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when mr bigglesworth gets angry…
LE points to this article about the amazing death-predicting cat, a story which has also come to our attention around these parts. We have a more rational explanation than some supernatural feline power to…
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australia: leading the world in spying on its citizens
This article in The Age is superficially positive – the new British PM is having trouble getting extended detention powers in anti-terrorist legislation implemented in Britain due to rational parliamentary opposition. The reason is a report from the Joint Committee… -
Typical Sydney-centric attitude
Limited/no updates this week, as your author is stuck in Sydney, home of the homeless.
Well, I’m stranded in the city that never sleeps
Some of these women they just give me the creeps
I’m avoidin’…
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just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you
If you are the somewhat paranoid type, at least when it comes to governments, why not scare the hell out of yourself and read this little piece by Paul Craig Roberts (Assistant Secretary of the…
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an atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support
There’s quite an interesting post here about this article in the LA Times, in which the Times’ religion reporter William Lobdell describes finding and then losing his faith in the process of reporting on the subject.… -
two thoughts on nuclear power
There are increasing signs that Australia is going to go nuclear in the medium term.
First Thought
One way of looking at the benefits of nuclear power versus the risks is to consider the worst…
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who are the ones that we kept in charge? killers, thieves and lawyers
This interesting rant on The Road to Surfdom kindly makes the point that not all lawyers are evil – just the ones who consistently seek to undermine the legal process for political gains. Others, such as Dr Haneef’s lawyer Stephen… -
spin of the week
The Australian runs a ridiculous front page story which describes a poll showing an electoral disaster for the Government as “HOWARD CHECKS RUDD’S MARCH!!!!1!!!11!!” (NB: there may have been fewer ‘!!1!’s).Independent (and very excellent) political analysis
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islamofascists want to blow up your cat
…at least that seems to be the case according to “Let’s Get Ready Sydney“, a disturbingly Cold War-esque (and red, really, really red) website about planning for an ‘emergency’ that might cause you to leave your home in… -
Australia: subject to the laws of the United States
You may have come across this story over the last few months – one Mr Hew Griffiths, an Australian software pirate – was extradited to the United States and prosecuted for offences under US copyright law. He subsequently
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fence posts
More than six out of ten people regularly commit criminal acts (in Britain, at least). Democratic governments seem to regard legislation criminalising particular forms of behaviour as the default, and indeed only, way of dealing with most…
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what are you, gay?
I’m sure you’re familiar with the old “homophobes are really closet gays” line of reasoning. Interestingly, this research seems to confirm that theory. From the abstract:The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men
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how now, brown bureaucrat?
The lack of updates has been caused by your author’s temporary secondment to the home of closed supermarkets, icy wind and poorly dressed civil servants, Canberra.
We live in a political…
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an enemy of the open society
This article from The Australian, entitled “Silencing Our Basic Freedom”, is compulsory reading for anyone who cares about the future of democracy in Australia. This blog is frequently critical of that particular newspaper, but on this issue it is fighting…