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Take two bloggers from opposite ends of the overheated political debate, then ponder the fate of an increasingly Uncivil society

Ach, as a a veteran Apple addict it is again time to tell one person at a time and in every time zone to listen to something different and a bit crazy so tune in to iTunes. Why? Well, these days discovering and enjoying podcasts is now as simple as shopping for extreme escapist and erotic eBooks or coldplay music or even text messaging Petra Gerard at the Ritz ;-) Podcasting—the ability to time-shift and download your favorite radio programs (NPR has been a pioneer here) and subscribe to a multitude of homegrown audioblogs over the Internet—has, despite a grab bag of free tools, inconsistent feed-management styles, and a hodgepodge of largely disparate content, grown rapidly over the last 12 months Crazy for iTunes 4.9: Apple Has The Technology

The Blog, The Press, The Media: The Unbearable Lightness of Blogging
Margo Kingston of Webdiary Fame was absolutely astounded when she read about the fate of a blog named "Hunter Holden Sucks"

G'day. Here's a successful legal ploy you can expect more of by people with lots of money to use to close down criticism on the web by people with little money. What do you think?

• Shutting down blogs: "sucks" and the tort of injurious falsehood [Shannon The Car Dealer & The Blogger ; Technology and IP Business No right of free speech for Australian critical website; 3g newsroom Legal threat to bloggers ; ethics forum Legal threat to online posts ]
• · Commercial searches prove a hit for Sensis ; Mark Glaser Did London bombings turn citizen journalists into citizen paparazzi? ; John Naughton Why I have serious doubts about the 'citizen reporters'
• · · A British teenager said on Monday he had launched a low-cost airline from his bedroom, becoming possibly the youngest airline boss in the world Teen launches airline ; Blogometer
• · · · Chris Abood Series on The changing face of media ; Journalists inside Rupert Murdoch's The Sunday Telegraph are comparing it to The New York Times's infamous Jayson Blair episode, when a reporter for the august newspaper was caught short on sources in 2003 and departed, taking a couple of the most senior editors with him Storyteller departs
• · · · · Now this story back in 2004, was a "real" embarrassment for the Government, over which people may well go to jail Jailed for telling the truth? ; Bush's right-hand man is dispatching his troops to smear Joe Wilson -- and save himself. He may win in Washington, but the special prosecutor will have the last word Rove's War
• · · · · · Conflict as marketing strategy ; Jay Rosen: I don’t think we as journalists can sort of pick and choose which sources and which obligations we’re going to honor, and say, well, this source doesn’t seem to have good motives, I’m not going to take his Feeding the beast

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Would Martha Stewart, Bernie Ebbers, Nixon and Trotsky have stayed on top if they'd listened to Machiavelli? Reading The Prince

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Cash vs. Assets
Herald reporters run the rule over the sectors to see which are looking strongest: from resources to transport to gambling to Telecommunications to building to property and more ...

Analysts predict strong results from the resources sector, thanks to record bulk commodity prices last financial year and continued high demand from China's economic revolution

• Cash in the coffers, an eye on the horizon [But the marvellous Melbourne of the late 19th century, cocooned in wealth and complacency, had declined by the 1950s into drab suburban mediocrity - to a point where its tired and stifling provincialism was ripe for caricature by Barry Humphries ... But even if NSW received back all the missing $3 billion it loses in GST contributions paid to other states, would this Government know what to do with it? Sydney v Brisbane ; Although IT unemployment fell markedly over the past three years - much faster than the national rate - IT workers generally still find it more difficult to get a job than workers in other industries This is your next job ]
• · It could be a Sydney first: a prime piece of harbour-front real estate that no one wants to touch with a barge pole. The reason? The property is a ferry wharf in serious need of repair A faded gem in Sydney's property market ; Sydney's infatuation with home improvements has abruptly ended, as evidence grows that the end of the housing boom is hitting the city's economy. Renovators' nightmare for builders ; Treetops to be limit for boom-town apartments
• · · Too shy to ask for a rise? Here's what two experts say How to get a pay rise ; The Tax Office has been warned it could be sued over its attempts to rein in fees charged by service entities to professional groups such as accountants and law firms Service fee audits could be tested
• · · · Move your Mercedes off the union lawn, it's not very left wing! The Australian Labor Party: incestuous, secretive, sclerotic ; Smile for the cameras: technology and the ID card debate
• · · · · The London bombs were made with military plastic explosive. My guess is that it'll turn out to be Czech-made Semtex Nerf War and Real War: IRA vs. Al Qaeda ; Is war won by bullets or beliefs? The rule of law, not invasion, is the key. We used to read our children a book, long since lost, called Six Men. It was about a little band of men seeking a country where they could live and work in peace Justice is best weapon in fight for peace; Allen Northwood: Engadine The sooner the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs starts tattooing barcodes on our bottoms the better Government swaps fridge magnets for ID cards
• · · · · · The Palmer inquiry lays bare an inept and cruel system Cornelia Rau: the verdict; One woman caught in the net illustrates how desperately the Immigration Department needs cultural change Purgatory in Baxter

