Wednesday’s Missing Link

What I should be avoiding at Christmas (but won’t)

It’s getting increasingly difficult to compile Missing Link, what with so many bloggers announcing a Christmas hiatus.   And it’s been even harder this morning, because Google’s Blogger service seems to have been playing up, making Blogger-powered   blogs very slow to open.  

I’m going to be flat out over the next couple of days  with the self-imposed task of compiling the Best Blog Posts 2006 feature.   So consider this the last Missing Link for the year.   We will resume normal(ish) service straight after New Year.   In the meantime, have a wonderful break and don’t eat too much.   Jen’s mumbling about diets, and I’m psyching myself for abstinence starting Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, there’s been an inexplicable outbreak of Iraq posts over the last day or two, and a much more understandable rash of Christmas posts, to such an extent that I’ve been forced to create a special “once only” section titled “A Very Bloggy Christmas”.   Several prominent bloggers  seem to be  making a late rush to impress the judges and get a guernsey in the Best Blog Posts 2006 feature, by writing superb posts with a Christmas theme.   Will they succeed?   We’ll see.

Anyway, on with the show.

News and politics stuff

Iraq blogging frenzy

• Tim Dunlop, Kim at LP, Ken L and Eric Martin (both at Road to Surfdom), and Kodjo at Catallaxy  twice (here and here) and Gary Sauer-Thompson  all analyse the situation in Iraq from a realistically gloomy perspective, while Mirko ‘The Torturer’ Bagaric argues that loyalty is a wonderful thing so Howard/Downer are dead right to stay in lockstep with GWB.

 Tasmanian forests

• Anonymous Lefty reckons Heavy Kevy is a sellout and a pale imitation of John Howard, while Sarah argues that Kevy is just doing what it takes to win seats in a State full of inbred hicks.

Another Landeryou scoop?

• Andrew Landeryou reports on strong rumours that Phil ‘The Undertaker’ Ruddock is about to retire, with Malcolm Turnbull the hot tip to replace him as federal A-G.   Now we’ll see just how good Andrew’s sources really are.  

Other news stuff

• Palm Island – some fragments of history – Andrew Bartlett reports from Palm Island, and extracts some fascinating historical material by historian Ros Kidd (**highly recopmmended):

From early last century every employed Aboriginal in Queensland was contracted by the government for 51 weeks out of 52, with or without his or her family.   To refuse such separation could result in beatings or banishment, usually to Palm Island.   Some never saw or heard from families again.   On the backs of this workforce of between 4000 and 5000 men, women and children, the Queensland pastoral industry developed and prospered.   Surveys showed that Aboriginal workers were often regarded as more skilled than whites, but an agreement struck in 1919 between government and pastoralists set Aboriginal pay at 66% the white rate for the next 50 years.

But the reality was even worse, because records show that workers actually received as little as 31% in 1949 and 59% in 1956.  …

• Kids for success – Tim Dunlop blogs on early childhood intervention to improve parenting and education as a critically important way of addressing inequality of opportunity.   Tim highlights MSM articles by Andrew Leigh and troppo colleague Nicholas Gruen (both of which I confess I  missed when first published).   Well worth reading.
• Be ye Landed? Or Be ye Serf? – Guy from Polemica posts approvingly  on a neo-Georgist  suggestion for a national land tax to replace GST etc.   Paul Watson points out that there are one or two constitutional, political and practical problems with the idea, but trots out his own pet tax reform scheme.
• How the first space war begins – Darryl Mason

In less than 25 years, by the time commercial, corporate and military space flights become everyday reality, plans are underway to ensure that the United States will have military bases on the moon and a vast array of mega-weapons in orbit around the Earth. …

• Reviewing the Stern Report, Again – John Quiggin analyses in detail the assumptions (discount rates) etc underpinning the recent Stern Report on the cost of combatting global warming now  versus later.   One for the boffins.
• The Episcopal split – “Human Behaviour” posts on a looming split within the Episcopalian (Anglican) Church in the US, the focus of which is attitudes towards gayness.   Lucky they’ve got their priorities straight and aren’t troubling themselves too much about unimportant issues like war, poverty and injustice (well, except by perpetuating the latter).
• Poor Little Rich State – Peter Martin reports on economic affairs in the parallel universe of the ACT.

A very Bloggy Christmas

• Little Old Ladies’ Underground Collective – Blogger on the Cast-Iron Balcony posts a wonderful short essay about a little known  Melbourne institution – the St Pauls VCOSS  Card and Gift shop: A retail experience unlike any other.
• Carols as performance art – Ken L at Surfdom
• What should we give? – Andrew Leigh argues that if you don’t usually think about children drowning in shallow ponds at Christmas, maybe you should …
• So this is Christmas … – Helen ‘scepticlawyer’ Dale with another  great short essay on the ancient Roman origins of Christmas.
• Christmas shopping – Tim Dunlop with another little gem.
• The Art Life Holiday Podcast Special

Mad Bad Sad and Glad

Conspicuous philanthropy (Via David Tiley)

• Australian Blogging Conference – Peter Black

I can tentatively announce today that the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation and the Queensland University of Technology is planning to hold an Australian Blogging Conference on Thursday 8 March 2007 in Brisbane.

• I feel your pain – David Tiley on the philanthropy of Nicole Kidman
• Harry Potter and the Ashes Nightmare – Daily Flute manages the rare feat of paying out simultaneously on the English cricket team and JK Rowling.  
• Card counting – Steve Edney discourses learnedly on card counting to beat the house at blackjack, before observing that  continuous automatic shuffling has made it impossible  anyway nowadays, at least at Melbourne’s Crown Sydney’s Star City Casino.
• The Hage-Ali affair – Mark Bahnisch reheats a Crikey article asserting a Murdoch conspiracy to set up prominent young Muslim (who apparently isn’t actually a Muslim at all) for the dump.   JF Beck highlights the Daily Tele’s reply where its editor swears innocence.
• I give up – Sam ‘Yobbo’ Ward

… Exposing yourself to extreme intoxication is the whole point of free drinks. As for wearing a bikini exposing you to sexual assault, didn’t we try to deport some dude for saying the exact same thing a few months back? …

So anyway … Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year from all at Club Troppo. (This doesn’t mean we’ve stopped blogging for the year by any means, just the Missing Link feature).