I like Bob Brown. I especially like how he manages to drive those who dislike his politics into paroxysms of rage. So yesterday, we learnt from Liberal Senator George Brandis that Bob Brown is objectively pro-fascist [excerpted from yesterday's Hansard ]: I think until fairly...
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I've just now finished unavoidable university work prior to flying out to Sydney on the "red eye" flight just after midnight tonight. In my case it really will be red eyes, because I've had about an hour's sleep in the last 2 days while completing urgent tasks. We had the offi...
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I don't often agree with Alison Broinowski, and indeed much of her article in today's Australian is just her standard kneejerk anti-western cringe that we sensitive New Age Right Wing Death Beasts have come to know and detest. ( Update - I couldn't be bothered dealing with mos...
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Jason Soon links to an excellent historical summary of public choice theory by its founder James Buchanan . As one of the principal components of the group of ideas usually called "neo-liberalism" or "economic rationalism", public choice theory remains an important influence o...
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Last Christmas I attended a farewell function in Manly for my brother Gordon's best mate, a Welshman named David, and his wife Bridget and their 2 kids. They'd decided to go back to Britain to live after 8 years in Sydney. The kids were reaching high school age, and David thou...
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Nicholas Kristof in the NYT muses on the findings from a recent study showing that many lesbians - like most men - will have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger whilst women generally, have an index and ring finger roughly the same in length. A quick, albeit u...
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The National Trust is running low on Australian Living Treasures and would like public assistance in replacing the 11 Treasures who have gone to Immortality since the program was initiated in 1997. All you have to do is zap off your nomination to the National Trust. They don't...
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At about the point that Hu Jin-Tao was subtly making his House of Representatives case for Captain Cook being a Johnny come lately, news came through that the formidable Madame Chiang Kai-Shek had passed away. It was a timely interruption because I'd just started daydreaming a...
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Here he is , wondering why those pesky Kurds don't want Turkish troops in Iraq: My old buddies the Kurds, a long-mistreated people we freed from Saddam, are now looking a gift horse in the mouth. I hope somebody explains that American expression about shortsighted suspicion to...
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I'll try and shut up for the rest of the day after this, and let other armadillos have a go, but I can't let the opportunity slip to point out some excellent news for anyone with an interest in Australian law. AustLII , already the world's premier free access online legal reso...
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If I was Wendy I'd be right chuffed by Sophie Masson's compliment about her "lovely, limpid" prose style (an evaluation which I share, for what it's worth). Sophie should know, being no mean exponent of the art of lovely, limpid prose herself. I find that immersion in turgid l...
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Every Thursday night at around 8pm the same questions occur to me. Was John Clark actually as funny as I remember when he was Fred Dagg? Or were those sketches just as utterly devoid of humour as his 7.30 Report stuff with Brian Daw? Or do comedians lose their bite when they'r...
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Suzy Kruhse's son Dan and his wife Tarun are presently backpacking in South America. Their timing might have been improved, because right now they're in Bolivia, which hasn't been the most peaceful country in recent weeks. Here's an email from Dan and Tarun that might interest...
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The visits of Presidents Bush and Hu may be big news elsewhere but, interestingly, the brouhaha du jour in Sydney appears to be the Sydney Peace Foundation's award of it's annual Peace Prize to Dr Hanan Ashrawi - noted christian Palestinian academic and politician. As I write,...
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As others have noted , if that " imminence " business shows anything, it's that George Bush is incredibly careful with what he says. With that in mind, here's some week-old news : Mr Bush rejected claims that torture is being used in the terrorist detention centre at Guantanam...
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Being rather unfamiliar with the whole History Wars imbroglio , it's maybe a little stupid of me to enter the fray, but what the hell. I'm going to make a few observations about the Quadrant article by Keith Windschuttle that Ken Parish linked to below . I should make clear th...
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My post earlier today about Margo Kingston's SIEV X ramblings generated numerous comments, including one by the esteemed Jozef Imrich which approvingly linked an article by refugee advocate Julian Burnside QC . Now I don't share Professor Bunyip's typically jaundiced doubts ab...
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There are few things more certain in blogging than that Tim Blair or Professor Bunyip will post on Margo Kingston's latest Web Diary frolic . Published to mark the second anniversary of the sinking of the asylum seeker vessel SIEV X, one of Margo's favourite obsessions, what i...
