Recent Posts - page 23

  • Media Circus: Best/Worst of The Year Edition

    By on • ( 2 )

    Photo of Australian Parliament House (APH) in Canberra

    The lists are appearing.

    What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?

  • The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (SPOILERS)

    By on • ( 4 )

    The Hobbit movie poster, showing Bilbo with a drawn blade

    In which I claim to have enjoyed the film and then list many things I didn’t like. But seriously, it was fun.

    Warning: spoilers present in post and welcome in comments!

  • Reminder: Xmas Dr Who episode 7.30pm 26 December.

    By on • ( 10 )

    A knitted toy TARDIS, in dark blue with light blue detailing and white lettering.

    Reminder: Dr Who 7.30pm Boxing Day.

  • We need a new Christmas Carol story

    By on • ( 2 )

    Painting of a Russian old man being presented with a cake.

    Scrooge’s failing is in being disconnected from the people around him. The failure of today’s Scrooges is the belief that connecting with the people around them is enough.

  • Media Circus: News Hidden Under the Wrapping Paper Edition

    By on • ( 5 )

    Photo of Australian Parliament House (APH) in Canberra

    It’s a bit early for a new media circus thread, but it’s also the time of year for the release of unpleasant news that the newsmakers hope will be buried by the holidays.

    What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?

  • December Solstice

    By on

    Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky | Credit & Copyright: Danilo Pivato

    This post was scheduled to go up at the exact minute of today’s solstice, but Things Happened.

  • Xmas open thread 2014

    By on • ( 18 )

    Feel free to talk services, observances, decorations, rushing, shopping, gifts, surprises, feasting and family traditions heart-warming and otherwise. If anyone making other seasonal observances wants to join the thread, please do.

  • Otterday! And Open Thread.

    By on • ( 15 )

    Today’s otter is taking a dive at the Seattle Aquarium.

    Please feel free to use this thread to natter about anything your heart desires. (Note: this Otterday post is a Christmas-free zone.)

  • Media Circus: Sydney Siege Edition

    By on • ( 18 )

    Photo of Australian Parliament House (APH) in Canberra

    It’s been a bad week here in Sydney, a bad week in Peshawar, and news from the rest of the world has mostly not been great, either.

    What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?

  • Guest Post: Why I’m shutting down the bail laws petition: lone-wolf activism reconsidered.

    By on • ( 10 )

    Single issue petitions on websites like Change.org, and others of their ilk, tend to be focused on the simplest messages one can extract from an issue. The hardest line and most sensational language is encouraged to guarantee two things: the most possible signatures, and bountiful media coverage. On first glance that seems like a good thing, but what is missed with this push?

    My understandable, human and heartfelt response to the tragedy of the Sydney siege was all of those things, but only those things. It was informed by my own past trauma, which are legitimate parts of the conversation but not the whole of it. It was not nuanced or critiqued, and it did not engage in community consultation. I simply said aloud and formally what many were feeling, before the facts had come into play. Swept into a maelstrom of commentary and an unanticipated furious public response, I was left reeling and scrambling to begin the consultation that should have been the foundation of any campaign.