Important Research on Drop Bears

These are very nasty critters.

This should be read by anyone venturing into the bush.

Especially those lacking Australian accents.

Note the precautions -

These include wearing forks in the hair, spreading Vegemite behind the ears or under the armpits, and even urinating on oneself, to deter the species.

H/T Phil.

We* are better than this

I'm reblogging this from Above the Fold, because it is well thought through and well written.

I also agree with large parts of it, especially as it refers to the way that federal Labor has behaved since June 2010.

I'd add a couple of reasons to those listed as to why the writer continues to support Labor.

One is that the alternative is worse. I have no desire to see my country governed by the spivs and squareheads that I remember from the Bjelke-Petersen era in Queensland.

The fact that we have been dragged back into that environment by possibly the biggest liar to occupy the Premier's chair in Queensland is also a timely reminder.

The other reason is that the current government has done more for the people I work with than any government since Whitlam.

Having said that, since Rudd's demise, the Labor party has moved so far to the Right, that it no longer represents my political values.

That leaves, of course, the Greens, who on many policies have inherited the old Labor values of fairness, equity and compassion, that have been handed down to me by my parents.

I'm uncomfortable with some of their policies, but would support them in the senate and Labor in the Reps, unless something weird happens before the next election.

*I'm not a member of any political party. I just nicked Monkey Typist's title.

What He Preaches

Pic courtesy CNN

I'd like a dollar for every word that's been penned about the new pope.

There's conjecture about whether he'll take the church off in a new direction, whether he's progressive or conservative, and the significance of his choice of title.

All of this will sell newspapers and lift ratings, but maybe it's worth looking at what he's actually saying.

This is the text of his homily at the Inauguration of his Papal Ministry.

Some interesting extracts -

 The vocation of being a "protector", however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God's creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. 

And - 

Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be "protectors" of creation, protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.

And finally -

To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!

There's a consistent theme through this homily.

See if you can pick it up.....

Rainy Night in Georgia

Time for something a bit laid-back, and matching a rainy Toowoomba afternoon.

The man's a genius....

Journalism - A Future?

After listening to Mark Colvin deliver the most recent Andrew Olle memorial lecture, and reading this insightful post from Mr Denmore, I am not feeling remotely optimistic about the future of journalism in this country.

 I can see the reputation of this previously noble profession morphing into something resembling that held by used car salesman and purveyors of imitation Persian carpets.

Mr Denmore describes the corporate media trying to convince us that a free press and unrestrained corporate power are one and the same.

They aren’t – never have been and never will, be, but the objectivists out there (and the media moguls who have sold out integrity at the altar of unbridled profit) are working feverishly to convince us that they are.

The biggest threat to a free press in this country is, quite simply, this same unrestrained corporate muscle.

The quickest and most effective way to curtail press freedom is to buy it. If you buy enough media, you can control it. If you own almost all of it, the politicians (and those who elect them) become your playthings.

Unrestrained control of publication becomes a problem when it is owned by a monopoly, especially when that monopoly crosses national boundaries, and is largely unanswerable to any form of national accountability.

That situation is a long way from anything than can be described as a "free" press. It is already upon us in this country.

Colvin’s view is pessimistic also, but for a different reason. He sees the demise of conventional news gathering as we have known it for decades in favour of news sources running the gamut of social media, blogging, and corporate pay-to-view sites such as Fox News.

With this, he sees the end of frank and fearless reporting, sacrificed at the altar of the 24 hour news cycle, and what will sell copy, or lift ratings. The journalistic skills of research, fact-checking, testing the accuracy of information from all sources and exercising care to avoid inadvertent error are no longer employed.

Besides, the cycle is so rapid, that there isn’t time for due diligence.

Colvin has some interesting ideas about crowd-sourcing and the use of social media, but his bottom line is negative.

It looks like it’s up to humble bloggers like you and me to keep the bastards honest.

 Onwards and upwards….

The Irish

The Russians may be  different, but the Irish are unique. Reblogged from the Failed Estate.

Those Russkies Again

Apparently dash cameras are common in Russia.

As result, we have an avalanche of You-Tube clips of Russians doing crazy things on the road.

Here is an example. I wish I'd had that presence of mind when I was subjected to something similar a few years ago...