Mood:
incredulousTopic: local news
We got our 2nd free ticket to the Sydney Writers Festival today in a radio competition but we still haven't managed to go. At the tail end of the ABC TV prime time news tonight we noticed a related report about a book on sexism embarrassing various public figures. It's a book by Meredith Burgmann and Yvette Andrews at the Sydney Writer's Festival called The Ernies Book
It's a well practised schtik by these two and it looks like the men of Australia continue to feed them up lots of material.
Just as these two serve up moral skeletons of their own. How ironic.
In Burgmann's case it's the airbrushing of perhaps a million North Korean women who died (that is 50% of 2 million dead) in that govt created famine in the late 90ies . Airbrushed in this sanitised piece by Burgmann
Not surprisingly Burgmann was not preselected to run for the ALP against Clover Moore MP who holds the position of mayor of the City of Sydney, and it might be noted a strong Catholic.
The ALP Premier Morris Iemma is similarly a church goer. Maybe the ALP hierarchy could see some PR problems for Burgmann over the location of 2 million famine deaths as her last holiday choice with not a hint of unease. And they would be right about that with SAM here just being an entre to her predicted election demise. And here is another serve over her parliamentary votes for ALP trashing of the environment. [Declaration: We did electioneer for Clover Moore in 2004.]
Truth is you don't have to be too religious to find a rose tinted attitude to North Korea quite disturbing:
In Yvette Andrews case it has been a dubious involvement in sanitising an irregular (and we say as a solicitor improper) rent free gallery lease provided to her mate as a private art for sale business on public land at Addison Rd Community Centre in Marrickville. 4 years rent free in fact with no financial records to the centre management as we hear it, for at least 2 years while Andrews had a junior and then senior central role on the ARC Board. It's a bit more complex than that but not much more.
Andrews stands accused of sanitising this bogus rent free 500sq metres at the ARC, first as President of ARC Board from her honorary appointment, and then General Manager in a job handed to her by her own (stacked?) Board. This GM job has never been advertised to the public this last 8 months and counting. We've been keeping tabs on this state of affairs a while now:
And here more recently. And here. Andrews is going down on this issue of abuse of public resources as night follows day.
None of this excuses male chauvinist pigs. But the idea these two authors are paragons or even guardians of public morality is frankly a joke, indeed an insult to those who are paragons on issues of gender equity and political integrity. If they are good writers then that's all it is.
In our view these are not two morally superior beings to be sermonising to others. No doubt their book is very popular to establishment sisterhood with undoubted greivances. Only we think the sisterhood might look for some more worthy moral champions within their midst.
