November 2, 2009 – 8:32 am
The November issue of the SMH’s Sydney magazine features a profile of the ABC’s managing director Mark Scott which contains this curious line on page 36: “Their scant private time is devoted to family; once identified as a prominent evangelical Christian, Scott now says he doesn’t attend any particular Church”
Scott may not ‘attend’ any particular [...]
September 9, 2009 – 6:46 am
Bernard Salt is no doubt a wonderful demographer, but he is also great at getting publicity.
Salt knows the value of a bright new social trend, be it tree changing, sea changing or now Nettels.
Yes, folks, Salt has interrogated the data (generously provided by taxpayers) and discovered (drumroll please) that many people are time poor.
Of [...]
In a well-executed media stunt (labelled an ‘exclusive’ by the Daily Telegraph, LOL) the NSW Government has come up with an idea to try and carve out a future in the (mis)management of the state’s health system. Apart from being an ‘exclusive’, the stunt also has two other elements designed to give it media appeal: [...]
From the ‘who funds this nonsense’ file comes this ludicrous quote:
The researchers noted that even “in instances of smoking being reflected in a negative way, particularly among younger characters, could have an impact on prompting children to smoke cigarettes.”
If anyone really believed this then surely we would immediately cancel all those anti-smoking ads?
The research found that [...]
Here’s a great take on the Matthew Johns saga:
Men are capable of reasoning and judgement, and indeed are expected to exercise it at all times in our society. We’re not primal, ungovernable, raging beasts. Nobody ever says “you can’t expect men to drive competently when they’re so aggressive”; “you can’t expect men not to swear [...]
Earlier this week I pointed to some fairly obvious homoerotic aspects of the enthusiasm of certain high profile rugby league players for group sex. Today, Annabel Crabb has written a brilliantly funny piece along the same lines. She’s good, she didn’t miss. You must read it!
Allegations of group sex, akin to those we expect to hear about on Four Corners tonight, have surfaced intermittently in recent years. In the descriptions of these events, the key point seems to be the opportunity for the boys on the team to engage in a sexual activity together with the woman involved a sort [...]
The SMH is reporting:
The Federal Government is planning to delay its emissions trading scheme by one year, smh.com.au understands.
The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is scheduled to make an announcement at lunch time.
It is believed the Government still wants the legislation for the scheme to be passed this year but the scheme itself will not start [...]
From NZ Herald
An iPhone application where the aim is to kill off islanders has been criticised as racist by members of the Pacific Island community.
Pocket God opens with a “meet the islanders” screen, before brown-skinned men wearing hula skirts are shown on an island with a volcano in the background.
To score points, the player kills [...]
The freakonomics blog on the NYT has an interesting look at the role of conformity in communications. Basically, it’s hard to convince people to stop doing something if they think everyone else is doing it. People don’t want to rise above the crowd and be exemplary. So public service messages that suggest that many people [...]
