Myths About Lawmaking
I am an Australian living in Germany where responsibility for alcohol consumption is placed firmly on the individual. All types of alcohol are freely available at most retail outlets, including corner stores, and the difference on the streets during weekends is markedly calmer than in Australia - with drunken, loutish and potentially violent behaviour almost non-existent.
Young adults from 16 are legally allowed to enjoy beer (but not spirits) in a cafe or bar until 9pm, making their transition into unrestricted drinking at 18 overwhelmingly smooth and without incident, as opposed to the rapidly increasing trend of youth binge drinking in Australia today.
It's about time we were trusted to think for ourselves, without legislating against everything, US-style. The US patterns of drug abuse have been shown to have connections with their restrictions on drinking until the age of 21. Let's take the myth out of drinking so our youth can grow up with a reasonable approach to alcohol.
David Theak, Detmold (Germany), Letter to SMH October 8.
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Inspiration - Pain & Pleasure
When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.
-Peter Marshall
Under communism Czechoslovakia lost everything but its humour ... In Olde Bratislava 'The Party' knew where history was going and how to get there (like the medieval priests who knew Latin, only they could offer salvation). In Nova Blava we continue to be preoccupied by the most important pleasures in life.
When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.
-Peter Marshall
Under communism Czechoslovakia lost everything but its humour ... In Olde Bratislava 'The Party' knew where history was going and how to get there (like the medieval priests who knew Latin, only they could offer salvation). In Nova Blava we continue to be preoccupied by the most important pleasures in life.
A Star is Born in Betlobbyham
It's a rare day in the media when the SMH's arch-conservative correspondent PP McGuinness and its leftie ABC secondee David Marr actually agree with each other. And even rarer when The Parish Pump concurs with both of them. What could possibly give rise to such an unholy consensus? Answer: the current campaign by the Federal government-sponsored "Farmhand" drought relief appeal to 'drought-proof' Australia by turning our northern rivers inland!
MEDIA WATCH, Auntie's pale imitation of ABCwatch, filed a report on an expensive public works project with sex-appeal.
How to do sex-appeal: Buy the support of the Platinum Parrot and the Golden Tonsils, put Kerry Packer on the cheer squad (he's too rich to do it for money - isn't he?), pummel the opposition in the media (especially yours) until they retire wounded, then present it to the Government as a simple choice: take the votes we've assembled for you or take a pasting in (our) media.
Can't fail.
Just one problem. How do you find a sexy project that'll cost at least 10 billion bucks in funny money the taxpayer will never see?
Of course! Turn the Rivers Inland! Every native-born Australian knows the rest of the fairy-tale by heart.
So Platinum and Tonsils and Packer and Telstra chair Mansfield and others from the Telstra/Packer/Foxtel gang front the media (mostly theirs) conference to break the good news.
But wait, there's more!
They've put their hands in their pockets and found a spare $20 million to hand out to hard cases in the bush. Called this spare change Farmhand. They want you to sling your money in too.
It's a rare day in the media when the SMH's arch-conservative correspondent PP McGuinness and its leftie ABC secondee David Marr actually agree with each other. And even rarer when The Parish Pump concurs with both of them. What could possibly give rise to such an unholy consensus? Answer: the current campaign by the Federal government-sponsored "Farmhand" drought relief appeal to 'drought-proof' Australia by turning our northern rivers inland!
MEDIA WATCH, Auntie's pale imitation of ABCwatch, filed a report on an expensive public works project with sex-appeal.
How to do sex-appeal: Buy the support of the Platinum Parrot and the Golden Tonsils, put Kerry Packer on the cheer squad (he's too rich to do it for money - isn't he?), pummel the opposition in the media (especially yours) until they retire wounded, then present it to the Government as a simple choice: take the votes we've assembled for you or take a pasting in (our) media.
Can't fail.
Just one problem. How do you find a sexy project that'll cost at least 10 billion bucks in funny money the taxpayer will never see?
Of course! Turn the Rivers Inland! Every native-born Australian knows the rest of the fairy-tale by heart.
So Platinum and Tonsils and Packer and Telstra chair Mansfield and others from the Telstra/Packer/Foxtel gang front the media (mostly theirs) conference to break the good news.
But wait, there's more!
They've put their hands in their pockets and found a spare $20 million to hand out to hard cases in the bush. Called this spare change Farmhand. They want you to sling your money in too.
Monday, October 07, 2002
Bertelsmann
German media giant Bertelsmann has admitted it lied about its Nazi past and that it made big profits during Adolf Hitler's reign in Germany using Jewish slave labour.
