Painfree

Opposition Reshuffle Promotes Wacky Ideas

2009-12-10T23:50:00.002+11:00

The shadow cabinet reshuffle this week has delivered some real hacks back into the public eye, notably (and unbelievably), Bronwyn Bishop.
Further, its only taken a few days for the flow of some lovely quotable quotes.
First up is "Crazy" Kevin Andrews, infamous for his bungling of the Dr Haneef affair, who today declared
''If you look at the 2008 data, you would need about 35,000 immigrants on top of births to replace the population (for that year). So I say the starting point should be replacement levels of population, then ask what additional population we need so the country can be economically and otherwise sustainable and growing,''
This from the former Immigration Minister to the Howard Government; a government which presided over an immigration surge from 83,000 to 158,800 for 2007-08.
Seems Crazy Kev is taking to re-writing history, not unlike his former leader.
Next we look at Barnaby's Bumbling Blast.

USA Awaits Texas Execution Error Ruling

2009-10-25T22:00:00.004+11:00

Melbourne's The Age Newspaper this week reported the developing story of Cameron Todd Willingham, executed Texas in 2004.
At one stage on Thursday it was the highest hit article on the website.
Death penalty opponents in the USA are anticipating an investigation into the execution of Willingham will declare, for the first time in the United States, that an innocent man was sent to his death.
Forensic evidence from the fire which killed Willingham's three children, and was central to his prosecution, has been criticised as "junk science".
The full story was published in The New Yorker, written by David Grann.
The tragedy of an innocent man falsely accused and subsequently executed could ignite new opposition to capital punishment in the USA.
If you are interested in the topic, I highly recommend you read The New Yorker article.

Regina Spektor

2009-09-06T23:59:00.000+10:00

Buy Regina's latest album.
You must.

We're Back

2009-05-15T00:14:00.002+10:00

It's been more than a year since the last post.
You must be missing Painfree, terribly.
So much has happened.

I'm very disappointed that this segment has been cut from the Gruen Transfer.

this is the sort of discussion that needs to be in the public domain, but is consigned to the Google Machine, "cos it's too hard."

What do you think?

painfree

Geelong Broker goes belly-up!

2008-04-22T23:28:00.002+10:00

Geelong-based broker Chartwell Enterprises ceased trading Monday (21 April), risking millions of dollars of investments of retail investors.

On 18 April, the Geelong Advertiser quoted the principal of Chartwell Enterprises, Graeme Hoy, describing the failure of his entertainment businesses; "I especially like to make it absolutely clear that these businesses have nothing to do with Chartwell Enterprises. In fact their passing on means I can re-direct all my energy and focus into Chartwell and its exciting international future."

Chartwell's exciting international future has lasted a further three days before going into receivership and voluntary administration.

The Age claims some investors invested their life savings with the promise of returns as high as 70%!

May be further proof that risk and return are related.

Current TV

2008-03-20T23:03:00.002+11:00

If you would like to view some work from amateur film makers, CLICK through to "Current", formally "Current TV" which hosts some very interesting short videos of surprisingly high quality.
It is searchable, so you can usually find something of interest.

Looks What's Crawled out from Under its Rock!

2008-03-08T21:10:00.003+11:00

Jo Ho, the very ex, ex-PM, has again slithered into the public arena.
He's still trying to rewrite history!

Read the report at Crikey.

John Howard's Forgotten Apology

2008-02-12T22:07:00.000+11:00

APOLOGY MADE BY JOHN HOWARD ON THE 3RD OF JULY ON NATIONAL TV

Good evening. My name is John Howard and I'm speaking to you from Sydney, Australia, host city of the year 2000 Olympic Games.

At this important time, and in an atmosphere of international goodwill and national pride, we here in Australia - all of us - would like to make a statement before all nations. Australia, like many countries in the new world, is intensely proud of what it has achieved in the past 200 years.

We are a vibrant and resourceful people. We share a freedom born in the abundance of nature, the richness of the earth, the bounty of the sea. We are the world's biggest island. We have the world's longest coastline. We have more animal species than any other country. Two thirds of the world's birds are native to Australia. We are one of the few countries on earth with our own sky. We are a fabric woven of many colours and it is this that gives us our strength.

However, these achievements have come at great cost. We have been here for 200 years but before that, there was a people living here. For 40,000 years they lived in a perfect balance with the land. There were many Aboriginal nations, just as there were many Indian nations in North America and across Canada, as there were many Maori tribes in New Zealand and Incan and Mayan peoples in South America. These indigenous Australians lived in areas as different from one another as Scotland is from Ethiopia. They lived in an area the size of Western Europe. They did not even have a common language. Yet they had their own laws, their own beliefs, their own ways of understanding.

We destroyed this world. We often did not mean to do it. Our forebears, fighting to establish themselves in what they saw as a harsh environment, were creating a national economy. But the Aboriginal world was decimated. A pattern of disease and dispossession was established. Alcohol was introduced. Social and racial differences were allowed to become fault-lines. Aboriginal families were broken up. Sadly, Aboriginal health and education are responsibilities we have still yet to address successfully.

I speak for all Australians in expressing a profound sorrow to the Aboriginal people. I am sorry. We are sorry. Let the world know and understand, that it is with this sorrow, that we as a nation will grow and seek a better, a fairer and a wiser future. Thank you.

John Howard, July 3, 2000

"The Games"
ABC TV

Australian Budget Surplus

2007-09-07T12:46:00.001+10:00

Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the USA

http://www.budget.gov.au/

Doctor... The enemy within

2007-07-17T23:21:00.000+10:00

2 Facts

1. Sometimes the doctor claims to be your ally, but is actually your enemy.

2. If you ask enough tricky questions, he will slip up..............

PROOF?

