I love studying rebels and rebellion almost as much as I love hunting. As a matter of fact, one of the peripheral joys that springs from the whole hunting, shooting and gun owning experience is that those who are involved in the shooting sports are looked down upon by the current smarmy elitists. Thus, every animal I take, every gun I buy, every back strap I eat and every trophy I have taxidermied is not only a celebration of my freedom but also an act of defiance to the thought police who are daily at work to eradicate my right to pursue gun powder happiness Rebels with a Cause
Ach . . . the little joys in life such as Is white the new black
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Mackay hits out at our self-centred lifestyle
Australians need to re-engage themselves in the community and their stop thinking only about themselves, according to social cornmentator Hugh Mackay, who spoke last night at the National Library. Giving the sixth annual Manning Clark lecture, Mr Mackay said Australians were in shock and had shut down, struggling to cope with the social and cultural upheaval of the past three decades.
Many Australians . . . feel distressed and they feel out of control
• Canberra Times 4 March 2005 Darker the mood to disengage (paper not available yet as at 8 March 2005) [Thousands of slaves see their chance of freedom slip away ; Christopher Hanson, but too many of them are either too self-absorbed to focus on keeping the public informed or too skewed by ideology to put factual accuracy front and center Prof: Bloggers aren't a substitute for mainstream journalism ]
• · Mr. Garrett M. Graff, 23, may be the first blogger in the short history of the medium to be granted a daily White House pass for the specific purpose of writing a blog, or Web log. A White House spokesman said yesterday that he believed Mr. Graff was the first blogger to be given credentials. White House Approves Pass for Blogger ; Increasingly, bloggers are penetrating the preserves of the mainstream news media. Beware the Dark Side — One of the blogosphere's own has made it to the big game Blogging Milestone
• · · Sebastian De Brennan Judges are far from being a pampered lot ; Blogger alert: Election regulators are watching
• · · · Czech Lawmakers Approve Compensation for Victims of 1968 Invasion ; Vaclav Klaus Czech Republic president writes book
• · · · · Ceska Zbrojovka and Arms Moravia Czech firms in arms scandal Israeli bank 'in laundering scam'
• · · · · · The federal budget surplus is set to exceed $10 billion this year and could be as much as double Treasury's revised forecast from three months ago, despite economic growth slowing to a near-standstill late last year Tax goldmine puts heat on Costello ; John Howard has urged young people to consider quitting school in Year 10 to pursue careers in traditional trades as the nation faces a growing shortage of skilled workers Tim Dunlop wonders if the prime minister thinks his advice should apply to his own children?