Staff at Bertelsmann were notified by Chairman Gunther Thielen in an email on Monday 7 October 2002: ‘I would like to express our sincere regret for the inaccuracies the Commission has uncovered in our previous corporate history of the World War Two era as well as for the wartime activities that have been brought to light.’
Guilty pleasures: What makes one person choose painting and another robbery? A controversial theory suggests that artists and criminals have a lot in common: they both break the rules.
Both express a primal rage. Love, hate, fury, despair and passion can be given utterance with brushes and pens, or with guns and knives. Artists enjoy seeing themselves as raffish outsiders, people of dubious morality.
In Praise of PAPER PLEASURES: Will electronic publishing kill books? ‘The first steps of electronic publishing have been faltering. The e-book has not - yet - been a bestseller, or even a viable commercial proposition. One day, however, such ventures will succeed and when electronic publishing becomes the norm, the more desirable (and expensive) the traditional book will correspondingly become.
A Reader's Cold Revenge
B. R. Myers, the author of A Reader's Manifesto, argues that the time has come for readers to stand up to the literary establishment. Myers's goal, he explains, is to convey to fellow readers that they shouldn't feel cowed into reading and pretending to be engaged by the latest dull and pretentious book just because the literary establishment has pronounced it evocative and compelling. Rather readers should trust their own instincts, and decide for themselves what books speak to them in meaningful ways.
German media giant Bertelsmann has admitted it lied about its Nazi past and that it made big profits during Adolf Hitler's reign in Germany using Jewish slave labour.
Staff at Bertelsmann were notified by Chairman Gunther Thielen in an email on Monday 7 October 2002: ‘I would like to express our sincere regret for the inaccuracies the Commission has uncovered in our previous corporate history of the World War Two era as well as for the wartime activities that have been brought to light.’
Guilty pleasures: What makes one person choose painting and another robbery? A controversial theory suggests that artists and criminals have a lot in common: they both break the rules.
Both express a primal rage. Love, hate, fury, despair and passion can be given utterance with brushes and pens, or with guns and knives. Artists enjoy seeing themselves as raffish outsiders, people of dubious morality.
In Praise of PAPER PLEASURES: Will electronic publishing kill books? ‘The first steps of electronic publishing have been faltering. The e-book has not - yet - been a bestseller, or even a viable commercial proposition. One day, however, such ventures will succeed and when electronic publishing becomes the norm, the more desirable (and expensive) the traditional book will correspondingly become.
A Reader's Cold Revenge
B. R. Myers, the author of A Reader's Manifesto, argues that the time has come for readers to stand up to the literary establishment. Myers's goal, he explains, is to convey to fellow readers that they shouldn't feel cowed into reading and pretending to be engaged by the latest dull and pretentious book just because the literary establishment has pronounced it evocative and compelling. Rather readers should trust their own instincts, and decide for themselves what books speak to them in meaningful ways.
Just like the successful Brisbane Writers Festival my Blogwatch is peppered with international flavour
First, the Good News about Books. We are living in a golden age of book publishing in which quantity and quality rival anything in the past, in which books have never been so well published and in which they occupy a more boisterously visible place in the general culture than ever before.
Do reviews matter? No. Yes. Maybe. Depends. Ultimately, readers decide whether reviews matter. After all, this is Darwinian America. If theaters do poor work, they won't draw an audience. If critics don't offer utility, merit, insight and education, they, too, won't draw an audience. The free market decides.
Blogbib an annotated bibliography of literature about weblogs.
PS: Festivals do matter! The riverside location and balmy subtropical weather are appreciated by international visitors, but so are the soulful volunteers who make the Brisbane Writers Festival such a great success year after year after year ...
First, the Good News about Books. We are living in a golden age of book publishing in which quantity and quality rival anything in the past, in which books have never been so well published and in which they occupy a more boisterously visible place in the general culture than ever before.
Do reviews matter? No. Yes. Maybe. Depends. Ultimately, readers decide whether reviews matter. After all, this is Darwinian America. If theaters do poor work, they won't draw an audience. If critics don't offer utility, merit, insight and education, they, too, won't draw an audience. The free market decides.
Blogbib an annotated bibliography of literature about weblogs.
PS: Festivals do matter! The riverside location and balmy subtropical weather are appreciated by international visitors, but so are the soulful volunteers who make the Brisbane Writers Festival such a great success year after year after year ...