YOU WANT PROOF

OK

Brendan Nelson once famously declared that he would never vote for the Liberal Party.....

AND THEN

"The defence update we're releasing today sets out many priorities for Australia's defence and security - and resource security is one of them," he said.

"Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq, but the entire region is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/05/1970275.htm

AUSTRALIA

IRAQ

OIL

GAME

SET

MATCH

Justice.... What Justice?

2007-07-17T22:59:00.000+10:00

Mohamed Haneef, the foreign doctor charged with "recklessly supplying material support to a terrorist organization", has been released on bail and then incarcerated again as the Federal Government withdrew his visa.
The judge who heard his application for bail after more than a week in detention without charge commented on his release that Haneef had no known links to a terrorist organisation and that police were not alleging that his SIM card had been used in relation to the British terror plot.

The Australian government stopped Haneef's bail release by cancelling his skilled migrant visa and ordering him placed in Sydney's Villawood immigration detention centre.

Note:
Haneef has not been tried.

The case against Haneef appears weak.

The responsible minister, Kevin Andrews, indicated that Haneef would be detained and deported even if he is found innocent.

even

if

he

is

found

innocent

What the hell is going on.......................?

I feel sick....

Ausrock

2007-06-05T22:17:00.000+10:00

Those who love Australian rock music might be interested in the Ausrock blog.

My Mac

2007-06-05T22:07:00.001+10:00

So I did it. I ordered my iMac.

It's very exciting.

I haven't even seen one in real life yet, let alone used one.

My friend Dave (who I suggested get an Apple laptop two years ago) now swears by his.

It's been a week.

Is Steve Jobs building it personally?

Maybe he's been preoccupied, catching up with Bill.

WTF do these two talk about?

Bill: "What's with those insulting bloated op-system ads, Steve?"

Steve: "Oh, yeah sorry Bill, marketing, you know, that's all, nothing nasty"

Bill: "Well, OK, but I was a little hurt. You know my OS has 95% of the world market?"

Steve: "Yeah Bill, so you keep saying."

John's Diary

2007-06-04T23:42:00.001+10:00

An excerpt from JoHo's diary entry for 1 June 2007

"So lets see, we've put a decision on carbon trading off till at least next year, but likely 2012, yep, OK.

"Hicks is home and holed-up till next year. Good.

"The AWB debacle has been put on ice till 2008.......and none of us got sacked...yeah go me!

"And we've erased Workchoices from the vernacular.........

"Tax cuts. Check

"Ad campaign. Check

"Oh. I'm hot. I'm smokin' "

Shane Maloney

2007-05-27T22:55:00.001+10:00

I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Australian author Shane Maloney this weekend.

He was charming and funny and informative. He also signed a book for me!

Go Shane.

Buy his books.

Oh, he gave a very amusing speech at a Melbourne public school in 2001.

Government fails to bust AFL drug policy.

2007-05-26T23:44:00.001+10:00

In a desperate display of grandstanding, the Liberal Federal Government has attempted to tackle the Australian Football League on its "out of competition" drug policy.

The Goverment Minister responsible, the silly Mr Chris Pyne, came away bloodied and bruised, claiming he wanted the AFL to adopt the government's "zero tolerance" drug policy.

Unfortunately, the bumbling Mr Pyne was unable to comprehend that the AFL policy was directed at player welfare and rehabilitation rather than criminality.

The government clearly thinks that there are some votes to be won in the charging of sportsmen for illicit drug use.

Andrew Demetriou, who has prior offences in regards attacking the JoHo Government, walked away with a 1-0 scoreline and plenty ammunition in reserve.

RIP Windows

2007-05-24T23:42:00.001+10:00

I came home to find that the Microsoft Moviemaker2 (the easy to use, but slightly flakey video editor)won't work.

Easy fixed, I thought, probably just uninstall and reinstall.

Hmmmm, can't uninstall moviemaker2.

Google search.

Multiple conflicts between MM2 and other audio/video applications. Disable some codecs. Still wont run.

Clash with IE7. Uninstall. No better.

Must uninstall.

GOOGLE.

No-one can uninstall MM2 from XP. It's there, forever and won't run.

Beat (Sorry Fitz)

Bill, you lost me.

I'm off to the White Zealots Store.

I'll report back.

PM backflip, dodge, squirm

2007-05-22T23:54:00.001+10:00

PRIME Minister John Howard has scrapped plans for a $540,000 extension to a private dining room in his Parliament House suite.

Concerned about an electoral backlash, JoHo has decided to pass on the renovations. The potential cost came to light as the quote passed through an senate estimates committee.

In more populist sneakiness, JoHo has avoided causing waves within his own coalition by effectively deferring the decision on the AWB wheat single-desk issue till after the next election.

This non-decision was dressed up as as a staged change to the wheat-desk system.

Don't be fooled, its status quo.

AWB, the great supporter of the Saddam Hussein regime , is being further supported by the JoHo government.

Reactive, populist snake.

JoHo bully and hypocrite

2007-05-15T21:35:00.000+10:00

So on Monday JoHo is banging on about schools tackling the problem of bullying and being penalized if they don't toe the line.

Then this from the Telegraph on Tuesday.
The story regards a newborn abandoned at a hospital in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs.
Note the indignant headline, for which the newspaper copped criticism from community groups including beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett.

But not from our JoHo.

Mr Howard said the newspaper's headline reflected most people's reaction.

"In defence of the Tele, that's what most people say," Mr Howard told ABC Radio. "How could you abandon a little baby?"