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My passing mention of the Anzac myth in a post earlier today has triggered a train of thought I can only quench (derail?) by writing. It's perhaps the most powerful aspect of Australian heritage and tradition, its effects flowing down through Australian society to the present...
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While searching unsuccessfully for the conference paper on which Errington and van Onselen's article on political party databases (see the previous post) was based, I came across another interesting paper by Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts titled Australian Multiculturalism...
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The SMH/Age carries an article this morning that deserves close attention by anyone who really considers him/herself a student of Australian politics. It's by Wayne Errington and Peter van Onselen and it deals with political party databases. Update - Jozef Imrich has kindly pr...
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My personal desire to revisit the History Wars is roughly on a par with my aspiration to experience the joys of lung cancer or leprosy. However the topic has been a perennially popular/controversial one on Troppo Armadillo, and always seems to generate acrimonious (and sometim...
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With news this week that " the Jews rule this world by proxy ", NSW Opposition police spokesman Peter Debnam would like to make you aware of another sinister cabal : There's about a thousand young men, typically between 18 and 30 who are basically running Sydney at the moment,...
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45 - 8 after 50 minutes Wallabies v Romania. But a sub-standard effort against sub-standard opposition. Too many penalties conceded, far too many dropped balls in the backs and a continuing lack of fluency and combination. Matthew Burke's having a great game at centre, but tha...
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Reading Gianna's blog I had to look at the orgasm simulator and decided to read the blog Bifurcated Rivets when I saw an interesting bit on credit cards . My credit card (CC) has been taking a hammering lately as I book flights and accommodation in preparation for going to Sou...
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Soaking rain last night. Good for garden, bad for cycling. Steep downhill pinch to Lee Point, loose damp gravel and wet leaves. Front brakes grab, sail spectacularly over handlebars then graceful forward roll on impact. Armadillo unhurt, bike completely cactus. Carry bike back...
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As Roop Sandhu decided to post his first piece to TA before I woke up this morning, and Wendy James left hers until after I'd left for work, it's only now that I've found time to post their respective biographical sketches (after prioritising appropriately and watching The All...
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Hello. My name is Roop Sandhu. You might know me as "adam" from the Floating Baby Moses Syndrome . Then again, you might not. In time, I too will take potshots at Alan Cadman . That is all.
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So, people have criticised the decision of the "Coalition of the Willing" to go to war with Iraq. Said criticism is often based on the fact that Iraq did not pose an imminent threat. From this, a conclusion is drawn by some anti-war types that the Coalition misled us, because...
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Stan Gudgeon has trained his beady, jaundiced bunyip eye on leftie econo-blogger John Quiggin: Being of the left, it goes without saying that John Quiggin is an enemy of pleasure -- at least those that don't involve curtailing the not-good-for-you joys of others. The focus of...
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TA reader Homer Paxton has been hounding me for news of the outcome of the recent Katherine by-election in the NT, caused by the retirement of long-serving former CLP Deputy Chief Minister Mike Reed. The CLP candidate won, but there was a swing to the ALP of almost 10%, and th...
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I've just posted the following announcement on the websites for the undergraduate units I'm teaching this semester at CDU: Tomorrow's classes are still on, notwithstanding the strike. I certainly support strongly the principle of academic independence, and strongly oppose gove...
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For a while now I've read the global warming debate on this site but, not having sufficient knowledge of the arguments to be able to contribute, have not added to the comments of JQ, bark, draino and sMiles flying back and forth. Anyway, I'm much more interested in the 'big pi...
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It's a signal indication of the strange place that the Parliamentary Labor Party currently resides in when they can devote their weekly caucus meeting to a discussion on whether or not to stand up or sit down in the presence of the United States Head of State and where clappin...
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Ever lie awake thinking about how great Richard Perle is? Or find yourself rolling on the floor at the wicked, rapier-like wit of Rummy? You could just have insomnia - or indisgestion. On the other hand, you too could be a neocon. The Christian Science Monitor (kooky religion,...
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* Warning another long global warming post - probably should be ignored by all but enthusiasts. John Quiggin and Ken Miles are both erudite and generally mild-mannered bloggers, except when it comes to the global warming debate. John Quiggin, for instance, tends to label peopl...