Sunday, October 06, 2002
A Bohemian with a perpetual one-way ticket
USA Today had an interesting story about Kevin Barbieux, a homeless man living in Nashville who created a Weblog using computers at the Nashville Public Library. His site, TheHomelessGuy.Blogspot.com, records his experiences of life on the streets and has received more than 41,000 visitors. Find more blogging sites in the Search Engines section.
USA Today had an interesting story about Kevin Barbieux, a homeless man living in Nashville who created a Weblog using computers at the Nashville Public Library. His site, TheHomelessGuy.Blogspot.com, records his experiences of life on the streets and has received more than 41,000 visitors. Find more blogging sites in the Search Engines section.
Saturday, October 05, 2002
Discovering Survival and Drama
If everything human can be reduced to our being an organic machine, why do people gossip and climb mountains? What’s the survival value?
Artists are intrigued by the drama of science. But intrigue is not enough: to make science the handmaiden of art you also have to understand it.
If everything human can be reduced to our being an organic machine, why do people gossip and climb mountains? What’s the survival value?
Artists are intrigued by the drama of science. But intrigue is not enough: to make science the handmaiden of art you also have to understand it.
Friday, October 04, 2002
Reality is what I blog, not what you blog.
Political bloggers hunt in packs, gain momentum, pick enemies, vent spleen, and never, ever, hold back.
The Insider's Insider, Getting It Out on the Web. Vulgarians are thick on the ground in the nation’s capital.
Max Hastings tells us how he had never listened to a big international tycoon discussing a deal until Conrad met Kerry. Kerry's monologue was packed with antipodean colour other than black: 'Right, Conrad. We're all agreed, then. I shall take a back seat on this one. You'll lead the band. I'll fix Canberra. I'll deal with the State Government. I'll square the banks. All I want out of this one is to see certain people's heads so deep in the shit that the tops of their heads will only be visible through a powerful microscope!"'
Dame Marjorie Scardino, the high-flying chief executive of media giant Pearson, has accused journalists of failing to work hard enough to ferret out stories. 'If journalists were better at reading balance sheets, some of these things would be discovered sooner. We could have done a lot more digging. But business journalists often don't know a lot about business. It's a shame, but that's the case.'
Her remarks echoed the words of former Financial Times editor Richard Lambert, who, following the WorldCom and Enron fiascos, asked a seminar at London's City University: Where were the media while all these scandals were brewing.'
The world in statistics downloadable data on 28 indicators (like GDP, health, transport, geographic data) for all countries. The number of countries is 241 and themes 248. From Statistics Finland.
E-government survey The survey found that states are increasingly charging for data online (including a charge to see a legislative bill in Kansas).
If you feel a blogwatch on your shoulder and the touch of a world that is harder to read contact thousands of international affairs experts who will explain what makes some cultures tick.
Political bloggers hunt in packs, gain momentum, pick enemies, vent spleen, and never, ever, hold back.
The Insider's Insider, Getting It Out on the Web. Vulgarians are thick on the ground in the nation’s capital.
Max Hastings tells us how he had never listened to a big international tycoon discussing a deal until Conrad met Kerry. Kerry's monologue was packed with antipodean colour other than black: 'Right, Conrad. We're all agreed, then. I shall take a back seat on this one. You'll lead the band. I'll fix Canberra. I'll deal with the State Government. I'll square the banks. All I want out of this one is to see certain people's heads so deep in the shit that the tops of their heads will only be visible through a powerful microscope!"'
Dame Marjorie Scardino, the high-flying chief executive of media giant Pearson, has accused journalists of failing to work hard enough to ferret out stories. 'If journalists were better at reading balance sheets, some of these things would be discovered sooner. We could have done a lot more digging. But business journalists often don't know a lot about business. It's a shame, but that's the case.'
Her remarks echoed the words of former Financial Times editor Richard Lambert, who, following the WorldCom and Enron fiascos, asked a seminar at London's City University: Where were the media while all these scandals were brewing.'
The world in statistics downloadable data on 28 indicators (like GDP, health, transport, geographic data) for all countries. The number of countries is 241 and themes 248. From Statistics Finland.
E-government survey The survey found that states are increasingly charging for data online (including a charge to see a legislative bill in Kansas).
If you feel a blogwatch on your shoulder and the touch of a world that is harder to read contact thousands of international affairs experts who will explain what makes some cultures tick.
Wednesday, October 02, 2002
Media Dragon Scoop, Just Say Spaciba
ABCNN.com: Online Powerhouse or Alphabet Soup? Or Worse Ministry Of Truth??
