Articles/comments in this post which appear after the introduction to the book reviews and short comment on Canberra post lockdown: Bob McMullan, A better way to compete with China in the region; Cindy Lou’s restaurant reviews; Dr Gladys West; TRMS; On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder; Fran Kelly; Heather Cox Richardson.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing these uncorrected proofs for review. The first is a fascinating contribution to a series. The second book is part of the very accessible publications by Pen & Sword. Although I found something to enjoy in both, Sticker, as well as being really thoughtful, was such fun!
Henry Hoke Sticker Bloomsbury Academic, January 2022
Sticker is a publication under the aegis of Object Lessons, ‘about the hidden lives of ordinary people’. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic (from the description with this book on the NetGalley site).
I was initially intrigued by the title – Sticker? Those items that I collect for my grandson? Those things that adorned files in school? The political ones that smothered university files? My refrigerator? Bumper stickers? Yes, although Hoke’s stickers did not include slogans such as ‘How dare you assume I’d rather be young?’ or ‘Keep Uranium in the Ground’, two of my Australian stickers, what a wealth of social commentary is covered in this truly engaging book.
Sydney Thorne Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism Pen & Sword History 2021
The theme of this book has its beginning in Mary Ward’s walk to Rome in 1621 – the mark of a woman who was different from most of her Catholic companions, different from the people she met and attempted to cajole into seeing matters her way, and different from those who sought to diminish her. A rather modern tale in many ways. Where it has its roots in historical events is in her family background as a member of the family responsible for the Gunpowder Plot, her support from powerful people, her life during the Inquisition and the English Civil War.
The complete reviews are at Books: Reviews
Covid 19 after lockdown in Canberra
New cases 22 October and 23 October were 13 and 24. At 23 October there are nineteen patients in hospital, with twelve in intensive care and four ventilated. ACT residents over twelve are 85.9% fully vaccinated.
On 24, 25 and 26 October nine, nine and twelve new cases were recorded. the total number of people being tested has also fallen, but vaccination rates are high, with pop up clinics offering Pfizer shots to anyone over twelve who walk in with a guardian.
Ten new cases were recorded today. The figure for fully vaccinated Canberra residents over twelve is now 90.5%.
Bob McMullan
A better way to compete with China in the region
Whatever your view about the recent Australian AUKUS submarine deal, two things are clear. It
costs a lot of money and the submarines won’t be available for decades. We could use a very small portion of that money to cooperate with our friends in a cost effective
and quicker form of competition with China.
The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has left many countries in the region with huge debts to China while they still have major needs for support for infrastructure, Covid response, climate change adaptation and basic development needs.
In the Pacific Australia’s aid budget is almost big enough to compete with China. In the broader Indo-Pacific we would need the cooperation of the USA, Japan, the EU, the UK, France and South Korea.
When Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister we sought cooperative arrangements with other donors in the Pacific. We gained agreement from all of them except China. It is time to repeat the effort, in the Pacific initially where Australia can take a lead, but more broadly across the region as well.
The Aid Data website and the Centre for Global Development (CGD) both report on the extraordinary level of direct and indirect indebtedness to China of many countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Going forward the combined financial firepower of the countries and organisations above and their associated Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) would be sufficient to provide the infrastructure and other funds required in the region on better terms than the relatively high rates charged by China and its institutions.
A key question is: what to do about the very large debts already incurred. AidData found that 42 low-to middle income countries had debt exposure to China exceeding 10% of their GDP. This list includes PNG, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in our region. It may be possible to establish a consortium of DFIs and similar national organisations to buy some of this debt by providing funds as grants or at lower interest rates. This would enable some or all of these countries to free themselves of excessive and possibly security threatening indebtedness to China.
I have never regarded the Australian Infrastructure Finance Facility for the Pacific as the best structure to provide development finance to our region. It is a second-best form of DFI. But at the moment it is all we have and it could do some of the job that is required in our region. Of course, this will require an increase in our aid budget, but by much less than the cost of a submarine.
Analysis by AidData and others does not support the thesis that all the BRI projects are wasteful or inefficient. It is arrogant to suggest that they are. But the financing is relatively expensive and the debt burdens are becoming excessive.
CGD suggests a three-pronged approach for the USA:
Confront China over harmful lending practices; cooperate with China on Covid and climate change; and compete with China to offer development finance.
This seems a very good basis for approaching the issue for the USA.
Australia is not in a position to do all that. It could cooperate with the US on the approach to China’s lending practices, it could and should cooperate on Covid and climate change.
The biggest question is how are we going to compete on development finance?
The idea that we should cooperate with like-minded countries to offer a path out of the excessive debt trap many in our region find themselves in as well as offering alternative resources for future financing requirements seems a serious option which whoever wins the next Australian election
should consider.
Cindy Lou Restaurant Reviews
I was fortunate to slip into a restaurant just before lockdown – and then, when the restrictions were modified, to be able to find a booking so as to enjoy another meal out.