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One of the most critically acclaimed films in The US last year was the documentary-style personal memoir Tarnation. Created out of a collage of home movies, sound fragments and pop images, it was edited on a home computer for a few hundred dollars. But the word most commonly used to describe it is “masterpiece” Film: Tarnation ... Central emotions - anger when love's object is threatened, hope for its restoration, delight in its presence, grief when it's lost On Being Human

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: How to make a superhero movie that doesn't suck
Five simple rules to make sure future flicks about caped crusaders fly

They're everywhere. Blue, green or orange skinned, clad in Lycra, leather or nothing at all, superheroes have taken over America's multiplexes The lords of Hollywood have evidently concluded that we can't get enough of the costumed freaks -- and if the surprisingly strong opening of "Fantastic Four" is any indication, they may be right. But if we're destined to spend the next several years watching movies about mutants, musclemen and assorted other misfits, it'd be nice if those movies were good. To improve the odds, here are a fistful of easy rules for making a superhero movie that doesn't suck

• Fantastic Four [Woman 'miraculously' grows a penis ; 'Drowned' man resurfaces 12 years later ; and Harry Potter and the Decline of the West ]
• · From a fascination with Dracula and 10 years of work, a literary star is born Blood, sweat and fears ; The '70s stripped bare ; Are America's public libraries on the verge of losing their way?
• · · The Secret Lives of Librarians: Meet the unconventional Librarians at Radical Reference Meeting ; Truly radical reference is coming out from behind that desk and bringing that crucial resource of answers into real life, into that space between having a question and the topic shifting over to something else, into the space between half-way done and handed in The future of reference service is not behind a desk ; Shinjoung Yeo and
James R. Jacobs - Fact Checkers: The Raw Data Librarian: preserving to-day's data to be tomorrow's information
• · · · Kate Grenville Ideas and perfection ; A land grab by a transported convict unleashes violence and dark spirits The ferryman pays ; A Deadly Encounter Skeletons are out
• · · · · Statistics show that women are three times as likely to tell others about a consumer experience (good or bad), and prefer learning about a product or service from other women. Word of mouth has launched some of the greatest business success stories ever, including Krispy Kreme Dare to disagree if you wish A Good Woman Isn't Hard to Find ; Aussie's $10m poker payday
• · · · · · Little Fish cast members Martin Henderson, Dustin Nguyen, Noni Hazlehurst and Cate Blanchett The Sydney I never knew: Cate ; Sydney Talks

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I must admit that Peter Beattie is onto something creative and the allegations at dinner parties that I am on some kind of commission by Queensland Government are false ;-) Still most families and businesses in this internet age are looking for a sea change and Queensland is more than perfect most of the time. UP North everything seems cheaper and with better maintained infrastructure, even the trains run on time. We never received a huge electricity bills in Brissie as we seem to get in Sydney. To boot, today a very small number of local taxpayers can afford to buy a piece of dirt in Sydney. The four years I spent in the land of queens and toads were the highlight years of my two daughters’ lives. They discovered love for swimming and the squad culture was all about fun not just drills. Most schools have swimming pools and in fact we started swimming with Jan at the Wilson School, a stone-throw across the road from a church Heather and Peter attend with their three sons. Sydney certainly is great at producing wild men and political parties, but it is rare to come across a political family of the Beattie caliber ;-) While I loved Brissie, my better half who was born and bred in Sydney likes to invade other capitals, such Adelaide, only on temporary basis. I must admit in 2004 Brisbane was starting to get just as congested as Sydney and teenagers are bored more in Queensland than in Sydney. As the big smog still offers more opportunities... If Brissie ends up with a better transport despite the population explosion and if it attracts more private sector businesses such as IT or creates institutions like NIDA - well sky could be the limit ... From little things big things grow and Queensland might be showing the 21st century way of living and working:
While NSW Premier Bob Carr was in Dubai and London during the week, Mr Beattie was in Sydney spruiking his state's lower taxes. The move will pitch Labor's two most successful state leaders into the political equivalent of the State of Origin battle. "We are the fastest growing state in Australia," Mr Beattie said after a high-powered corporate lunch in Phillip It's State against State
If you have little children or grown up then run Hundreds make cross-border dash every week
While Queensland spends money to lure business to the state, the world's best city, Sydney, does not need to do likewise Street We don't need to advertise: Refshauge

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Spies who didn't love me
I've been asking ASIO to show me my file for almost 40 years. Having been a teenage Bolshevik, it seemed reasonable to assume one existed.

Though only 16 years old when I became a card-carrying member of the Australian Communist Party, I hung around with many of the best-known comrades, wrote for the Commo newspaper, worked for various "front" organisations, signed all the angry petitions, marched on May Day, painted anti-war slogans in railway viaducts and often heard strange clicks on the phone. All this during the coldest years of the Cold War, when Prime Minister Robert Menzies had tried to ban the party