How indeed JoHo? How distressed, confused and desperate would you have to be?

And....

How exactly do you think acerbic headlines and bullying comments from the country's Prime Minister is going to frickin' help?

Bully.

Turd.

Class Action

2007-05-05T19:00:00.001+10:00

I've just found out I'm involved in a class action.This only came to light when I received an offer to "opt-out" from the organizing lawyers, a big player in class actions in Australia.

It seems I have a couple of options.

I can remain in the class action and incur no costs even if the proceedings are unsuccessful. If the matter is settled, the court will rule on a penalty and/or compensation.

I could opt-out. This would be suitable if, for example, I regarded the action as a cynical, money-grubbing waste of the court's time.

If I remain as a plaintiff and the case is not settled, I will need to prove individual loss and damage, which may require me to have legal representation and risk the costs being in excess of the potential settlement.

The organising lawyers have offered to represent me, by entering into a fee arrangement with them. I guess it will be a no-win, no-fee number.

Alternatively, I can organise my own representation, risking a loss and potentially incurring higher costs if the court needs to assess loss on an individual basis.

I know who the winners are going to be in this little legal merry-go -round.

Keating back in the fray

2007-05-02T23:11:00.001+10:00

Ex-PM Paul Keating has re-joined the political debate this week calling PM JoHo a "pre-copernican obscurantist". I nearly fell over in my rush to consult the dictionary.

Oh yes, JoHo, you deliberately vague flat-earther.

This, on ABC yesterday -

"The right to collectively organise pay and conditions of work is a basic civil right, it's the thing that cuts out the template on a democratic nation."

"When you say to people, 'you can't get together at work, you can't organise your conditions', you're back to the earlier part of the industrial revolution, and that's where Howard belongs."

"He's a pre-Copernican obscurantist. That's where he belongs, but let's not have all these turkeys in the business community saying, 'well isn't this shocking'."

"I mean, we've got a profit share in GDP today, like you couldn't jump over, that's why the stock market's so high, out of the last Labor government's IR policies."

Facebook

2007-04-30T23:24:00.001+10:00

Facebook is MySpace for grown-ups. Discuss, citing examples.

WHO criticises Australia's indigenous health

2007-04-30T22:11:00.001+10:00

A WHO report has taken a swipe at the state of aboriginal health.

The report labels indigenous health " a century" behind other Australians. Further, Australian aborigines fare worse "on all health indicators" when compared with New Zealand's native Maori population.

The report also criticises the Australian Government's failure to apologise for the past.

WD USB HArd Drive

2007-04-20T00:09:00.001+10:00

Completely happy with the purchase of a Western Digital external hard drive.

About as big as a PDA and powered only by the USB port, the WD Passport Pocket Drive provides heaps of storage with mobility and easy, in-built software.

Highly recommended for back-up.

Remember, there are two types of hard drive. Those that have failed and those that are going to fail.

Epidural video

2007-04-20T00:04:00.001+10:00

I can't believe there has been no comment on the epidural injection posting (April 8).

Come on, it even had the oblique reference "Broad appeal".

What? No War on Terror?

2007-04-20T00:01:00.001+10:00

British High Commissioner and former Blair Government Minister Helen Liddell has declared that the British Government did not view Iraq as part of the "war on terror."

Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon Ms Liddell said "Our raison d'etre for our involvement in Iraq has not been about terrorism." "We have never seen Iraq as part of the war on terrorism."

Further, British Labor politician Hilary Benn said at the Center on International Cooperation of New York University that the term "war on terror" was a counter-productive one and one which the British Government avoids.

WTF?

What about the fricking war on terror?

We've (Australia) sent stacks of troops. The Yanks have lost over 3000 (three thousand) troops and at least 100,000 ( half a million litres of blood) Iraqies have died.

There must be a frickin' war on terror.

Remember this - In his address to a joint session of Congress following the attacks on September 11, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush defined the "war on terror", thus, "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated."

Well, bring it on !

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Australian radio that Iraq was the "frontline" in the war against terror.

Phew!

He pointed to overnight bombings in Baghdad by suspected al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda-inspired organizations as proof.

Go get 'em Alex!

Bring on the next election.

JoHo and Friends: JoHo in Jones town

2007-04-13T00:21:00.000+10:00

A double dose of physically ill.

Read the book, Jonestown.

Is this really Victoria's first Hoon?

2007-04-11T22:01:00.000+10:00

I'm not sure I buy it.

The Herald Sun reported on April 3 that a 43-year-old man from regional Victoria has become the state's first driver to permanently lose his car under anti-hoon laws.

Laws introduced in July last year meant that drivers caught drag racing, doing burnouts or committing other hoon acts can have their cars impounded for 48 hours for a first offence.
Drivers face a three-month impound order for a second offence and the permanent confiscation of their car for a third offence.

Now, when I think of "HOON", I don't normally think "middle-aged country gent".

That's unusual enough; but the icing on the cake in this conspiracy theory is the car that has been impounded.

V8 Falcon?
SS Commodore?
Subaru WRX?

NO

NO

NO

1980 Toyota Corona Liftback

WTF?

Youtube epidural injection video

2007-04-08T22:47:00.001+10:00

An epidural injection instructional video uploaded to Youtube not only helps anaesthetists to hone their technique, but may also help to dispel the fears of patients.

See what you think.

I think it has Broad appeal!

First Crack in the DRM Wall?

2007-04-04T23:12:00.001+10:00

EMI has announced that it will release its music catalogue DRM-free.