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I'm back from New Zealand and I can inform you that it was very green - and very neat. In fact, my partner, Lance, observed that the lush, manicured verdure through which we were driving looked like it was mown and rolled on a daily basis. The cows and sheep are also sparkling...
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Now be honest ! Who amongst you hasn't had a full blown, boots'n'all sexual fantasy about some one, depending upon your preference, male or female, depending upon your age, older or younger than you ? I want a lover with an easy touch I want somebody who will spend some time N...
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My son's IQ exceeds 150. Consequently I am of the view that IQ is hereditary,and further that boys inherit their IQ from their father (I made up that last bit). I read an article in the AFR a couple of days ago about how the traditional concepts of IQ were being supplanted by...
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Lots of Rugby news over at RWC Round Up but I can't agree with the list of posers (def; drink in lounge bars and sit down to piss) so I've decided to show you some of the players I admire most. Sure they may have faces only a mother could love but they are the one's that, at t...
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The RWC game France v Fiji was extremely disappointing for me, apart from the score, it's sad to see one of the most exciting rugby teams in the world having to recycle Serevi, a player whose most trenchant supporters would admit, has passed his peak, added to the likelihood t...
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Two articles in Friday's AFR, John Hewson's "Reaping the whirlwind" and Laura Tingle's "Full of promise but short on substance" (only available online to those prepared to pay) make interesting reading, partly because they are about the same subject, looked at from different p...
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A 24 - 8 win against Argentina first up. Scratchy but promising. A solid performance by the forwards, especially Baxter at prop, David Lyons in place of Toutai Kefu, and David Giffin before the sickening collision of his head with the ground. At least it's apparently only conc...
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Nobel Prize winner JM Coetzee's novel Disgrace is, as its title hints, about an ageing humanities academic forced to resign in disgrace after his callous seduction of a female student is uncovered. As the Amazon.com review encapsulates: David Lurie is hardly the hero of his ow...
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My mum always told me I had 'big bones', I'm not really fat, just 'cuddly' according to my wife and so I've always had a reasonably positive self image, but I was doing some research on Metabolic , a company involved in finding drugs to reduce obesity, in preparation for buyin...
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Following on from my post about the Defence Symposium held in Darwin, some of the papers are now available. If you are interested in obtaining some background, the details of the economics of the defence forces in the NT 2000/1 are here . The (very heavily censored?? edited) p...
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George Williams attempts to broaden the debate about constitutional reform in an opinion piece in today's SMH. He opposes, as I do, John Howard's proposal effectively to remove the Senate's power to block legislation by providing that there could be a joint sitting of both Hou...
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Uncle at ABC Watch posts an item taking a passing sideswipe at retired American Anglican Bishop John Shelby Spong for misusing his clerical office to promote personal opinions arguably intrinsically inconsistent with Christian ministry . Uncle probably has a point, because as...
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The worst thing about failing to post anything on the blog for a week or more is that just about the only messages I now get in my home email inbox are Nigerian business proposals and marginally premature attempts to persuade me to buy some Viagra. Meanwhile, Sam "Yobbo" Ward...
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Oh what a feeling ! (perhaps Toyota have trade-marked that, never mind)..... Lovely to know that somebody makes the effort to trek on over to TA every day to read the musings of the post-moral majority. I thought I'd better post something to assuage Mork and those readers of h...
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Chris Sheil reckons I'm having a "post-50 funk/sulk-out ". He might be right, although there's stuff going on in my life at present that's a bit more significant than that (at least from my subjective viewpoint) and arguably not related per se to being 50. However they're even...
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Ken Parish alluded to the Charles Darwin Symposium titled "The Eye of the Storm: Northern Australia's Location in an Arc of Instability " in which several speakers explore[d] ... the regional security issues that have arisen since the commencement of the 'War on Terror' and th...
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Congratulations to J.M. Coetzee for winning the 2003 Nob(el)le Prize of literature. Of course, being a Nostradamus-like figure that I am, he was one of the four writers I highlighted for the Noble gong last year, (even if I couldn't spell his name.) When I have a spare moment,...
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UnAustralian Ken Miles has a reflexive whinge about an article in yesterday's Australian newspaper by noted geologist Professor Ian Plimer. Why? Well, I can't be sure because I didn't buy yesterday's Oz, and the article isn't online (at least not for free). But it's a fair bet...
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