Although each man is born naked, he arrives with a vast inheritance, often in the form of baggage. Those of a mixed cultural background have a larger wardrobe with which to clothe their identity. The cultural choices they make are therefore rather more personal. First and foremost, I consider myself British. English, Arab, Swiss, and even European are all conflicting labels I can apply to myself in part. And in part is the problem with them—they are far too narrow and limiting. The word British on the other hand has notions of a civic model of inclusion. What holds society together is not common religion, race, ethnicity, language or even culture, but common attachment to the rule of law and to the idea that we are all rights-bearing equals. Admittedly it is a romantic idea used to get the Empire to pull together in two World Wars, but the idea is still there all the same.
- Yahya El-Droubie
I can’t think of a better way to spend a week night than catching up with colourful characters from the past. Tonight I caught up with Baden Appleyard. Baden is a Brissie born and bred pilot who also flies above the corridors of justice as a lawyer with experience in IT, Privacy and Tax law and cyberlaw. Back in the mid 90s Baden discussed the finer points of creative commons, MP3, and other concepts including how to sell wine without bottles with trailblazers such as Lawrence Lessig. There is no blogger who is not familiar with Lessig Blog. The fruits of Lessig labour are reflected on search engines looking for Creative Commons. How amazingly fortunate for Cold River to be right below The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
Whether in Brissie or Sydneyrella, when you are having a communal meal with Baden you meet people from all different backgrounds, and all walks of life. I tend to also always, always, uncover some fascinating stories and people. There are many things to be appreciated about Maria full of ballet grace ;-D. What is it about individuals like Baden that one feels so engaged in a conversation and feels a sense of being appreciated for who we are?
This week seems to be filled with arrivals and departures of travellers who are invading Sydney not just from Brissie, Canberra and Prague, but also my former director of the Public Accounts Committee, Patricia Azarias, will swap New York for the village by the harbour. Patricia has been recently appointed as the Director of the Internal Audit Division at the United Nations. We were the Dream Team 1992-2000; small dedicated team producing 8 reports staging conferences, seminars, round tables
The Blog, The Press, The Media: Don't Fear the Double Dragon
Will somebody please help the Los Angeles Times' David Shaw get a grip? What do bloggers want? That’s a question Freud might have posted on his web site if he were alive today ... As bloggers we are learning to be less concerned about what people think of us. We are learning to be less reliant upon both the affirmation and the criticism of others. Running, like a river beneath and icy surface there is a deeper and truer virtual life waiting to be acknowledged ;-D
In yesterday's (March 27) Los Angeles Times, media reporter and critic David Shaw demonstrates Oscar Wilde's maxim that modern journalism is important—if only because it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.
Giving every indication that he's read a lot of stories about bloggers but not that many actual blogs, Shaw disparages the form as the error-filled rants of amateurs in his piece, "Do Bloggers Deserve Basic Journalistic Protections?" It's a "solipsistic, self-aggrandizing journalist-wannabe genre," Shaw writes.
Jack Shafer does a great job ripping apart David Shaw's sloppy, wrong-headed blogger-bashing column
• The Dragons of Expectation False Dichotomies: Laying the Newspaper Gently Down to Die [Hiding behind my sunglasses A Good Whacking — Jack Shafer whacks David Shaw ; Ansearch A new age of searching ]
• · Editor & Publisher reports that JimJeff GuckertGannon will be included in a panel to be held at the National Press Club on April 8th Meet the future of Journalism: Cannon-Cockert ; Often the coolest gadgets aren't the cheapest or most practical, they're the ones that make your tech-head friends green with envy, like Fossil's Wrist PDA. Watch this space: Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs
• · · Blog back in anger - the online sticky note ; A person who wants to lead the orchestra must be willing to face the music Publish and don't be damned - WAM!NET
• · · · So Liz Smith was having dinner with Nicole Kidman at New York's Four Seasons and it seems the actress really likes to pig out. In blog's era, is there room for Liz Smith? ; Ron Hogan, who writes a literary blog called Beatrice.com, recently began a second blog, Beatrix: A Book Review Review On the Internet, 2nd (and 3rd and . . . ) Opinions ; Beatrix ; A Book Review Review
• · · · · The truth about the tabloids ; Nora Paul: A decade after digital news trailblazers discussed the Internet's promise as a cutting-edge news vehicle, only some of those forecasts have become reality. 'New News' retrospective: Is online news reaching its potential?
• · · · · · We want this to be the place where a community of regional bloggers and their many interests can be found. Blogging in Southwest Virginia ; With an index of more than 370 million blog and news feed articles in seven languages, Bloglines is already one of the largest wells of dynamic web information. Popular online blog and news feed aggregator site Bloglines.com is one step closer to its goal of a universal inbox for dynamic Web content with the launch of a package tracking service Wednesday Bloglines