Although single tracks will carry a higher price (AU pricing nor confirmed), downloads will be offered at a higher bitrate and complete albums will NOT carry a price premium!!!

Could this be the start of the collapse of DRM?

EMI is obviously hoping to increase sales and revenue, but certainly, the consumer is the big winner here.

This move comes at a time when DRM is coming under increased pressure.

Graham Philipson gives a good summary of the current stand-off between music companies and music consumers HERE.

Recording industry claims of huge monetary losses from piracy have long been considered 'rubbery' at best. In disputing estimates, detractors argue that not every downloaded file represents a lost sale. Industry claims are considered to be a desperate attempt to maintain an outdated (and expensive) business model.

The Recording industry may be coming around.

Meanwhile, Google Chief Executive, Eric Schmidt, recently questioned the valuations that media companies put on their copyrights. Traditional media argues their content has a certain intrinsic value, while Google says "prove it," he said.

Google is currently facing legal challenges to their video uplaod service, Youtube.

Read more at Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Helen Coonan's Pies in the Sky.

2007-04-03T22:52:00.001+10:00

Its bloody raining pies!

LISTEN AND WATCH

JoHo and Friends 2

2007-04-03T22:28:00.000+10:00

Er John. Why don't you just skedaddle down that there drug store ....pick me up some bourbon and beef jerky. Me and Cheney are goin' shootin'...

Saying Goodbye to Zone Alarm

2007-04-03T22:06:00.001+10:00

I have just uninstalled the highly rated Zone Alarm free personal fire wall program, which I have used for many years.

Zone Alarm had, till recently, frequent updates, which included offers to upgrade to a more complete security suite. I was already happy with my anti-virus, so I declined Zone Labs' offers and only ever reinstalled the firewall.

However, the new upgrade to the ZA firewall included an obligatory trial version of the ZA antivirus, which clashed with my existing AV and refused to install unless I removed it.

So, sadly, I removed ZA firewall and installed the equally well-credentialed Comodo firewall.

It's a consumer society and the tech crowd is fussy.

My David Hicks checklist by J W Howard

2007-03-29T13:31:00.000+10:00

Expedite David's trial to save face before election - Check

Ensure guilty plea to justify mistreatment - Check

Ensure David cannot profit from telling his story - Check

Sentence to six years so David is behind bars till after next election.

Repatriate David before election; look like hero.

Release Mr Hicks from prison; smear.

JoHo and Friends Part 1

2007-03-28T22:50:00.000+10:00

JoHo with reclusive Sydney bussisman Eric Krecichwost, the founder and owner of failed finance business, Fincorp.
Fincorp is in administration owing $300 million to financiers and investors.

Fincorp advertising and The Age

2007-03-28T22:26:00.000+10:00

Last weekend, Fincorp, one of Australia's most prominent property finance companies was placed in administration, with debts of three hundred million dollars.

Fincorp has been offering unsecured high interest to investors willing to part with their money; money used to fund property development projects.

Fincorp is now dead in the water and most investors have done their dough with little hope of recompense. Most investors approached Fincorp directly because the company was a big advertiser. Unlike the Westpoint debacle, there was little referral from financial planners, the middle-men who may be held responsible for the Westpoint losses. Simply, there will be no-one to sue.

Financial scribes including those writting for The Age "Money" liftout on Wednesdays have been warning investors to be careful of such "mezzanine" funds for some time.

However as recently as last week, Money has been running large advertisements for Fincorp.

In today's edition of Money, John Collett has written an article "Trouble at Fincorp", outlining the company's woes.

I hope Collett's readers didn't respond to Fincorp's ad last week.

ASIC has advice about investing with this type of company.

AFL player manager blues

2007-03-26T23:21:00.001+10:00

AFL player welfare officers spend a lot of their time pulling players out of scraps and out of pubs and nightspots.

Helps to protect the player, the club and The Game.

Whilst inconvenient, its usually not that difficult to enter a pub, way after curfew, kick 'budding-champion' in the backside and lead him by the collar back to Mummy's.

Not so easy at the West Coast.......

Player manager knocks on door of bikie club headquarters.....

Large metal door opened by large, annoyed bikie-type....

Player manager - Good morning. I'm the player welfare officer from the West Coast Eagles.

Bikie - Grrrrrrrrr

Player manager - Are any of our players here??

Bikie - Grrrrrrrrrr

Player Manager - Its past their bedtime..........

Bikie reaches for baseball bat.

Player manager - Can I have my players back.....Please.......If that's OK.

Bikie - Grrrrrrrrrrr

Closes door.

John Howard on Drugs

2007-03-24T23:04:00.001+11:00

JoHo waded into the illicit-drugs-in-sport debate this week, criticizing the AFL approach to the issue.

His comments were predictably short-sighted and reactionary - calling for an "overdue review" of the policy and for a "zero-tolerance approach to illicit drugs".

One wonders whether JoHo, who knows little about the AFL and has historically shown no leadership in drugs policy, saw an opportunity to score some points against Andrew Demetriou, the League's CEO, who delivered scathing criticism of JoHo's government in a speech in 2005.

In fact, JoHo may have confirmed this as his motive by denying it thus, "I am not taking the opportunity to have a go at Demetriou or the AFL Commission, it's not an easy job".

Pauline Hansen tells all

2007-03-24T00:19:00.000+11:00

Oh........

Oh .........

Oh.........

Oh........

Oh David......no..................

Bolt says pull troops out of Iraq

2007-03-20T09:23:00.000+11:00

Andrew Bolt, appearing on Ross Stevenson's 3AW breakfast show this morning, said that Australian troops should be withdrawn from Iraq prior to this year's federal election.
Good on you Bolta, I knew you'd come round.