• Beware the Ides of March My brief flirtation with Marxism-Leninism far behind [Any reader with more than a cursory knowledge of intelligence has two choices with Robert Littell's new novel, Legends. Toss it across the room into the discard box for the next library sale, or, if you prefer, push reality away for a few hours and enjoy an interesting if very fantastical read. I suggest the American language needs a new word to describe such books, and so I just made one up: spy-fi Spy fiction, the true Red October hunt ; The United States should cut its losses, pull out of Iraq promptly and never again use its military might to build a nation according to its own values US should pull out of Iraq now: ex-CIA chief ; John Deutch writes in the New York Times that Iraq is a lost cause All is lost: Time to Pull Out. And Not Just From Iraq ; I have the honour of being the only Media Dragon who links to Tim Blair and Phillip Adams in the same commentariat Enlarging on the response to the London bombs ]
• · If their families did not know what they were planning, then how did the British secret service stand a chance? The London bombers have emerged as the West's worst nightmare, defying every stereotype and chilling the blood of those who thought they understood the psychology of the suicide bomber The Enemy within ; Could it happen here? Risks of abundant tolerance ; Londoners were joined by thousands around the world, from Bali to Bucharest and from Spain to Iraq and New York, who stood in solidarity and silence and defiance of the terrorists London united ; We're not promoting terrorism: bookshops
• · · The appointment of bureaucrat Paul O'Sullivan as head of ASIO was a rank insult to many well qualified people within the organisation ASIO appointment insulting: ex-spy ; French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere Terror team's Sydney mission
• · · · AUSTRALIA is unlikely to ever see a corporate crook spend as much time behind bars as Bernie Ebbers. Here, the crimes are a bit smaller and the sentences are a lot shorter Doing the crime but not time ; Once he was a star, but fast-forward to today and all has changed Vizard 'shunned' by corporate world ; Adler reduced to cleaning jail toilets
• · · · · Interview: Senator Amanda Vanstone ; From the Parliament of Australia, E-Brief: The detention and removal of asylum seekers ; Residents rally Against desalination plant ; Salt, brine and bitterness were in the air at Kurnell as more than 1000 people gathered to protest against the Government's plan Salt in the wounds: an angry suburb fights back
• · · · · · Costello dinner to rally support ; When Peter Costello carries on about how NSW taxpayers are being ripped off on state taxes, he's dead right. But it's him that's doing the ripping, not the State Government Costello piles insult on top of NSW's injury

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We ran lateral agility drills like linebackers, over and around a line of duffel bags. Mattison ran us through the lineman’s four-corner drill, sighing, “stay low. Lower!” Chuck Heater taught us the right way for corners to backpedal, come back, and turn to run. Chin over toes, if you’re interested, otherwise you’ll have a great seat to watch the receiver run by for a touchdown We Are The Boys blog

The Blog, The Press, The Media: Allow me a little sympathy for McClellan
Former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry knows what Scott McClellan is going through.

Been there, done that I would say. Press secretaries suck it up and suck it in because sometimes the brief you are given to argue is pretty slim goings. I am familiar with the answer "we may not comment on that matter because it is the subject of an ongoing investigation. It happens to be the right answer when people face legal jeopardy and might go to jail

• Blamegate [You will never find her writing about politics and all those heavy stuff but there is something in Toni Tiu's blog that readers from all walks of life can relate to Blog-O-Rama ; You may not realize it, but we are studying you all the time. We know all about you. For example, we know you watch a lot of TV. Oh, don't try to deny it. You watch TV. We have proof. Even worse, more and more of you are writing on the Internet Blog starts in fog, then goes to dogs ]
• · Former Los Angeles Times staffer Kevin Roderick says he started L.A.Observed.com for selfish reasons: I wanted to stay more connected to my colleagues and the city and keep up with what people were doing Kevin Roderick: The Man Who Watches Over L.A. ; A level of reporter vigor, skepticism and impatience that has been sorely absent for several years News council director praises "fresh lust" of DC press corps
• · · St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Charles Laszewski blasts colleague Mark Yost for criticizing war reporters in Iraq. With your column, you have spat on the copy of the brave men and women who are doing their best in terrible conditions. More than 20 reporters have died in Iraq from around the world. You have insulted them and demeaned them, and to a much lesser degree, demeaned the reporters everywhere who have been threatened with bodily harm ... I'm embarrassed to call you my colleague ; How does a reporter use "double secret background" info?
• · · · Philly PR man Richard Wells writes: For the first time in visiting your site, I actually burst out laughing when I read of Doug Clifton's complaint about the NY Times coverage of his decision not to run a story based on leaked documents Plain Dealer editor's beef with NYT has PR man laughing ; Barista did his best to provoke trouble Radiant with anonymity ; Boynton
• · · · · Cyber journalist ; Internet makes for a friendlier market; Corporate blogs and knowledge management seem to be made for one another Sharing Knowledge with a Corporate Blog
• · · · · · Blog first and ask questions later?; Ever since the online population reached critical mass, the Web has been a viable public relations channel Measuring the Blogosphere and Beyond ; Feature request for Bloglines or Technorati. Here's where authority makes a big difference: when you search for something with a huge number of blog posts A Place Where Blog Search Engines Need Authority

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…librarians are more freedom fighters than shushers
-Carla Hayden, Ms. Magazine online
Radical Reference is a collective of volunteer library workers who believe in social justice and equality Radical Reference

The state Treasurer, Andrew Refshauge, has written to NSW Coalition senators asking them to stand up for their state in his conflict with the Federal Government over the carve-up of GST funding Senators' support sought in GST fight

