I’ve always found it interesting that the United States plays baseball and gridiron whereas most of the rest of the world plays cricket and soccer. I had assumed (typical anti-Americanism, tut tut) that this was a reflection of some sort of pig-headed independent streak in the rebellious colony - that the Americans had rejected […]
Archive for February, 2007
there’s no exit in any direction
27Feb07A simplistic but amusing take on science vs faith.
And WWGWBD? (via BoingBoing).
(reminds me of this t-shirt too).
This feature on Rotten Tomatoes brings to mind a pet hate of mine. As they explain on the site,
we have combed through eight decades of Oscar winners to determine which Academy Award-winning film truly stands above the rest.
The idea is that they have taken the last 79 winners of the ‘best picture’ Oscar and […]
This person is a representative of an Australian university:
If you don’t get your grammar quite right but if you know your subject and if you can solve a problem in IT or if you can provide a profit and loss report for a business person, what does it matter that you managed in the wrong […]
As a result of the infinite joys of spam, the comment system is unfortunately going to require a name and email address - which will naturally not be used for anything other than comment moderation, published, disclosed to any third party, and so on and so on. In addition the first comment for a given […]
I’ve always wondered in a chicken-and-egg kind of way about whether we seek out music which reflects our mood and personality, or whether the music we listen to actually dictates our mood and personality to some degree.
In that context, this is quite an interesting study (unfortunately I can’t find the full text on-line). As well […]
For the first time in a loooong long time the betting markets put Labor as favourites to win the next election.
You may be familiar with the idea that betting markets are the best predictor of election outcomes, which is dismembered quite effectively on Mumble (see the February 9 post):
The punters are sheep who reflect the […]
Our illustrious leader, other political figures, and the media (and some outlets in particular) are all fond of referring to the vast importance of the Australia-US alliance.
The ANZUS treaty is the formal military alliance which underpins this crucial relationship. So, at the same time the US ambassador (that is, the man sent here by […]
This comic says something pretty succinctly that I have been thinking a lot lately. It’s by the excellent American cartoonist Ted Rall, who is simultaneously black, bitter, perceptive and extremely funny (warning: and at times, rather left-wing, although not averse to attacking the mainstream left nearly as viciously as the right).
Well, George Lewis told […]
Tuesday, 9 March 2004, Alexander Downer:
CATHERINE MCGRATH: […] You’d be very keen to see George W. Bush back wouldn’t you?
ALEXANDER DOWNER: Look, in the end this isn’t a matter for Australia. We don’t have a vote in the American presidential election, we just have to deal with whoever wins the election. And whatever John Howard […]
Not sure if this is the greatest use of our scientific prowess at a time when hordes of neo-luddites are attacking science as though it were a hollow, not-to-be-trusted cult for atheists and communists. A couple who have already had two sets of quads and another child are pregnant yet again - all of […]
In addition to the Pixies playing the loathsome V Festival, they have since announced they are also playing in Tasmania and Western Australia.
Now a somewhat (ahem) reliable source tells me they are likely to play at Memorial Drive in Adelaide on 3 April 2007, tickets on sale through Venuetix 19 February.
This would be the coolest […]
The first AC Nielson poll since Rudd became opposition leader confirms the trend from other recent polls. Rudd’s personal popularity is very high, and the ALP is polling well as a whole.
Graphs and analysis on Oz Politics here. Rudd is predictably repeating the message that polls are unimportant, whilst there is a perceptible increase in […]
Gore to run in 2008?
09Feb07Gore famously lost out in 2000 on the “who would you rather have a beer with?” test (although frankly a beer with Bush sounds pretty unbearable). In 2008 it is a distinct possibility that the average American will reconsider whether they want someone from the local pub in charge of their very large and powerful country, and whether they wouldn’t perhaps have a slightly nerdy but extremely competent technocrat at the helm. It’s even possible that some moderate voters will see a vote for Gore as a kind of apology after what can generously be described as a disastrous two terms under Bush following his narrow win.
There is an interesting post on Samizdata (a UK blog best described as libertarian or individualist in philosophy) about the complicity of Western companies such as Google in the crimes of totalitarian regimes, and particularly China :
…one of the bees in our bonnet is collaboration of Western corporations with totalitarian and authoritarian regimes anywhere, in […]
