "In this sensitive time that some of the followers of different religions are fighting with each other and the world including our country needs peace, why do you talk about some subjects which cause more problems and fights?

I take issue with Lindsay Tanners' Time Bargain.

Perhaps he will engage

Quote: 'Even debates about infrastructure often revolve around time. ... Shortening a journey by 10 minutes provides a hard-pressed commuter with an extra hour-and-a-half of discretionary time every week.'

How does a Laborite claim to represent Mr & Mrs Suburbia and the transport woes of city life, when thay have in many cities presided over road network problems that bring traffic to chokepoints? I hadnt been to Melbourne for quite some time, but when i did, i found that the areas where you could once drive freely, now funnel trafffic into PAYG zones. And a fine if you miss the payment. And what about the backouts of the Sydney debacle. I find it bizarre that this PAYG is in many states, because most people will avoid them if they can, so how is the toll ever going to pay for roads and all the buaeracracy that goes with it? Madness.

Time is well wasted in Australia. A well known fact around the world. Tanner says: 'The war between social progressives and social conservatives will be overtaken by a wider struggle around time and
relationships.' I presume he is predicting (or perhaps launching) an even more intense 'struggle' to be launched by the Autocratic Council of Totalitarian Underdogs soon enough. I predict late Jan, early Feb 2007. Perhaps Tanner will tell us a few details: Will the Autocrats be attempting to roll-back time itself? what will the operational tempo be of such a 'fight'? what will the timeline relationship be for policy launch and this 'social' interaction? who says the 'conservatives' want to engage the Autocrats? will/was the timeline (be) constructed onshore? do the Autocrats perceive the possibility that if there were NO class warfare here, then people might actually have the ability to get on with the changes imminently needed? who has appionted the Autocrats to be our social saviours anyway? etc

And finally, will Labor be building a new catchcry about Slime, a weazeal, smear word; or worse for Australian democracy 'Its MINE'.

Have just read Gadget's post. It's as rough as guts, but it raises issues of the same sort that I have tried to raise myself in the past, always with a deafening silence as response from those approached.
Can't most non- Tory politicians "get it"?
We don't want Tory politics in a different wrapper. We want a GENUINE alternative!!
The antics of state governments over recent times as per environment and infrastructure have not raised confidence in voters- Howard is as entrenched as ever. And faction-fights for the worst of motives apparently continue, most lately in NSW.
Linsay. Firstly, how about actually RESPONDING to these columns you set up.
You know... good faith and all that?
As an example, look forward to your forthright robust comments in condemnation of an alleged plot by that peroxided obese bitch Coonan and her stooge SBS board to introduce advertising during program time.