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Rest assured, gallivanting MPs are travelling strictly for work
The Premier, Bob Carr, travelled with his wife, Helena, his chief of staff, Graeme Wedderburn, and a press adviser, Amanda Lampe, to the United Arab Emirates and England to look at a desalination plant and explore business opportunities

With the state's parliamentary chambers empty for the 11-week winter break, at least 10 NSW MPs and their staffers have flocked to the northern summer for study tours and business meetings

Arbeit Macht Frei Interpol were in the background when Mr Carr made this statement - the best way to counter terrorism was for local Muslims to mobilise against those who preached fundamentalist hatred
• Exploring business and publishing opportunities [The defection of Chinese spies Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun has trained the spotlight on Australia's relationship with the world's seventh largest — and fastest growing — economy Behind Chinese walls; Some of our conservative politicians are giving a whole new meaning to Australian crawl on the global stage How about Pakistan: a shining light of democracy ; Pauline Arrillaga and Olga R. Rodriguez of the Associated Press reviewed court records from Mexico and the United States as part of an investigation into “the many pipelines in Central and South America, Mexico and Canada that have illegally channeled thousands of people into the United States from so-called ’special-interest’ countries - those identified by the U.S. government as sponsors or supporters of terrorism Pipelines Send Illegal Immigrants to US]
• · European Union officials agreed Thursday to begin storing phone and Internet records How far will Europe go to stop terror? ; The age of sousveillance Big Brother is "us", not "them"
• · · James Drew and Steve Eder of the Toledo Blade traced the path of former Ohio state aides-turned-lobbyists who “have traded their official titles for personal riches and the influence that comes with helping select a U.S. president ( links to other issues from the side bar) Potential conflicts of interest rife in S.C. Ex-state aides use old ties to make, raise cash: Jeff Stensland of The State reviewed financial disclosure forms from South Carolina state legislators to find that “about 20 lawmakers raked in more than $2.4 million in attorney fees by representing clients in front of state boards and commissions last year Lobbyists steered funds to Bush while they enriched themselves ; Karl Rove is turning out to be the real "whistleblower" in this whole sorry pseudo-scandal Karl Rove, Whistleblower
• · · · A series of articles on Srebrenica, ten years on ; After All These Years, Why Are We Still Besieged by the Search for Truth and Justice? Remembering Srebrenica ; What the genocide taught us about intervention From Srebrenica to Baghdad ; Israel The illusory Golden Age Susan Windybank speaks to Robert Kagan Americans don’t have a sense of how the rest of the world views us. We’re one of the most expansionist countries in the world. Expanding for over 400 years The Thoughtful Superhawk
• · · · · Parentalism and the fear of freedom Save Me From Myself! ; Charles Peters on how a little-known utilities executive saved civilization Axis of Civilisation ; Ulrich Beck Why full employment is an illusion
• · · · · · The aftermath of the housing boom, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, is seen as a global economic bellwether. If the US property boom ends with a crash we will probably all suffer Our obsession is the world's ; NSW is a state divided: the west is losing people and the coast is gaining them, but in Sydney the reverse is true Coastal explosion as NSW swells to 8.3m ; Timing of poverty in childhood critical to later outcomes ; Tennessee Lawmaker Spending: Michael Cass and Bonna de la Cruz of the Nashville Tennessean analyzed the expenditures of state legislators, finding that some of the money “goes to Tennessee Titans tickets, sorority memberships, car repairs and trips to political conventions far from Tennessee Campaign funds used on sports, tires, trips

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I wish you would touch me
I wish you'd leave me the hell alone
And oh, how I wish this crutch
Didn't leave such an imprint in my bone
All these half-assed wishes
Stretched across the stars
Lead to angry men in cocktail bars.
-René Marie, Wishes

First came the velvet revolution, then rose and orange. Now the Philippines, fighting public fatigue with the whole political process, is gearing up for the cyber revolution. Blogging Revolution

The Blog, The Press, The Media: Piracy: MP3 site, ISP breached copyright
It took almost two years but major record labels in Australia have finally won a legal battle against a Queensland man and his Internet Service Provider for alleged music ... Slashdot is hosting this discussion thread

Major record labels are celebrating in Sydney, Australia today. Amazingly, Stephen Cooper didn't even have to host the alleged pirated files. All he did (allegedly) was to hyperlink to a few sites that had infringing sound recordings. His ISP didn't escape either. Even the ISP's parent company got sued. No jail time but all parties will have to pay costs

• Federal Court Justice Brian Tamberlin Music industry claims big scalp in piracy case [Try to escape from work? Give up. There is no excuse to be disconnected An office in your pocket ; Anatomy of a Blog Site Front Page]
• · The Anatomy of a Blog Ten Things To Do Before You Blog ; Blog PageRank Wrath
• · · I feel blessed. Here is a second great interview for all of my readers. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to get this, but here it is Interview with CSS Vault’s Jacob Gower ; Patrons of the café on eznická Street such as Radim and Alexandr are computer-literate despite adversity and stay in touch via the Internet. Surfing the Net is not exactly the first activity that most people associate with the homeless Café helps homeless get online
• · · · Psst, there is news about Google, but don't te ; Googlers are getting rich and screwing up the housing market John Battelle elaborates
• · · · · Yahoo Tailors Graphical Ads to Users' Search Queries ; Google Simplifies & Loosens Requirements for AdWords
• · · · · · Newspapers have been shut down, books banned, editors jailed, scholars threatened China Wages a New War on Academic Dissent ; If Newspapers Were Lattes - Get the little things right. The reason many Americans wouldn't mind if traditional news orgs went right down the tubes is right in front of us What newspapers can learn from Starbucks, Apple Computer

