Weekend Jumbles

Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conversations conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.

WH Auden.


I've gone to four days work a week work and suddenly it's much more relaxed. Not that I've done that much with the extra day but try and feel normal. Instead I feel guilty for relaxing.

APEC is coming to Sydney and the momentum of preceding announcements has escalated. They've unveiled a new water cannon truck, which brings Australia into a new era of crowd control. We've never had a truck that water bombs rioters before; and it takes us into a different level of imagery, of state control. The right to protest has been a sacrosanct if often ineffective form of political protest in Australia for a very long time. Organisers are expecting trouble; which I've been surprised by; the demonstrators I've observed over the years aren't up to all that much.

Indeed the general protesters we get in Sydney are not a very fearsome bunch at all. Over the years marches and demonstrations have become an ineffective form of protest; largely ignored by bored journalists. For the protesters, too, it was more a day out, a social event, than a full-on opportunity to throw yourself in front of police vehicles or get yourself arrested. The security is astonishing. Days of acquiescence, days of charm; grubby little buggers who haunt us still. Half the city is going into lock down.

THE BIGGER STORY:Fences Will Divide Sydney for APEC
오마이뉴스, South Korea - 18 Aug 2007

Apparently, it's an honor for Sydney, Australia, to be chosen to host the APEC conference in three weeks time, which will bring together more than 20 world leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush.

But most Sydneysiders are wondering why they couldn't have chosen one of the dozens of luxurious islands of the far north to hold their conference, now the full scope of the staggering security measures that will lock-down half of the city's center for 10 days are being made public.

A 5-kilometer long, 3-meter high security fence will cut Sydney's central business district in half.

You will only be able to enter the lockdown zone on foot, and then only through a small number of gates manned by some of the 4,500 police and thousands more private security guards, secret service and intelligence agents already descending on the city.

You will need to queue at the gates, where your face will be scanned in a live field test of facial recognition technology and assessed by agents for suspicious body language. Police and intelligence agents have been scouring through years of antiwar protests and building up a database of faces that were captured on police and security video.

Nearly everyone who passes through the gates will be searched, have their ID checked and have their handbags and briefcases unpacked.

Once you've produced ID, your name and address will be compared to a long list of suspected "troublemakers" that the police and intelligence agents have been compiling for months. Everyone who enters the security zone is expected to be photographed and entered into a database.

Police reveal secret APEC weapon
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 2 hours ago
By Rhett Watson A FLYING squad of motorcycle police will be the eyes and ears of the law in Sydney's CBD in an attempt to get on top of unplanned APEC ...
Iemma blames 'idiots' for APEC protests NEWS.com.au
APEC protesters plan Sydney march Melbourne Herald Sun
Route change angers APEC marchers Sydney Morning Herald
TVNZ - Sydney Morning Herald
all 73 news articles »

Turkish Press China cutting APEC's grass, says Clinton adviser
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 4 hours ago
Lael Brainard, a former White House co-ordinator for APEC and deputy national economics adviser to Bill Clinton, said the US's preoccupation with the war in ...
APEC meeting to address broad range of issues Channel News Asia
APEC emergency experts meet in Cairns Melbourne Herald Sun
APEC visitors to bypass quarantine Sydney Morning Herald
NEWS.com.au - Taipei Times
all 37 news articles »
Plan for maximum APEC mayhem
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 2 hours ago
The Daily Telegraph reports APEC organisers are bracing for protests from a range of radical groups that are also recruiting high school students to take ...
Iemma warns students about APEC 'ferals' Sydney Morning Herald
Students warned against APEC protests The Age
APEC protesters 'prepared for court action' ABC Online
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney Morning Herald
all 13 news articles »
Enjoy APEC's adventure escape
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 19 hours ago
By Mike Smith and Joe Hildebrand WHILE thousands of Sydneysiders plan to flee the city during APEC, they may well be replaced by an wave of visitors keen to ...
Sydney's APEC challenges SBS - World News Australia
Regional NSW to reap APEC rewards ABC Online
all 5 news articles »
APEC disaster management summit continues
ABC Regional Online, Australia - 20 hours ago
Representatives from Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) countries at an international summit about disaster management will start an intense series ...
APEC summit security acquires a water cannon Radio Australia
Shoalhaven tourism hopes to cash in on APEC ABC Regional Online
APEC summit to bring boom to regional areas Radio Australia
Green Left Weekly
all 5 news articles »

Times Colonist APEC to focus on efficiency, not targets
Taipei Times, Taiwan - 18 Aug 2007
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member nations will not accept greenhouse gas emission targets to fight global climate change and creating ...
APEC leaders to set 'aspirational' goals on climate: draft Philippine Star
Green party leader blasts APEC plan Vancouver Sun
APEC to shoot for 25% boost in energy efficiency The Japan Times
The Brunei Times - Montreal Gazette
all 16 news articles »