Pravda (Truth), staffed by reporters from the old state-run paper, sees this merger as a way for George Bush to have more control of the U.S. media and turn it into an Orwellian "Ministry of Truth." The merger is not really about declining profits, says Pravda, it's so that "George Bush will never have problems with ratings, and he is sure to gain the support of the American people for any suggestion to wage war anywhere in the world." It's true that the press has given Bush much wider latitude after 9/11, but this goes off the deep end of that conspiracy theory.
White House Stymied as Sydney Morning Herald Oposes Iraq Attack
(2002-10-10) -- U.S. President George Bush withdrew his congressional resolution on the use of force against Iraq today after hearing that Sydney Morning Herald believes an attack is not justifiable.
"We were hoping this wouldn't happen," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, who then paraphrased the late songwriter Jim Croce. "You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with Fairfax."
The White House will now wait for further instructions from Fairfax, Fleischer said.
(pause for dramatic effect, but business as usual)
‘The owner of the World is also a large owner of property, and I presume that, in common with other newspaper owners who are possessed of wealth, his eyes are beginning to be opened to the fact that he is like Samson, taking the initiative to pull the building down upon his head,’ Rockefeller wrote in a letter to Edwina.
ABCNN.com: Online Powerhouse or Alphabet Soup? Or Worse Ministry Of Truth??
Pravda (Truth), staffed by reporters from the old state-run paper, sees this merger as a way for George Bush to have more control of the U.S. media and turn it into an Orwellian "Ministry of Truth." The merger is not really about declining profits, says Pravda, it's so that "George Bush will never have problems with ratings, and he is sure to gain the support of the American people for any suggestion to wage war anywhere in the world." It's true that the press has given Bush much wider latitude after 9/11, but this goes off the deep end of that conspiracy theory.
White House Stymied as Sydney Morning Herald Oposes Iraq Attack
(2002-10-10) -- U.S. President George Bush withdrew his congressional resolution on the use of force against Iraq today after hearing that Sydney Morning Herald believes an attack is not justifiable.
"We were hoping this wouldn't happen," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, who then paraphrased the late songwriter Jim Croce. "You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with Fairfax."
The White House will now wait for further instructions from Fairfax, Fleischer said.
(pause for dramatic effect, but business as usual)
‘The owner of the World is also a large owner of property, and I presume that, in common with other newspaper owners who are possessed of wealth, his eyes are beginning to be opened to the fact that he is like Samson, taking the initiative to pull the building down upon his head,’ Rockefeller wrote in a letter to Edwina.
Where have all the book reviews gone?
We at the Cold River can take a good joke as well as anyone ... OUCH!
We at the Cold River can take a good joke as well as anyone ... OUCH!
Virgin Islands to Regain Innocence?
In Australia Julie Bishop tells us about Less taxing ways to oil wheels.
Fermier-général, tax collector: the Chinese Communist Party faces a crisis of governance: officials hire thugs, to collect taxes while public cynicism, and even overt unrest, blooms...
Tax-news.com reports that Chief Minister and Minister of Finance for the British Virgin Islands, Ralph T. O'Neal has confirmed that the BVI government is seriously considering the abolition of both personal and corporate income tax on the Islands?
Trust you for being up to date with Jeffrey Eugenides's follow up to his mongo bestseller The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex is in bookstores now and getting bang-up reviews. A 'Virgin' Follow-up to regain pleasure?
In Australia Julie Bishop tells us about Less taxing ways to oil wheels.
Fermier-général, tax collector: the Chinese Communist Party faces a crisis of governance: officials hire thugs, to collect taxes while public cynicism, and even overt unrest, blooms...
Tax-news.com reports that Chief Minister and Minister of Finance for the British Virgin Islands, Ralph T. O'Neal has confirmed that the BVI government is seriously considering the abolition of both personal and corporate income tax on the Islands?
Trust you for being up to date with Jeffrey Eugenides's follow up to his mongo bestseller The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex is in bookstores now and getting bang-up reviews. A 'Virgin' Follow-up to regain pleasure?
Toot Toot: Imagined Town Crier
DIARY NOTE: 'BRISBANE WRITERS' FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND
4-6 October 2002'
Is Brisbane living in a golden age of the book?
If you're strolling around Brisbane in the next couple of months, don't be surprised to find someone asking your opinion of Peter Carey's latest novel.
I feel partly responsible for this likely intrusion as on Valentine’s Day 2002 I received an e-mail from the Mayor of Brisbane threatning to follow Chicago's lead.
'Dear Jozef,
Thank you for your recent email and for your kind words and your great enthusiasm for this city. As for the one book project we have taken Chicago's example and chosen an iconic Australian book called "Ned Kelly". Hopefully, our choice for our first venture will have wide enthusiasm. Great to hear from you.