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Whoever invented the meeting must have had Hollywood in mind. I think they should consider giving Oscars for meetings: Best Meeting of the Year, Best Supporting Meeting, Best Meeting Based on Material from Another Meeting.
-William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade

The campaign for The Halo Effect started officially four days after the book appeared in stores on Wednesday, July 5th Good Cause/Good Effects

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Reinventing the typical Czech
Czechs are a nation of simple, melancholic villagers. They seem to have no ambition or initiative. They live in a rural backwater. And do they even have mobile phones?

A government-sponsored survey of how foreigners see the Czech Republic — which only four in 10 Frenchmen can place on a map — found that the national image leaves much to be desired. For a country in hot competition with neighbors such as Poland and Hungary to attract tourists and foreign investment, that comes as bad news

• Toil-worn farmers with lined faces [Like in Cold River, there are no car chases and no emotion. Why, then, is Crime Scene Investigation so compelling? The answer lies in our deepest fears Heart of darkness ; At death's door ]
• · The difference between this generational tag and others such as the Baby Boomers is that the iPod Generation is derived strictly from a consumer product, not a historical event. But has the term iPod Generation come to encompass more than just the little white box? The Iconic iPod: Advancing Music and Mindsets ;
• · · The Guardian reports on Harry Potter and the stony broke authors. No surprise, but not all authors of books for children rake in the big money like Harry Potter-author Rowling does Harry Potter and the stony broke author ; Brit Lit Blogs.com: the latest posts from six British blogs about books, literature, culture and more Ready Steady Book
• · · · In Nicholas Blincoe recounts his own sad translation experiences: As you can imagine, it is bad enough to be told that your translator is a psychopath. It is even worse when the novel in question deals with relations between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem Under the influence ; After watching hundreds of books come and go each week - most that will never get publicity of any kind - I would say this: Honey, if you're looking for riches, buy a lottery scratch ticket instead Thorn: Writing is easy part; real story is selling your book
• · · · · Pat Boardman Cold River Blues ; We know about the power of words whose sound echoes their sense. Yet some words seem to become what they mean, to somehow grow into their semantic clothes Words are powerful. Who needs convincing of this?
• · · · · · A family's post-September 11 grief becomes a tale of small losses Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ; FOR one who writes so chillingly about murder by dismemberment and furniture-making with human bones, about evil angels trapped inside silver statues and demons inhaling the dying breaths of their victims, John Connolly seems normal enough. Hibernian noir What strange obsession drives the authors of grisly true-crime books? Mining the Minds of Killers

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Political economy as usual in the land of the absurd. What makes some of us look out for each other, while others look out for themselves? Power brokers such as Jeff Kennett, Michael Kroger, Ron Walker, Don Argus, Steve Vizard, Eddie McGuire, Fraser Gehrig and even Paul Sheahan lucky recipients of the maximum priority retail allocation of 5,000 shares each Vizard a Tatts shares winner ... one of the biggest imbalances in supply and demand in Market history

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The Role of the Opposition
Parliament is the institution that embodies society in the diversity of its composition and its opinions and which channels this diversity into the political process

Its vocation is to regulate tensions and maintain equilibrium between diversity and uniformity, individuality and collectivity, to enhance social cohesion and solidarity. It is fundamentally about debate and the transacting of the people’s business in public. It is also about the right to dissent in a civilized manner. Genuine political opposition is a necessary attribute of democracy, tolerance, and trust in the ability of citizens to resolve differences by peaceful means

