Media Circus: Heatwave edition
What has piqued your sociopolitical media interests lately? Please share your bouquets and brickbats.
It’s almost as though there’s a causal link here…
The gender pay gap has doubled over the last year — with women, as usual, coming off worst. Meanwhile in NSW for the first time girls have outperformed boys in maths as well as every other HSC subject. Despite the hand-wringing about how and why our education system is failing our boys I would suggest that our boys aren’t being failed at all. I would hypothesise, quite simply, that boys don’t work as hard at their schoolwork because they don’t have to.
Media Circus: yes it’s still the silly season edition
What has piqued your sociopolitical media interests lately? Please share your bouquets and brickbats.
Education is a political issue. This is why.
This, “For many poor students, leap to college ends in a hard fall” is a very well-executed piece in The New York Times. It follows three talented, but terribly disadvantaged, girl students who make it into university but then manage to go no further, and it shows why education doesn’t always lead to social mobility; [...]
The ‘damaged women’ vote
Recently we were being trolled by an Australian economist, Dr Steven Kates about the Obama win in the United States of America. Among his conclusions, that the Obama vote was made up of the medicants (ie. people who need significant medical treatment and can’t afford it, as in, I guess any of us at some [...]
Does Keynes still have the secret to happiness? And even for parents?
You must read this wonderful essay in aeon magazine from economist, John Quiggin – “The Golden Age: The 15-hour working week predicted by Keynes may soon be within our grasp – but are we ready for freedom from toil”. Quiggin takes Keynes’ theory and in this essay fixes up some of the old oversights by [...]
Disability funding: shirking the NDIS is a disgrace
Eleanor Gibbs has a cracker of an article in New Matilda on the national disgrace that is the continuing roadblocks to the National Disability Insurance Scheme:
The real reason why you should be careful in your discussions about mothers
I really like Feministe, I think the site produces some amazing writing, and I appreciate Mamamia for seeking to incorporate feminism in a mainstream, commercial motherhood site because that isn’t easy, but oh my god… We’re surprised, as feminists, that some of you are not more suspicious of lines of debate designed to isolate us and make us defensive.
Why women can’t have it all, how they’re not to blame, and how we can make it better
This is a great piece at The Atlantic by Anne-Marie Slaughter – long and jam-packed with excellent points; it is a sophisticated discussion of women’s lives and the problems we encounter balancing work and family.. and you almost never see a nuanced discussion like this in the public arena.
A poster appearing around Brisbane
Text from the spoof newspaper article poster that has started anonymously appearing around Brisbane, Queensland: DEMOLITION WILL HONOUR SIR JOH BEJELKE-PETERSEN An unnamed source within the Brisbane electorate today accused Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s LNP government of secretly planning the demolition of the new Cloudland. The destruction of this venue would be seen by [...]
Media Circus: still all about Craig Thomson?
So what else is going on in Canberra? Or the state capitals? Or your local council? Are they all on the austerity bandwagon, having drunk the Austrian Kool-Aid like the Dems in the USA? Or is something progressive/constructive actually going on in your part of the world?
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.
Boo to Channel 4 UK
Why don’t you allow access from other countries to see and embed your promo videos for upcoming shows? Especially in countries to which you’re no doubt planning to sell the show? At least Sky 1 knows how to do it properly.
It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it
George Carlin’s Final 2005 Words To The World…sounding hugely relevant right now.
TW for rape analogy
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