How's your War on Terror looking?

2007-03-19T22:20:00.001+11:00

Feeling more comfortable with your War on Terror.

The West slowly getting the upper-hand? Huh?

The world's becoming safer; more peaceful. Right?

You want fries with that?

This is the Coalition of The Willing's drive-through war. Quick, healthy and piping-hot victory against the threatening hordes.

Yep.

McVictory!

Paul McGeough, Fairfax Journalist, currently in Islamabad, offers a sobering review of the War on Terror here.

Sorry to spoil your day.

Save the Tasmanian Devil

2007-03-16T18:49:00.001+11:00

Isn't this a cute little critter.

Named for their fearsome growl and their horrid table manners, the Tasmanian Devil is the Apple-Isle's last remaining native mammal.

Unfortunately, Devils are under threat from a malignant mouth ulcer disease that is spreading throughout the Devil population.

As research continues into the cause (likely to be a micro-organism), plans are being made to isolate a population of healthy beasts to protect against extinction.This may be in captivity or on Marie Island on Tasmania's west coast or on the Tasman Peninsula, south of Hobart.

Help Save the Tasmanian Devil.

See Devils at play here.

More info on Tassie Devils.

Sign a petition to help save the Devils.

Cracked Coconut

2007-03-15T12:23:00.000+11:00

Australia's PM, John Winston Howard (from here on referred to as Joh-Ho) is starting to look just a little nervous.

Sacrificing Human Services Minister Ian Campbell, in order to smear more Brian Burke dirt on Kevin Rudd seems to have backfired, with the muck falling away from Rudd like fried egg from a teflon saucepan.

Joh-Ho's army of sycophantic cyborgs - Ruddock, Abbott, Nelson, Minchin - will continue to spew the Government's doctrine, but some of the government backbenchers must be uneasy.

Its only 241 days till the next election - Thanks Ms Fits .

Backbencher 1 - "If the big coconut doesn't stick his finger in the dyke, it the end of me."

Backbencher 2 - "I don't feel like being flushed down the U-bend with that big turd........cant we do some thing."

Backbencher 1 - "We can't put Costello in charge.....The iceberg won't survive being towed to Canberra.......not enough substance"

Backbencher 2 - "Public won't buy it.....look at that smirk....you think he'd get that surgically corrected."

Backbencher 1 - "No-one else....we're stuffed.... the cabinet's full of frickin apple-polishers. No talent"

Backbencher 2 - Except......

Backbencher 1 - You thinking about.......

Backbencher 2 - Yep.....

Backbencher 1 - He's in a hurry. He's not interested in support positions. He's.....

Backbencher 2 - A republican! Yeah...........Joh-Ho's battlers will like that!

Backbencher 1 - Turnbull....you bloody lifesaver!

Real Apple Innovation

2007-03-12T22:21:00.001+11:00

Whilst Apple Inc often claims innovation, the current rumour that it may be about to introduce a flash memory based notebook would be real innovation.

Flash memory has the advantages of ruggedness and low power consumption compared to traditional hard-drive storage.

The hard drive is the staple storage medium because it has huge capacity and is very cheap. Hard-drives though,are fragile and prone to failure.

A scaled-down notebook with flash-memory and a full-sized operating system would be a real breakthrough (also the final nail in the coffin of the PDA and a real threat to the smartphone).

Confusing headline

2007-03-08T23:27:00.001+11:00

"Turkey slaps ban on YouTube"

What?

No more turkey-slaps on Youtube?

Am I going to have to start watching "Big Brother" again?

Apparently not.

Some sub-editor at The Age is basking in the glory of this amusing double entendre after the Turkish national telecommunications provider, Turk Telekom, was ordered to block access to Youtube by a local court.

Prosecutors alleged that videos on Youtube had insulted the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Ataturk is famous, in Australia, for his quote:

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives.. you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.

Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours..

You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace.

Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."

The statement was popularised by Midnight Oil in their song "Blossom and Blood".

QC Lets Fly

2007-03-04T19:13:00.001+11:00

As the tide of public opinion turns in favour of David Hicks, Robert Richter QC launched a stinging attack on Ruddoch, Howard, Downer and Co. here in the article from The Age 18 Feb 2007

Hypocrites breaking our law at every turn

More power to him.

Rate Your MD?

2007-03-03T23:27:00.001+11:00

Now this is strange...kinda fun though.

Canadians rate their doctors for all to see.

Some of the feedback is interesting.....

"NEVER ON TIME!"

"I waited a year and half to see him because of endometriosis, only to have him tell me to give up my career and get pregnant. "

"It really bothers me how many prescriptions she currently has me on, and I don't even know what they are for."

"I find the Dr. very disorganized. This Dr. needs a palm pilot."

and I REALLY love this one.....

"Inexperienced; inefficient; surly bedside manner; rough and incompetent during physical exam (in 50 years I have never been told by any doctor that they couldn't FIND my cervix!)"

This website is pure GOLD.

http://ratemds.com/canada/index.jsp

Things I Once Enjoyed

2007-02-27T00:02:00.001+11:00

Ageing is by definition both insidious and relentless.

Whilst you hold on, in desperation, to those memories of experiences dear to you, the influx of new information crowds, distorts and hides them.

Occasionally, the dam of irrelevant trivia will burst, allowing memories to flood your sensorium. The trigger might be a smell, a sight, a sound or some other prompt.

I recently had the opportunity to lay on the beach, in the sun, undisturbed.

How I loved doing this years ago. The warmth on my skin. A faint cooling breeze. The silence.

