Evil then Stupid

Liberal MP Don Randall calls the ABC the "Gay BC" (evil) then fails to identify his own party's policies (stupid). All in a day's work.

One inch forward, two giant leaps backward

As I said, just the fact that Chris Bowen seems vaguely concerned about imprisoning children was a step in the right direction. But at the same time, the government hasn't actually done anything except had an MP promise an executive order that will take, apparently, nine months to execute and as yet as no actual defined perameters of what they mean by "in the community" (like the Brisbane refugees near the airport who were locked in motel rooms 24-7 and guarded by armed guards). At the same time, they've opened two new camps and expanded the Darwin one.

Read more from Ian Rintoul and Tom Cowrie.

Good news for refugees

It's not an entire solution but it's possible a good beginning: New Immigration minister Chris Bowen is moving 1500 asylum seekers into Australian borders and wants to accompany that with community placements for children and families. Just his choice of language is a relief.

Of course, Abbott didn't miss a chance to decry this as leading to more boats. Yes Tony. You must do everything you can to keep children in concentration camps and whatever else Satan instructs you. Maybe, just maybe people are getting shitted off with that line, since it didn't work last time.

Go tell it on the mountain

Federal Judge tells the US military to stop with the DADT bullshit right the hell now Hooray!

Cracked article on why power corrupts

As always, there's some cherry picking in studies that aren't totally conclusive but it does seem to be gathering evidence that power corrupts, and not just because of the kinds of people who seek it. Power itself makes you more likely to lie, less likely to have empathy and more likely to believe you're a super-normal person with magical capabilities to whom the rules do not apply. (This also happens if you read The Secret).

Which is why we need to a) take as much as it out of the hands of authority as possible and b) put as much as possible into the hands of everyone else. Kind of like empowering employees. Or as so beautifully summed up by CJ on The West Wing:

"In times of crisis, people want to feel like soldiers, not victims."

And that's why the arguments of "don't vote, they're all bastards anyway" annoys me so much. The more you strip people of agency, the more they let themselves become victims, which just lets authority be even more bastardly.