Opposition to a politician creates stronger opinions: Any opinion can be formed in two ways. You can support someone because you like them or because you don't like their opponent
• Loyal Opposition [An axis of democracy; I am second to none in my admiration for what George Soros intended and achieved under this rubric, in the dark days of the Soviet empire The United States and the open society ; Labour should not follow Tory calls for smaller government, says Ann Rossiter: Size isn't everything ]
• · The development of democracy in South Korea is a miraculous achievement The dilemmas of democracy ; Why the country needs to choose its political model carefully Terestroika ; That's what legalizing undocumented immigrants would unleash, creating a win for everyone A Massive Economic Development Boom
• · · Radical Islam is spreading across Europe among descendants of Muslim immigrants. Disenfranchised and disillusioned by the failure of integration, some European Muslims have taken up jihad against the West. They are dangerous and committed -- and can enter the United States without a visa Europe's Angry Muslims ; Last week's attacks on London have once again stoked the fires of debate on the causes of terrorism So you want to stop the suicide bombers? ; Most Muslims abhor violence, yet the terrorists are a product of a specific mindset that has deep roots in Islamic history The struggle for Islam's soul ; War of the Worlds If the victory of liberalism is inevitable, do we need to fight in the Middle East? ; How can we tell if we’re winning the War on Terror? The Fog of War: The asymmetrical rhetoric of war and peace; Why is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security constantly telling every American to be afraid? Think Again: Homeland Security
• · · · Why Unions Are Like Typewriters ; That nocturnal strike against capitalism is emblematic of the soul of socialism What is the Soul of Socialism?; Black Rednecks and White Liberals: Who's a Redneck? ; Did the Founding Fathers Really Get Many of Their Ideas of Liberty from the Iroquois?
• · · · · It's a very interesting question, why a society doesn't even notice or doesn't successfully respond to problems that look obvious. Easter Island, C'est Moi: Jared Diamond ; Joseph Wilson: From the moment that what's now known as "Plamegate" emerged on the horizon, alternative media outlets have demanded accountability from the White House. Although the mainstream corporate media is now focusing on the legal issue of whether Karl Rove or other White House staffers will be indicted, the more preeminent issue is that the Bush White House committed treason by betraying the national security of the United States of America. It goes without saying that I found his comment to Chris Matthews, that Valerie was fair game, to be repugnant Bush's Culture of Unaccountability
• · · · · · In the law, predictability is usually important. People need to know the rules, and they cannot plan their lives unless they know the law in advance. Many conservatives expect a Supreme Court justice whose opinions they can predict. Predictability may be a virtue in a political leader. For judges, it’s a vice The Problem with Predictability ; With a Supreme Court Nomination on the Horizon, the Stakes Are High What Are the Rules and Standards In the Judicial Appointments Game?; How the Supreme Court sows moral anarchy Their Will Be Done ; To understand this Supreme Court, it's best to look at the justices themselves Under the Microscope Longer Than Most

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Stick a fork in it. "Citizen Journalism," as the moniker describing John and Jane Q's ability to create their own media, is done. The shark has been jumped Shark Bites Citizen Journalism Czech out also Tim Porter’s Blogging the Beat series

The Blog, The Press, The Media: Living high on the blog
When Melburnian Darren Rowse began his first experiment in blogging a little over two-and-a-half years ago, he was part of a group starting a new church and merely wanted to keep a record of what was being done.

Today, he earns a nice round figure from his many blogs, enough to make it a full-time occupation that's catapulted him into the highest tax bracket. He advises companies that want to explore how blogging can enhance their products or services, speaks about blogging whenever he can and is part of an emerging Melbourne business network designed to support and resource micro-businesses in the inner-northern suburbs. Rowse started his first blog, the Living Room, in November 2002. "I quickly discovered nothing posted on the internet is private and that hundreds (and soon thousands) of people around the world were interested in what I was writing because they were thinking through similar issues," he said. "I discovered the power of blogging and quickly became addicted." After a year, Rowse started a digital photography blog, his biggest with daily visitors numbering between 11,000 and 16,000

• Digital photography blog [ Amazing Apple Quarterly Results ; Amazingly Crazy Why I am the Youngest Richest Man Walking on the MacPlanet ; Challenges facing fledgling democracies in Russia and Eastern Europe]
• · Three newspapers lie unopened and unread on my kitchen table London Bombings: The Unread Newspaper ; Newspaper publishers are increasingly turning to readers to spruce up their copy: citizen journalism Hold the front page! Newspaper morphs into online town square; What does News Ltd want from the Federal Government for The Daily Telegraph to support censorship of free-to-air, but not pay TV television programs? The Daily Tele's censorship hypocrisy ; Journalism, at its core, is an uncomplicated concept: Reporters find things out and tell them to other people. In that sense, then, there are two parts to the journalism: Knowing and Communicating. Engaging in one without the other breaks the equation Journalism Weather Report: Cold Front Reaches Cleveland ; Toward Freedom: a progressive perspective on world
• · · Part big sister, part flight simulator, part video game and part world atlas Google's free 3-D service ; Could Google's quest for news quality leave alternative sources in the dust? Google's Bias for Bigness ; Today, you can find what you want from the comfort of your own home, and at a fraction of the cost of hiring a private investigator Locate Anyone
• · · · A forum for political discussion for Western Sydney and beyond Katoomba of Feminism ; With a green light to open a new casino in Britain and Betfair on the boil in Tasmania, everything is going right for the Antipodean punter Kerry Packer Packer gambles on Blair
• · · · · Why are kids' online antics seen as the key to reviving democracy? It is not young people that are disconnected from formal politics, but political institutions that are disconnected from young people Searching for citizenship ; Srdja Trifkovic, Chronicles’ foreign editor, is in serious danger of his life Chronicles Foreign Editor In Danger
• · · · · · Journalists are creating public awareness of an emerging class of people called The New Republicans ; If bloggers get the same press freedoms as traditional media, what will prevent corporations like Halliburton from using blogs to pour unregulated money into politics? Beware of the "Halli-bloggers"! ; RDF is a modern technology with an active and growing body of support from academia and the digital content production and distribution industrie New Classification for Web Page

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Having an affair? Maybe you'd like to send something from Cathy Gallagher's Secret Lover Collection of greeting cards - It's all about forbidden love: You don't have to be a murderer to write a murder mystery Adulterers need cards too A century ago, the original vagina monologuist, Sigmund Freud, threw up his hands and famously asked: What do women want? Do conservatives really know what all women want?

