Politics
* For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. – H.L. Mencken
* The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy – Alex Carey
Media Circus: Craig Thomson cleared of electoral fraud, let’s talk about something else then
Let’s keep a closer eye on the impact of policy and legislation rather than buying into the moving wallpaper ethos of personality conflicts trumping the actual political process, OK?
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Quote of the Day: playing the Game of Life on the lowest difficulty setting
A comment from Chuck Repke about 100 comments in on a post by John Scalzi, which I really recommend reading…
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Political Meme of the week: Abbott “explains” things – they just are
ABBOTT: ‘blah blah Gillard govt schoolkid bonus bad blah blah’
REPORTER: ‘How is this different from the Howard govt baby bonus?’
ABBOTT: ‘Well look, they just are.’
Friday Hoyden: Sady Doyle
Sady Doyle from the fantastic Tiger Beatdown blog gave Hoyden About Town a shout-out in a piece she wrote for In These Times – Blogging Sisterhood: How feminist blogs saved my life. So here’s a shout-out back, to one of my favourite writers!
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Things that unexpectedly remind one of Mark Latham
You know you’re an Aussie poli-tragic when an infographic which could for most people in the world have happily been linked to in the Whimsy thread just gets you thinking about suckholes and the US-Australian alliance.
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Obama interview: “I think same sex couples should be able to get married”
Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and, frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.
Media circus vs policy
Another week, another slew of personality-conflict and MP-scandal headlines. Who’d think it was Budget week in Canberra, eh? Discuss actual policy here, if you like. Or just heave brickbats at the worst of the circus acts, if you prefer.
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Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!
The iconic writer scolds the superrich (including himself—and Mitt Romney) for not giving back, and warns of a Kingsian apocalyptic scenario if inequality is not addressed in America.
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Parliamentary circus continues
Does anybody seriously think that the Labor caucus won’t wait until the results of next week’s Budget sessions before anyone decides to make a move? What next for the national soap opera?
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Friday Hoyden: Joanna Russ
Guest post from Tansy Rayner Roberts: Joanna Russ is one of the mighty legends of the science fiction field that everyone needs to know about. As well as writing many important novels and short stories, she was a brutal literary critic, a brilliant academic, an unflinching feminist, and a devastatingly articulate commentator on gender, not only in science fiction but in the history of culture.
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Numbers in the House
Speculation abounds as to whether the Gillard minority government will have the numbers on the House floor to pass the Budget on May 8 without Peter Slipper’s vote, especially since Andrew Wilkie remains rather miffed.
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How turning voters off politics helps US pollies get elected – will it work in Australia too?
Intriguing analysis in this post from Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post, although Jay Rosen notes that he doesn’t cover the complementary role played in this game by the news media playing up the confected outrage.
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* Quicklink to recent open threads
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