Best wishes,
Jim Soorley
Lord MayorBrisbane'
After this email I took a page out of the book used by the inside information traders at stock exchanges and I bet a local barista that our Mayor, Jim Soorley, will implement One Book For Our City.
The New York based Australian writer, Peter Carey, and his book 'True History of the Kelly Gang' was chosen as the maiden title of what Bribane hopes will become a tradition. Brisbane has a chance to get people talking who might not otherwise meet each other. That's incredibly valuable in a city as diverse and as geographically spread out as the subtropical mecca 'Brissie.'
Carey has spent few days in Brisbane kicking off a ten-week campaign of discussions in libraries, book stores and coffee shops like the Aroma at the Regent Theater.
'Like Chicago ,' Carey noted 'Brisbane had people with the political clout and guts to drive this through.'
Australian Outback Saint/Sinner Ned Kelly. Ned is the Slavic version of Juraj Janosik ... Juraj Who?
DIARY NOTE: 'BRISBANE WRITERS' FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND
4-6 October 2002'
Is Brisbane living in a golden age of the book?
If you're strolling around Brisbane in the next couple of months, don't be surprised to find someone asking your opinion of Peter Carey's latest novel.
I feel partly responsible for this likely intrusion as on Valentine’s Day 2002 I received an e-mail from the Mayor of Brisbane threatning to follow Chicago's lead.
'Dear Jozef,
Thank you for your recent email and for your kind words and your great enthusiasm for this city. As for the one book project we have taken Chicago's example and chosen an iconic Australian book called "Ned Kelly". Hopefully, our choice for our first venture will have wide enthusiasm. Great to hear from you.
Best wishes,
Jim Soorley
Lord MayorBrisbane'
After this email I took a page out of the book used by the inside information traders at stock exchanges and I bet a local barista that our Mayor, Jim Soorley, will implement One Book For Our City.
The New York based Australian writer, Peter Carey, and his book 'True History of the Kelly Gang' was chosen as the maiden title of what Bribane hopes will become a tradition. Brisbane has a chance to get people talking who might not otherwise meet each other. That's incredibly valuable in a city as diverse and as geographically spread out as the subtropical mecca 'Brissie.'
Carey has spent few days in Brisbane kicking off a ten-week campaign of discussions in libraries, book stores and coffee shops like the Aroma at the Regent Theater.
'Like Chicago ,' Carey noted 'Brisbane had people with the political clout and guts to drive this through.'
Australian Outback Saint/Sinner Ned Kelly. Ned is the Slavic version of Juraj Janosik ... Juraj Who?
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Why did so many otherwise intelligent people become Communists?
Communism always was a schizophrenic kind of faith, preaching equality for all, while preserving la dolce vita for the Party elite.
Communism always was a schizophrenic kind of faith, preaching equality for all, while preserving la dolce vita for the Party elite.
The Fourth Estate
My $2 worth (it used to be 2 cents) ... So I say to the press corps: how about a nonaggression pact? How about acting more like Nifties of the political world? If one of you is on to something, let that person finish the line of questioning. Ari Fleischer and his successors might not like it, but the country would be better served. 'Let us all be part of the ABC!
Andrea Harris of Ye Olde Blogge has come up with an analogy illustrating the relationship between old journalists and bloggers:
. . . I'd say that blogs are like any number of musical styles, all either independent (like garage bands) or underfunded (like most symphony orchestras these days from what I hear). . . . . As for journalism, the closest musical comparison is Top 40 MOR "lite" rock.
Some Bloggers are more than just Makers of Cold Diaries ... The hottest novelist, Jonathan Franzen, reminds us that readers and bloggers are united only in their need for solitude, for an inward reach out of loneliness...
My $2 worth (it used to be 2 cents) ... So I say to the press corps: how about a nonaggression pact? How about acting more like Nifties of the political world? If one of you is on to something, let that person finish the line of questioning. Ari Fleischer and his successors might not like it, but the country would be better served. 'Let us all be part of the ABC!
Andrea Harris of Ye Olde Blogge has come up with an analogy illustrating the relationship between old journalists and bloggers:
. . . I'd say that blogs are like any number of musical styles, all either independent (like garage bands) or underfunded (like most symphony orchestras these days from what I hear). . . . . As for journalism, the closest musical comparison is Top 40 MOR "lite" rock.
Some Bloggers are more than just Makers of Cold Diaries ... The hottest novelist, Jonathan Franzen, reminds us that readers and bloggers are united only in their need for solitude, for an inward reach out of loneliness...
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