The books reviewed this week were provided to me by NetGalley. They both reflect upon women’s fight for the vote. The Accidental Suffragist and The Rebel Suffragette tell the stories of two rather different women, the first in fictional form, and the latter non-fiction. Both are worthy contributions to winning the vote for women in America and Britain. Well, at the time the stories end, for a particular group of women!
Galia Gichon The Accidental Suffragist Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing 2021.
Winning women’s suffrage in America and Britain was an arduous journey, and even then, in both instances the vote was limited to women over thirty, and in Britain a property condition imposed another restraint. Since the centenary of each, fictional accounts of both fights for women’s suffrage have been published in celebration of women’s achievement. The Accidental Suffragist by Galia Gichon is a very worthy fictional companion read to Sally Nichols’ Things a Bright Girl Can Do, a fictional account of the British women’s fight for the vote, won in 1918. In America, women’s suffrage was initially won state by state, but it was not until 1920 nationally women were given the right to vote through a federal amendment to the Constitution. Gichon is celebrating that achievement in her book.
Beverley Adams The Rebel Suffragette The Life of Edith Rigby Pen & Sword History 2021.
I was drawn to this book by the title as I had not heard of Edith Rigby and was interested in what Beverley Adams believed made her a rebel suffragette. I had thought of all the women involved in fighting for the women’s vote as rebels, after all, they were seeking to undermine the political power men exerted (well, some men) through the ballot box, and ultimately in parliament. However, I soon realised that Adams was indeed right to describe Edith Rigby as a rebel, denoting her as special in her adoption of the cause for women’s voting rights, and others she espoused. I also regret having been in Preston for a conference and not realising that in that city there were remnants of a history that I would have been thrilled to learn.
The complete reviews are at Books: Reviews .
After lockdown Covid in Canberra
New cases of Covid on 25th, eight; 26th, eight; 27th, seven.
On the 27th November the ACT Government introduced precautionary measures in response to the emerging Omnicron variant of Covid 19. These are relevant only to travellers from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Seychelles, Malawi and/or Eswatini. These travellers are subject to a Covid test and quarantine.
New cases on the 28th, 29th and 30th November are: seven, seven, and four.
I had a Pfizer booster on Tuesday and spent all Wednesday in bed, so this post is late. Great to have the booster, but bad to miss a deadline.
Erin Brockovich, Superman’s Not Coming, (Books: Reviews) hopefully would be pleased with the following outcome to deal with the immediate situation in Flint, and the long term resolution of the problem with lead pipes offered under the Build Back Better legislation enacted by Congress.
Michigan judge approves $626 million deal to settle Flint water crisis lawsuits
Paul Best Fox News Report
A judge gave final approval on Wednesday to a $626 million settlement for residents of Flint, Michigan, who sued the state over contamination of their drinking water by lead and bacteria in 2014 and 2015. https://www.dianomi.com/smartads.epl?id=3533
“The settlement reached here is a remarkable achievement for many reasons, not the least of which is that it sets forth a comprehensive compensation program and timeline that is consistent for every qualifying participant,” U.S. District Judge Judith Levy wrote in the 178-page opinion.
The state of Michigan will pay about $600 million for its role in the crisis, while Flint will pay $20 million, McLaren Health will pay $5 million, and Rowe Professional Services will pay $1.25 million.
In 2014 and 2015, regulators from then-Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration allowed Flint to use water from the Flint River without properly treating it.
MICHIGAN’S WHITMER UNDER FIRE FOR SLUGGISH RESPONSE TO BENTON HARBOR LEAD WATER CRISIS
Residents started complaining of health issues such as hair loss and rashes, and a group of doctors found dangerous levels of lead in the blood of children in September 2015. The city switched back to a Detroit regional water agency the next month.
Children who were ages 6 and younger will receive more than half of the settlement, while the rest will go to other affected children, adults who can show an injury, businesses, and anyone who paid water bills. Attorneys are seeking as much as $200 million from the settlement, but the judge said that will be decided in the future.
“We hope this settlement helps the healing continue as we keep working to make sure that people have access to clean water in Flint and communities all across Michigan,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.
The $626 million settlement was originally reached in August 2020 and received preliminary approval in January.
Corey M. Stern, a partner at Levy Konigsberg who served as counsel for some plaintiffs, said that the settlement “would not have been possible without the children and families of Flint relentlessly taking a stand against those who failed to keep them safe.”
“Although this is a significant victory for Flint, we have a ways to go in stopping Americans from being systematically poisoned in their own homes, schools, and places of work,” Stern said.
