Another Howard YouTube, another day of the corporate media taking the bait
Mark and others have previously pointed out that Howard is not using YouTube to actually reach out to YouTubers, he is using it to game the news cycle. The applications for the Armed Forces Gap Year program open today, after a substantial planning period which seems to have done little more than slightly tweak the [...]
The irrational electorate and economics
Ross Gittins today in the SMH, regarding the bewilderment of the Howard government’s economic-rationalism ideologues as to why we sheeple aren’t more happy about the wonderful economy: It’s not only the economy, stupid Gittins points out that growth in real incomes is not enough to satisfy when people no longer compare their circumstances only with [...]
Pell draws lines
The great tradition of religious tolerance in Catholic parochial schools in New South Wales is under fire. Many thousands of children of all faiths have been educated in a system often chosen by parents due to a complex perception of superior education outcomes rather than as a response to the promulgation of faith within the [...]
I love the smell of desperation in the LibNats
Y’know, it’s one thing to express doubts about how long the fairly bland Kevin Rudd can continue to successfully present himself to the electorate as an exciting breath of fresh air. It’s another thing entirely to call the man “a load of crap”. That will not play well Peter Dutton, it really won’t. Thanks for [...]
Today’s talkback army talking points
In response to Dr Mohammed Haneef’s interview last night on 60 minutes: Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry? He was only inconvenienced for 4 weeks. Everyone makes mistakes, and it’s all been corrected now. Sure he was incarcerated, but he was fed and safe and he must have known that if he was [...]
Political outreach online
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about just what online strategies could be most effective for political parties in getting their message across to the voters. I’ve run across a lot of interesting views, and thought on them (in between reading chapters of HP7) so here’s a summary of major points. Disclaimer: I’m not [...]
Work/Life/Family Balance in NSW
On a day dominated by the media attempting to beat up a story about NSW Premier Morris Iemma taking time off to spend the school holidays with his young children, another story got hardly any traction. Both stories tie into Guest Hoyden Helen’s post from last week on the “Real World” of time-management around school [...]
NT Plan Read ‘ems: “white man’s burden”, Howard’s poll plunge, and reactions from Pat Turner and Lt Gen Sanderson
Here are your Northern Territory Aboriginal “emergency plan” read ‘ems for today! I’ve included excerpts, but do read the whole articles for context and elaboration. Mark Lawrence: The white man’s burden: Howard’s attack on Aboriginal self-determination Excellent post on the new paternalism, Howard’s “white man’s burden” mentality and his “classic ‘Pauline Hanson’ lies about Aboriginal [...]
1Q: Is there merit in governments playing catch-up politics?
Tim Dunlop’s blogging experiment, One Question, has the third round happening. (For full details see Tim’s original post.) The current question is this: the government is accused of playing catch up politics, but is there some merit in such an approach? The other participants have their answers up already, and I’m behind because of more [...]
Who do we trust more to Do It Right?
I said this in comments on a previous post regarding the NT Indigenous Emergency Plan, and I want to expand on the theme, as it feels like some electoral scales may have fallen from my eyes. I really want all the political actors working against Howard to Not F*ck Their Response Up. He’s made the [...]
Blood and guilt: Federal jackbootery roundup.
Further to tigtog’s post Howard’s Wedge, several blog posts that you may not have stumbled across on the usual round of Ozblogistan trackbacks and read ‘ems. The fabulous brownfemipower cuts through all the bullshit in her post “abusing into goodness”: No where in these “rules” is there any acknowledgment of the role the Australian government [...]
1Q: How relevant are motives in assessing the public policy stance of a politician or commentator?
This week’s One Question is from Harry Clarke, who writes in an earlier post: In assessing testimony in a court of law motives are important. Elsewhere they are less so but they pervasively affect our attitudes. Some have argued that the “The Motive Fallacy’ (specifically, believing that exposing the motives behind an expressed opinion shows [...]
1Q: Does the country really change when the government changes?
Updated to change name of post (this interblog round robin will all use the same post title to aid searches) Tim Dunlop is introducing a new feature where a round-robin of ozbloggers will respond to a question on a current topic. I’m chuffed he asked me to be one of the group. We’ll all take [...]
3000 votes: Boot Howard out of Bennelong
I like this local initiative from some voters in the Prime Minister’s electorate of Bennelong, whose major slogans are: A Future without John Howard? It all hangs on 3000 votes. Just because Howard is the PM, doesn’t mean he has to be our MP. Campaigning for Fresh Apples in Bennelong There are apples all over [...]
Recent Comments
Mindy, The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, tigtog
tigtog, Kath, Aphie, tigtog, Kath, tigtog [...]
The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, Chally, Mindy, Aphie, tigtog [...]
The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, angharad, tigtog, YetAnotherMatt, The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, Mindy [...]
The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, AMM, Chris, The Kittehs' Unpaid Help, QoT, David [...]
tigtog, Xanthë, tigtog, Ali, tigtog, Lauredhel [...]
David, Lad Litter, Megpie71, David
Chris, Mindy, Chris, Mindy, Chris, tigtog [...]
Aphie
Mindy, Mindy, David, tigtog, fmark
angharad, David, Mindy, David, tigtog, Mindy [...]
Megpie71, Megpie71, Sharon M, Chris, Helen, Chris [...]