Other things I liked, but never do now...

Sleeping in till 12 noon.

Walking to the City and back for no particular reason.

Talking to someone I don't know in public.

Reading at the park.

Photographing stuff.

Playing music REALLY loud.

Walking around at home in my jocks.

Eating raw carrots.

Rockwiz Star

2007-02-25T22:18:00.001+11:00

You might have seen a delightful performance by Kate Miller-Heidke on Rockwiz last Saturday night.

I'm not familiar with this Australian singer-songwriter, but her solo at the start of the show was excellent.

She followed up with an interesting duet with Paul Dempsey, singing a Wham! classic from the Eighties.

What a great new talent. There are some free music downloads on her website.

Demand and Supply.

2007-02-18T22:59:00.001+11:00

A Meo245 cd available on eBay at $65.

Is that good value?

Right Wing Art?

2007-02-14T22:55:00.001+11:00

I came across a short article recently where the author lamented children not being exposed to right-wing poetry at school. Our scribe opined that such is the prevalence of left-wing writing, the young of today may not even be aware of the existence of such verse.

I was gob-smacked.

Like today’s neglected youth, I too am ignorant of this great body of work.

The odes of Andrew Bolt, verse of Franco and the limericks of Ronald Reagan have all escaped me.

To give them their due, they must be some wordsmiths these conservative poets. It’s no easy task finding words to rhyme with 'detention centre', 'xenophobia' and 'axis of evil'.

Hmmmmm.

There is no shortage of topics though…….. environmental scare-mongering, dangerous refugees, single mothers, university drop-outs, abortion, sedition and those pesky indigenous races…..all grist for the mill for an eloquent bourgeois lyricist.

Could be a dollar in it……..

Newscorp and Fox need content…….

Let’s try…..

There was a young lad from SA,

Captured in Kabul one day,

Alas Mister Hicks,

For your terrorist tricks,

In Cuba you’re going to stay.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Monday Movie Review

2007-02-12T22:27:00.001+11:00

It was a busy day at the Nova Cinema in Carlton today.

The lovely weather and discount price attracted plenty of punters.

However, "Breaking and Entering" was a major let-down. Certainly, the most daft film I've seen for some time.

Photographically beautiful and with a strong cast, this piece of fluff was let down by woeful story-telling.

Major plot twists, seemingly at odds with the prevailing circumstances, were largely left unexplained.

One sideline ended inexplicably and might have finished on the editing-room floor had it not provided the only good humour in a gloomy two hours.

While I wasn't too sure of the message here, it appeared to be either that a good hug will fix anything or that, if you are rich and stylish enough, it is okay to exploit those less privileged than yourself.

Mind your P's and Q's

2007-02-12T22:12:00.001+11:00

Mathew Dunkley reports in the Financial Review (Saturday 10 Feb) that there appears to be an increase in plaintiffs claiming damages, due to defamation, against authors of web-sites and blogs.

The conventional 'retraction' is also being tested in the courts in a case involving the Managing Director of the Housing Industry Association.

Bloggers may be well advised to keep to establisherd facts when expressing their opinions online.

Further, comments from readers should be reviewed and, if necessary, edited as soon as possible.

Happiness

2007-02-09T23:35:00.001+11:00

I was speaking to a psychiatrist today, not as a patient but as a colleague, when the topic of happiness came up.

I told her of a study I had seen which suggested that one's general level of happiness is fixed and will tend return to "normal" despite the occurance of either very joyous or very devastating events.

She told me that indeed, a person's cheerfulness is relatively fixed, but that there were some factors ( borne out by a longitudinal study of MDs in the USA) which were more highly associated with long-term happiness.

These factors were strong personal relationship(s), good health, not overexercising and sufficient funds to live comfortably.

Sounds plausible.

I am surprised that overexercising is in the mix though! I'd better be careful.

PS The tennis team played its first game. I was unavailable. We lost.

Executions in Australia

2007-02-03T23:10:00.001+11:00

It's now forty years since the execution of Ronald Ryan in Victoria.

It was Australia's last execution.

Last week I heard former journalist Brian Morley, a witness to the execution, describe the event on the Jon Faine radio program on 774 ABC.

I have heard Morley's description before. It has changed very little.

His description is of a ritualised killing, that so disturbed those present that some were physically ill and others, including Morley himself, remained profoundly affected for the rest of their lives.

Morley's story is harrowing. The horror of institutionalised killing is thrust into the listener's consciousness as Morley struggles to force words between sobs, such is his emotion.

By contrast, the Prime Minister John Howard coolly remarked on 3AW on August 8, 2003, "I am not supporting the reintroduction (of capital punishment) , I mean my position, let me repeat, is for reasons of pragmatic concern that the law from time to time will make mistakes".

A Four Corners report from 2002, contains some quotes from Brian Morley.

Amnesty International

PDF Reader

2007-01-30T23:47:00.001+11:00

Those who regularly download, read and save PDF files will, like me, have found considerable frustration when using Acrobat Reader.

At best, the Acrobat product is a large download, is slow to load and somewhat flaky in its rendering of files.

I've used Foxit Reader for a couple of years and found it very reliable.

Having been recently upgraded to Foxit Reader 2, it is better than ever and I recommend it highly.

Download Foxit Reader 2 here.

Here's a Gig for You

2007-01-27T21:28:00.001+11:00

Feb 3 2007
Lomond Hotel Nicholson St Brunswick (Melbourne).

Guitar, rock and folk legend Dave Steel with the Welcome Wagon and Tony Hargreaves 9-30pm.

See you there.