Rick Snyder, who was governor of Michigan from 2011 through 2018, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty in January related to the crisis. Eight other former state and local officials are also facing criminal charges.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bob McMullan
The small talk about Albanese and small targets is wrong
The notion that the federal Labor leader is running a small-target strategy ahead of next year’s election flies in the face of the facts.
When the prevailing orthodoxy doesn’t seem to fit the underlying facts, it is wise to question the orthodoxy rather than the facts. I don’t see the facts which back up the “small target” theory about Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s approach to the 2022 election.
With the latest NBN announcement the current opposition has more policy out there at this stage of an election cycle than any opposition I can remember in the past 50 years except those led by John Hewson in 1993 and Bill Shorten in 2019.
I understand that different people have different priorities which they would like a Labor opposition to campaign on. And, obviously, such people will be disappointed when the party displays priorities other than those they would like to see.
But with an election probably six months away it is ridiculous to expect a well-organised opposition to have all its policies laid out by now. Not because they will be stolen or attacked, but to ensure there is room for new announcements during the campaign.
Can you imagine the outcry should the Opposition leader get up and say at the campaign launch that “all our policies have already been announced”. However many policies had already been launched, the hue and cry about a small-target strategy would be off and running again.
Striking a balance between early announcements to give candidates and supporters something to campaign on and keeping enough back for the campaign is an art, not a science. I don’t know Albanese’s plans about this balance but I have been involved in running enough campaigns to understand the nature of the challenge.
I appreciate if you are a male over 60 you might not think the extensive policy Albanese announced some time ago on childcare is important. But thousands of women (and men) with children regard it as their number one priority. It is an important economic and social policy. It is also a major point of policy difference between the government and the opposition in the lead-up to the election.
If you are a comfortable middle-class citizen in secure housing, you may not regard social and affordable housing as a priority, but hundreds of thousands of Australians who are struggling to find adequate housing appreciate the priority it has received from the opposition. The announcement of a $10 billion fund to build new affordable housing is another important point of difference. It is also a policy with obvious social value and one that will create lots of working-class jobs.
Everybody regards domestic violence as an important issue but very little has been done about it. The current opposition has the strongest policy I have seen on the issue.
I have written about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament issue here before. I think it is the most important long-term issue that will be decided by the election outcome. And there is no equivocation from Albanese on this crucial and controversial issue.
The public is crying out for a national anti-corruption commission, but it is not an easy issue to get right. It seems to me Mark Dreyfus and the Opposition have done a pretty good job of getting the balance correct.
The latest NBN announcement is a big issue and a bold promise. The difference between the government’s destruction of the planned NBN rollout and the opposition’s commitment to provide $2.4 billion to renew a public NBN is stark.
Of course, there are issues close to my heart that the opposition has not been brave on yet. And maybe they never will make an announcement on the aid budget or arts funding. But the big picture is more important than any individual priority. By election time there will be plenty of issues of contrast between Labor and the Coalition — not about everything, but about a lot of very important issues.
The excellent review of the last Labor campaign by Jay Wetherill and Craig Emerson made it clear that policy discipline is important. In 2019 many fine policies went unnoticed because there were too many policies out there for the public to comprehend.
I am not aware of the Opposition’s intentions on future policy announcements. I know they will be somewhat constrained until they have seen the Pre-election Fiscal Outlook or, more probably, the Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. I hope and expect they will have a lot to say between now and the election, but the idea that they are running a small-target strategy flies in the face of the facts.
There are two cardinal rules to remember about policy announcements when running an election campaign from opposition. The first is you don’t have to be able to do everything before you do anything. The second is “gouvenir est choisir”. This is a famous quote from former French prime minister Pierre Mendes France which translates as “to govern is to choose”.
When judged against these two rules the Albanese-led opposition measures up quite well with six months to go. It is not perfect but that is not the standard I would set to judge it by. Time will tell if the strategy and the leadership style will be successful. But a small target it is not.
This article was first published in Pearls and Irritations.
THE WOMEN WHO MADE AUSTRALIAN TV PART 3
BY JEANNINE BAKER
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons.
This is the third article in a 4-part series on women’s contribution to early Australian television production.
While key creative roles in Australian television in the 1950s to the 1970s were dominated by men, some women also forged careers as producers and directors, mainly in light entertainment, children’s, educational and documentary programs. The NFSA collection helps tell the stories of some of these groundbreaking women.
At the ABC, radio producer and accomplished musician Margaret Delves was one of the first 6 producers selected for ABC television in 1956. She produced live entertainment and game shows, and the ABC’s first educational TV program, Kindergarten Playtime. see the full article at Television: Comments
Robin's Room 