Mezzalira was a good choice, accompanied by three friends, before lockdown. It was a pleasant experience, not least because I felt safe: tables were at an excellent distance from each other and staff were masked. We had our masks in case we needed them for entering, leaving, and moving around.
The menu is a delight. There is a wide variety of choice, but the authentic Italian theme is maintained. It was refreshing to choose different main courses, with shared accompaniments which were delicious with each individual meal. The zucchini fritters cannot be bettered – order them, you will be able to eat every scrap, whatever else you leave. The Wood Roast Pork Cutlet, Rosemary, Baked Fennel and Apple with Pork Jus was generous beyond measure; the entre of Grilled WA Octopus, Chilli, Smoked Eggplant and Lemon excellent; and yes, we had to try the wonderful traditional tiramisu. It met our expectations.
Service was friendly and efficient. The wine list is very good. The seating really comfortable. The four of us had a wonderful last evening, before going into lockdown.
Tonight I went to Trev’s at Dickson for my first post lockdown meal. Trev’s is a really good choice for a generous and delicious meal, served efficiently, to be enjoyed as a quick and easy occasion.
The rules that apply are : check in; masks to be worn on arrival and exit; hand sanitising; and maintaining a mandated distance. The tables are at a very comfortable distance from each other, adding to the security that we felt in this Covid 19 period of modifications to lockdown.
The halloumi pops are back on the menu which is wonderful. My salmon could have been a little less well cooked, but the crispy skin and accompaniments were delicious. Salads at Trev’s are always excellent, and the pumpkin salad with pine nuts, fetta, rocket and balsamic was a good choice. I also love the Pomme Salad which unfortunately was not available on this occasion. The New Zealand house white was very good indeed, served with generosity. It was delightful to see the pleasant and efficient staff again.
The next time I am fussed about Google’s knowledge of my activities I shall think about Dr Gladys West. I shall not even fulminate about Google’s demands for a review of even my most mundane activities – does anyone really care about how I felt about grocery shopping?
Rachel Maddow on TRMS 22 October 2021
On TRMS Rachel was upbeat about several issues related to voting rights – she suggested that there are some glimmers of hope. One of these is the bipartisan report from the Florida Supervisors of Elections. Excepts appear below.
This made good reading after watching discussion between Ari Melber (The Beat) and the author of On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder.
Exerpt from ON TRYANNY by Timothy Synder
Do not obey in advance.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy. Perhaps rulers did not initially know that citizens were willing to compromise this value or that principle. Perhaps a new regime did not at first have the direct means of influencing citizens one way or another. After the German elections of 1932, which brought Nazis into government, or the Czechoslovak elections of 1946, where communists were victorious, the next crucial step was anticipatory obedience. Because enough people in both cases voluntarily extended their services to the new leaders, Nazis and communists alike realized that they could move quickly toward a full regime change. The first heedless acts of conformity could not then be reversed.
(A section from the excerpt on NetGalley).
Excerpt from Heather Cox Richardson, October 23, 2021 (Saturday)
heather.richardson@bc.edu
Only the third story is repeated here in full.
There are three stories in the news today that seem to me to add up to a larger picture. First is the story of money laundering, which seems suddenly to be all over the news. Today we learned that federal prosecutors in Detroit have broken into a massive money-laundering operation between the United States and the United Arab Emirates called “The Shadow Exchange.” They confiscated $12 million and suggest this is the tip of the iceberg…
The second story that caught my attention today is the continuing news dropping from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Today we learned that a Facebook researcher created a profile that appeared to be of a political conservative North Carolina mother and that within five days, Facebook’s algorithm was steering the profile toward QAnon, a conspiracy theory touting then-president Trump as a secret warrior against a widespread pedophilia ring in the highest levels of government…
Tonight’s third story is that former president Trump’s loyalists set up a “command center” in mid-December at Washington, D.C.’s famous Willard Hotel to try to overturn the election. Those meeting to come up with a scheme to overturn the will of the voters included John Eastman, who wrote the memo outlining how Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to count the electors for certain states and thus throw the election to Trump; Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani; adviser Stephen K. Bannon; former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, a convicted felon pardoned by Trump; One America News reporter Christina Bobb; and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn.It is significant that as this story has hit the news, Eastman, the author of the infamous memo, is running from it. He went to the respected conservative magazine National Review to argue, quite preposterously, that his memo was simply a thought exercise that he did not endorse. The very choice of the Willard, rather than Trump’s own hotel, suggests an attempt to create distance from the president, but Kerik, who rented the rooms, billed the Trump campaign for the $55,000 hotel bill. (Those participating are likely to discover that campaign activity is not part of official duties and so cannot be covered by executive privilege.)
RN Breakfast host Fran Kelly announces she’s leaving the program after 17 years
By Backstory editor Natasha Johnson
Posted Thu 21 Oct 2021 at 7:37amThursday 21 Oct 2021 at 7:37am, updated Thu 21 Oct 2021 at 11:49am
For full story see Television: Comments
Robin's Room 