New Year Look

2007-01-08T00:11:00.000+11:00

A new look for a New Year. Still the garish colours but with new bio and "South Park"style pic. New font, too.
Oh , new year saw me working all day till 9.30pm then up early for a short work session from 8.30.
Note to self: Resolution - Work less this year.

Iraq Death Toll

2007-01-02T22:41:00.001+11:00

The US military losses have reached 3000. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There were no terrorist links. Iran sponsors much of the ongoing violence and, probably, will finally conquer Iraq. Iraq is now a haven for terrorist groups. No end is in sight for the occupying forces.

Saddam is strung up. A ritual killing performed to entertain and satisfy his enemies. The end of a brute whose rule showed no respect for human life. A demonstration that his successors have none either.

Sad.

New Year Resolution

2006-12-28T22:42:00.001+11:00

I've had success with this year's resolutions. They were achievable (important) and I've been largely able to stick to them.

I started playing regular sport, I've read more books and I've been going to bed earlier.

The reading has dropped off a bit lately as I've been bogged down in the literary equivalent of treacle. However, I'll be picking up the pace after I bought three novels on eBay for $10 delivered!

Tennis lessons didn't start till September, but I've made the effort, picked up some skills and have a team organised to start full-scale competition in February. I even bought some tennis shoes today so I'll be fitted out just right.

What of this years resolutions? The usual ones like drink less, be more patient, get out of bed earlier, can be trotted out, doomed to fail, but that's not what works.

I need some more a tangible goals.

My Dark Sports Secret

2006-12-21T23:09:00.001+11:00

I realise that as a blogger- just learning the ropes - I should have an aversion to sport and to celebrity sports people - but... this...

Warne over and out

No, No, No, No, No, No, No.......

Podcasts

2006-12-21T22:34:00.001+11:00

Of all the Web 2.0 technologies, I really love the podcast.

The freedom to choose the program that I want, when I want is very liberating.

How I despise being trapped in the car in peak hour gridlock with some FM bozo yelling at me between endless commercials for mobile-phone plans or some ' new ABC' presenter droning on about their lame topic of the day (yep Richard Stubbs and Lindy Burns, I mean you). Podcasts set me free.

My favouites at the minute are

Boxcutters

Film Buffs Forecast

Footy Heads (between seasons at the minute)

Also, as a one-off, John Doyle giving the Andrew Olle Lecture 2005.

Citizenship Test Leak

2006-12-13T23:22:00.001+11:00

Painfree has been given some drafts from the question bank for the Howard's new citizenship exam, the You're Oright, Bloody Beauty Ocker (YOBBO) test.

Two examples are:

Q22 You are informed by your navy that some asylum seekers drifting in to Australian waters are throwing their children overboard to avoid being turned away. Do you:

a) Ask for verification of the story.

b) Instruct the border protection agencies to expedite the transfer of the asylum seekers to the Australian mainland because they are clearly under duress and have taken leave of their senses.

c) Immediately feed the story to the media in order to score some cheap political points.

Q99

Your country has an indigenous population that has a twenty-year shorter life expectancy, four fold increased infant mortality as well as alcohol, violence and unemployment problems.

Do you:

a) Remove their peak body of representation.

b) Legislate to deprive them of reclaiming their tribal land.

c) Remove reconciliation from the national agenda.

d) All of the above.

Colin Hay

2006-12-06T23:06:00.001+11:00

Mark your diaries now. Colin Hay at the Corner in Melbourne on 12 January 2007.

iPod use now legal

2006-12-04T22:39:00.001+11:00

The Financial Review (2/12) reports that the Senate passed the Federal Government's new copyright laws after backing down on the 'single copy' stipulation of the legislation.

In draft form, the laws allowed for only one permanent copy of any copyrighted material to be kept by consumers. The Apple iPod however, creates a copy on both the user's personal computer as well as the iPod itself.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison conceded that the laws were excessively restrictive. "The amendment will...render legitimate the ordinary use of digital music players", he said.

Comment, Opinion, Thought

2006-11-29T23:17:00.001+11:00

Blogs enable everyone to publish their opinions. Some are researched and referenced, some is just opinion.

Unfortunately, the value of opinion is reduced as more unsubstantiated opinion is expressed. In the future, one will need to ground their opinion in some sort of fact or idea.

Sources of facts and ideas include news and commentaries published in any of the various media. They vary in quality.

One source of ideas I have been impressed with this year has been the series of commentaries from Mirko Bagaric in The Age.

Most recently he wrote of ethics in business, with particular reference to AWB. Whilst I don't necessarily agree with all he has to say, he makes elegant and convincing arguments. This intelligent approach to opinion is uplifting compared to some more popular columnists such as Bolt and Neil Mitchell.

Check out some of his publications, they are worth the mental gymnastics.

Mirko Bagaric is a professor at Deakin Law School.

Matt Moffitt Memorial Tour

2006-11-24T22:39:00.000+11:00

Fans (like me) of 80's and 90's rockers Matt Finish will need to cancel all appointments next week as the band reforms to pump out some of their classics live in Sydney and Melbourne.
The lineup is headed by band originals John Prior and Jeff Clayton along with newcomers Luke Dixon and Matt Cornell.
Original singer and songwriter Matt Moffitt died suddenly and prematurely in 2003, seemingly ending the chances of the band reforming. However dynamic drummer, John Prior, has organised and promoted this three gig tour through his business, Prior Promotions.
Hope to see fans and the curious next Thursday, 30 November, at the Corner in Melbourne. One show only.

Lethal Injection Ruling Soon

2006-11-23T21:23:00.001+11:00

A ruling on the challenge to lethal injection procedures in California is expected soon, reports the Death Penalty Information Center.

