The blogger behind the amusingly named in de-nial has taken blogging anonymity to new heights. S/he doesn’t even adopt a pseudonym as far as I can see. I think I’ll refer to him/her as Floating Baby Moses, because I suspect this will be a blog I’ll be mentioning frequently. FBM has an excellent legal analysis of Peter Costello’s (arguable) attempt at muzzling charities through his proposed Charities Bill 2003. Scrolling down the front page reveals several other great posts as well. FBM is one classy blogger IMO, and has been duly added to my “must check daily” mental list.
FBM is indeed a worthwhile visit. I reckon Crooked Timber would also be a good addition, or are you keeping it strictly Oz based?
thanks for the kind words.
i’m not totally anonymous in that i have a pseudonym [adam]. that’s about as far as i’m willing to go, though i’m sure some enterprising person could figure out my real name if they tried.
i just like the idea of pseudonyms, i guess.
also, might i suggest talk left: the politics of crime for inclusion on the “US Law Blogs” section of your blogroll. those guys link to a bunch of interesting stuff everyday that they’re not talking about kobe bryant, which is pretty often these days, unfortunately. but still, they rock.
Who the hell is Kobe Bryant?
Sorry Adam. Opened up the link to your blog, saw “enemies list” on the right-hand side, closed link. Why do you need to have ‘enemies’?
Mark – Kobe Bryant is an American celebrity basketball star who was recently charged with sexual assault.
Geoff,
Yes, that feature irritated me too, though not enough to deter me from reading and plugging Mark’s blog. There often seems to be a powerful tribalism evident in otherwise very rational, analytical people, on both right and left. Mark is more overt about it than some, but not necessarily any more guilty.
What I mean is a tendency to sort people automatically into friends and enemies, and then govern one’s response to anything they write or say by whether they’re a friend or an enemy. Friends are cut a lot of slack, while enemies suffer extreme retribution for even the tiniest error and have the most sinister possible interpretation placed on anything they say or do.
I suppose we all do it to some extent. However, it seems to be exaggerated in people who self-identify as ideologically aligned with left or right. Their mental furniture is always arranged for class warfare. It’s just as true of righties like Blair and Bunyip as it is of lefties like … (insert).
Then again, if one does have enemies … and who doesn’t? … what is the argument against being explicit about it? Does that not set a standard above having exactly the same enemies but not disclosing them? If nothing else, does it not save folks like Geoff wasting their time on the site? I don’t follow the objection.
Incidentally, I was particularly pleased to see one Gerard Henderson on the list, a bete noir of yours truely, and a point of instant bonding.
Ah, *celebrity*. [/jealousy parading as class consciousness and sophistication]
Ken, um, Mark? Has adam gone and changed pseudonyms on us ;-)?
I find it difficult accepting that there’s, necessarily, an automatic equation between “person whose opinion you might disagree with” and “enemy.”
Mark,
Bugger! I’ve caught the Quiggins, and I don’t even have jet lag. Of course I meant Adam not Mark. I did a similar thing with James Russell and Bright Cold Matt a couple of weeks ago. It’s a worry.
the enemies list is toungue-in-cheek. i mean, the bureau of meteorology? c’mon.
adam, I didn’t scan the list to see who was on it. If the Met Bureau is there, I concede the nomenclature may have some validity.
I read “enemies list, I go, “yawn.” I may be missing out on a veritable cornucopia of blogging riches I acknowledge, but I’m just over this tedious business of “I disagree with what you say, ergo, I hate you in relation to this and other comment you might make on anything.”
I mean ‘any’ other comment.
Thanks for clearing that up Adam – I couldn’t quite see why the bureau of meteorology were in your list. After all, they’re never right.
I didn’t take the Met Bureau listing as a joke. They ARE a bunch of fascist bastards. And what about the Australian Bureau of Statistics? Full of Right Wing Death Beasts and Communards. Of course, sometimes they’re quite nice chappies, but only when their stats support my opinion.
I did a similar thing with James Russell and Bright Cold Matt a couple of weeks ago. It’s a worry.
Well, not that Matt and I have ever met, but I’m sure we’d be easily confused with each other. Then again, since neither of us has ever been seen together, we could actually be the same person…