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: How to Read a Book: Turning of Water into Wine
Reading requires remarkably little in the way of paraphernalia: a book, a source of light and maybe a pair of glasses

So what, other than our propensity for buying things we don't need, explains the success of the Levenger catalog? The founders of this purveyor of ''Tools for Serious Readers'' started off hawking halogen lamps out of their den 18 years ago and now sell fancy paper clips, elaborate note-taking systems and dapper leather goods — all designed ''for the productive enjoyment of reading, writing and working with ideas'' — via a 70-plus-page catalog and a ''flagship store'' in Delray Beach, Fla

• With that adorable little book light to guide my way, you can't help thinking, I just might be able to get through the complete Proust The parting of the Reading Sea [What, other than our propensity for buying things we don't need, explains the success of Levenger's catalog of Tools for Serious Readers? Turning reading glasses from a marker of aging to a marker of style ; ]
• · For the canny player life is a "game of poker." Since one can never be sure that the chips can be redeemed -redemption being a game for losers and suckers - the best strategy is to keep the game going as long as possible The Confidence Man ; Some of us can hold our tongues better than others but even the best of us will blurt out the truth when we're tired, stressed or distracted, according to a new research report. Foot In Mouth: Breaking the Rules of Social Behavior; Although honesty is generally taught as the best policy, around a child's birthday and holidays, the little white lie goes a long way Say 'Thank You': Learning How to Lie ; Barista Drug addled, the lot of us
• · · The love of the Irish ; `What we're seeing is a new kind of radicalism that is not practised by people who are poor and oppressed, but by the young and middle class Does violence reside in a dark part of the human psyche?
• · · · The left has failed to inspire the majority of people, for whom life is a losing economic struggle, to turn against the laws and institutions that make their penurious lives inevitable The Soul of Socialism: Connecting with the People’s Values ; Myths about the Second World War won't help us understand what is happening today Revisiting the Blitz Spirit ; The Power of Nightmares Beware the Holy War
• · · · · Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for A look at the life and work of Dag Hammarskjold ; Help From France Key In Covert Operations Christian Ganczarski: Code-named Alliance Base
• · · · · · I love the private world that you and I share - What the American automotive and entertainment industries have in common is trouble Detroit Is So Hollywood, and Vice Versa ; The Nature of Poverty Property rights help the poor even more than the rich ; >; Property and Privilege

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When two senior public servants clash in the testy atmosphere of Parliament House, the fallout can get ugly. Dr June Verrier is – or was, until this week – head of the parliamentary library. Hilary Penfold QC is parliament's top bureaucrat, secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services Quitting over parliamentary independence Strangely, I searched high and low and I only found one reference to this story. It is by Margo Kingston See the Reference in the Commentariat

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The new Al Qaeda: local franchises
A decade ago Al Qaeda was an entrepreneurial jihadist start-up firm. Today it may have evolved into something bigger, and less tightly controlled: a worldwide franchiser of terrorist attacks.

That may be one lesson of last week's London bombings, say some terrorism experts. The British attacks were well-organized, low-tech, and prepared in great secrecy - all hallmarks of the now-decentralized Al Qaeda network. The Madrid subway attacks of 2004 were similar. So were the bombings carried out in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2003

• The lessons of London [Actions such as the war on Iraq have alienated many ordinary Muslims This is no way to wage the war on terror ; It is essential that the Muslim world wake up to the fact that it has a jihadist death cult in its midst The police's nightmare: home-grown terrorists ; These were acts of "sacred revenge" for British massacres in Afghanistan and Iraq: Blowback from Bush and Blair's incompetently pursued war on terror has hit London. When will the U.S. figure out how to fight smart? The time of revenge has come ]
• · Terrorism. No government, no population, is safe from indiscriminate terror ; Plot to scar London with 'burning cross'
• · · Rau, Alvarez force the PM to say sorry;Sweeping changes are needed to fix deep-seated problems in the Immigration Department and the detention system. A damning report has found ; Alvarez case shows failure after failure; PDF version: The Palmer report
• · · · Brian Ray was on a roll Developer's comeback after 'lost' years ; Missing: a mate with a loan for Packer In politics, hypocrisy will kill you. This is something Prime Minister John Howard should consider after identifying himself this week as either a hypocrite or not across the detail of his own department's activities. Rhetoric is out of step with reality: You only get one choice: sign the contract or don't get the job ; An open and shut case of insider trading?Steve Vizard - Insider trader
• · · · · James Cumes continues with his stimulating debate How to Deal with the Rise of China (2) ; Andrew Norton of good analysis fame Religion and politics ; US troops' direct fire or clashes have claimed 39,000 Iraqi civilians' lives
• · · · · · June Verrier's departure is a sad loss. Another vertebra removed from the backbone of parliamentary democracy Successful delivery of professional and non-partisan services ; Senator MURRAY Parliamentary Library ; Parliamentary Service Amendmentt Bill 2005 ; Parliamenatary Service Legislation

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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting Annnnimal faaaarrrmmm ;-) Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book:

You're Animal Farm!
by George Orwell
You are living proof that power corrupts and whoever leads you will become just as bad as the past leaders. You're quite conflicted about this emotionally and waver from hopelessly idealistic to tragically jaded. Ultimately, you know you can't trust pigs. Your best moments are when you're down on all fours.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Activist's bold take on a global struggle
Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein's documentary is as much protest as it is narrative

There he is, scurrying from clouds of tear gas and riot police at an uprising in Buenos Aires. And again, nodding his head in sympathetic disapproval as a group of unemployed Argentinian car-parts workers suffer yet another setback. Meet Avi Lewis, self-styled "activist journalist"

• The key to an alternative economy [Pragersko A fresh surprise in Old Europe ; Slovenia: cloud and cuckoo land; For the first time in 2400 years philosophers and mathematicians will take a new approach to mathematics Go figure, philosophy gets real ]
• · Rumors were swirling, and the nation's anticipation was growing feverish via Gallery of the Absurd ; After a grim convergence of fiction and fact, a publisher has removed adverts for a novel about a fictional suicide bombing in London that hit the shelves the same day 52 people died in bomb attacks on the capital Publisher removes ads for novel after London bombs; Why Feminism turns off a lot of younger women
• · · With his porcelain-like complexion, bob haircut, and velvet eyes, Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka will never be confused with Gene Wilder's The 'Chocolate Factory' and Beyond ; Could Connery, Sean Connery, be striking some kind of publicity deal with retail giant Westfield? Spruiking Frank Lowy's shopping empire
• · · · About the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) ; The first humans to come to Australia almost 50,000 years ago caused havoc and destruction to our continent's ecosystem, killing almost 60 species of large mammals and birds Early Australians to Blame for Mass Extinctions
• · · · · Celebrating Independents: The arts, politics, books and fun, in combination, hold so much potential for community building and social change Making Your Store a Community Center ; Today in Literature
• · · · · · On stage he is the embodiment of operatic passion and fire. In real life Placido Domingo is the gentlest of men and driven by his art - to the world's greatest tenor, mañana is just another working day I must live up to what people expect; Writing and Publishing Made Smarter, NOT Harder; Welcome to BookConnector

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As Steve Vizard departs his yacht cruising in the calm waters off the south of France and prepares to return to chilly Australia to face the music, the controversy around his insider trading at Telstra continues to swirl in much choppier seas. And increasingly, the spotlight is turning on Vizard's complicit accountant Greg Lay, who actually carried out the $850,000 share trades in companies connected with Telstra while Vizard, the beneficiary of the trades, sat on the Telstra board. So where does that leave Lay?

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Damned if he does
There is a saying in California, a state with a climate, cities and water needs not unlike Australia: whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over. The fight over Sydney's water supply has turned into war after NSW Premier Bob Carr named Kurnell in Sydney's south as the site for a $2billion desalination plant to solve the city's water shortage.

He asserts that Sydney Water knew back in 1980 that the city would need a new dam, or other sources of water, before 2000. "We have known about this for the past 10 years. We should have been doing something about it." Essery says Warragamba, Sydney's main dam, is a good storage dam, but, as the public knows too well, the catchment is not in a good area

• It is cheaper to treat waste water than it is to treat salt water [This month MONTHLY features a cover article by Robert Manne on the Iraq war. Manne says reading Bolt's columns is akin to "being trapped in a small room with an angry, indignant, simple-minded man who believes the best way of convincing you that he is right, yet again, is to ridicule and shout." Manne dismisses the Fairfax press as no longer playing the kind of balancing role they once did ; via a compelling writer Antony Loewenstein ]
• · Prime Minister Jií Paroubek is a man unafraid to say what he thinks. Upon returning from his end-of-June trip to China, where he hoped to drum up business for Czech companies, he criticized those whose "ideological bias" against China stood in the way of closer economic ties between the two countries Communists look to emerge from red corner; Collective guilt ignores historical responsibility - The postwar mistreatment and expulsion of German speakers from Czechoslovakia remains a European issue, one of the key factors for future co-existence of the nations of Central Europe Playing the blame game ; Patients treated with drugs for Parkinson's disease can turn into compulsive gamblers Drug turns patients into punters
• · · Commonwealth Bank claims that it has been defrauded of $7 million after a man it lent money to - a mysteriously named "Mr Edge" - disappeared Bank mystery: Mr Edge and the missing millions Former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison today for his role in the fraud scheme at the telecom giant that led to the biggest corporate collapse in US history WorldCom collapse: ex-chief gets 25 years jail
• · · · Journalists at a West Australian newspaper are being forced by their employer to sell two weeks of their annual leave, contradicting assurances from the Howard Government and employer groups that cashing out holidays would be voluntary Publisher enforces holiday sell-off ; THE Howard government's industrial relations overhaul will not create new jobs, will hurt families and will lead to workers being bullied IR reforms won't create jobs: conference
• · · · · Defending the role of leadership in communicating change ; Workplace rumours trigger a wide range of effects. The most common are lower morale, bad press, loss of trust, increased stress, decreased productivity and tarnished individual and corporate reputations Dealing with workplace rumours
• · · · · · Time spent on your resume or CV could be better spent blogging; Job Search Engine Sites ; Getting jobs in Iraq ; How to Find Local Job Listings