The presiding judge asked for additional briefings on the following:

- The monitoring an inmates conscious state during the execution process.

-Whether EEG monitoring had a role to play in reducing suffering.

-Whether medical doctors were required to supervise these executions.

-Whether pancuronium could be left out of the three drug sequence to reduce the chance of undetected pain.

-If a sole drug execution using barbiturate was viable.

CBS finds YouTube increases ratings.

2006-11-23T15:36:00.000+11:00

Podcastingnews reports that CBS has found that ratings increase for programs it has promoted by posting clips at Youtube.
A spokesman commented that it was "exciting" that CBS was learning more about its audience than ever before.
We may be seeing the genesis of a new content delivery model involving content originators, media businesses and internet vehicles.
I wonder what the music industry is making of all this.

Techo Crime Set to Explode

2006-11-20T23:32:00.000+11:00

New laws proposed by the Howard Federal Government are set to make criminals of all iPod users.

Under the proposed plan, owners of music CD's are permitted to make one main copy and a second temporary copy of the copyrighted material. the secondary copy must be destroyed as soon as possible.

However, a CD 'ripped' by Apple's iTunes gives the user a copy of the music on both their computer and their iPod. The iPod owner has committed an indictable offence and risks five years in gaol or a $65,000 fine, or both.

Why does the Australian Federal Government continue drafting complex legislation to protect the interest of music publishers?

The answer is at least partially in the conditions of the "Free Trade Agreement" signed recently with the USA.

Such protection is rarely offered to local industries but the full weight of the law will be felt by Australian consumers to protect foreign big business.

The modern capitalist manta of "Compete or Die" has suddenly gone missing.

A quaint, old-fashioned solution would be for the music industry to provide a better product at a cheaper price.

Helen Coonan on Broadband Speeds

2006-11-15T21:58:00.000+11:00

Apparently Australia's slow broadband speeds are actually a blessing!

Helen Coonan, the Communications Minister explained today.

"What we have to understand is that people have got an interest in being able to access the services they want on broadband, and very fast broadband may be more than people either want to pay for or that they need to suit their individual needs,"

Thanks Helen, but maybe consumers would like to make that choice themselves.

Crash

2006-11-15T21:55:00.000+11:00

I've had a computer problem that's taken some time to correct.

Subsequently, I've needed to restore all my settings and services.

I've only just got around to reactivating Microsoft Live Writer to maintain this blog.

Cheers.

Bash a Bolt

2006-09-12T23:02:00.000+10:00

We do admire the writers at the Politico-Technical "Bleeding Edge".

We particularly like the way they 'Bash the Bolt". We couldn't do it better.

Use of BIS in Lethal Injection

2006-09-10T22:32:00.000+10:00

The State of South Carolina has responded to the US District Court's ruling that a sufficiently medically trained person is present at execution by lethal injection to ensure that the prisoner is unconscious at the time of administration of the lethal doses of pancuronium and potassium, by adding BIS monitoring to its execution protocol.

In April this year, the state argued that "the BIS monitor can be employed and operated and values obtained, recorded, and interpreted by any health care providers experienced in using electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors, such as registered nurses, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians".

No Saddam, Terror links

2006-09-10T22:13:00.000+10:00

The ABC reports that a US senate report has found no evidence for a link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq before the US-led invasion in 2003.

The report said that Saddam had frequently rejected requests for meetings by representatives from Al Qaeda.

Alleged terror links were one of the reasons, along with the purported presence of WMD, that the 'coalition of the willing' launched their air and ground invasion on Iraq.

The Iraqi dictator was captured in December 2003 and is appearing before an Iraqi court in Baghdad on charges of crimes-against-humanity.

Twin Anniversaries

2006-09-08T10:43:00.000+10:00

This weekend marks the twin anniversaries of Pauline Hanson's maiden speech in the Australian Parliament (1996) and the terrorist attacks on the USA (2001).
By creating a new sense of fear, intolerance and xenophobia in Australia, there are no more significant events in the success of the Howard government, as Emma Dawson argues.

Telstra T3

2006-08-29T23:00:00.000+10:00

The Australian Federal Government has indicated that it is to sell a further third of its 51% shareholding the the national telecommunications carrier, Telstra.

The remaining two thirds well be transferred to the government's "Future Fund", to be sold down over time.

Whilst the Telstra share price is presently kept buoyant by high dividends, the pool of about one third of the company's shares in the Future Fund, selling into the market, may well provide a long term depressant to the stock.

Anaesthetists and the death penalty

2006-08-21T22:59:00.000+10:00

In his article in The Sunday Age, 20 August 2006, Peter Huck discusses the conundrum facing the judiciaries of the 38 death-penalty states of the USA.

The experience of pain during execution may make the death penalty unlawful under the 8th amendment of the US Constitution.

The court of Missouri has ordered that an anaesthetist be present at each execution to ensure that drugs are administered in a pain-free manner.

At present, the search for an anaesthetist willing to take up such a role has been fruitless, leaving the future of the death-penalty uncertain.

ABC dumps criticism of Windschuttle

2006-08-08T12:43:00.000+10:00

Comments critical of controversial historian and ABC board member Keith Windschuttle were edited from broadcast on Helen Razer's Sunday Arts radio program.

While the ABC claims the right to censor potentially defamatory comments, listeners who tune to the national broadcaster to hear 'vigourous debate' of controversial topics may have to look elsewhere if the debate involves any of the ABC's board members.

Welcome

2006-02-14T22:08:00.000+11:00

Welcome to this blog.