ideas
Chris in a recent post over at Points of Information has a nice perspective on compulsory voting: "forcing indifferent people to turn out means that you drastically increase the amount of noise in your electoral system, reducing the quality of the results you get". One thing Chris might
ideas
More food for thought from Ally about women, men & feminism ... As Ally notes, "What too many women do not understand is just how privileged we truly are - especially in today's climate in the free world. We are not caged by our womb - we are
ideas
According to Yvonne Roberts, society has not shaken off stereotypes of mothers, homemakers or tarts : Why a man can't see the other woman Hmmm, of course there are no negative stereotypes associated with men. That's why they are so happy that they are killing themselves at
ideas
John Howard claims that "Labor [is] returning to IR 'dark ages'", The Sydney Morning Herald, August 7, 2004 But the Opposition workplace relations spokesman, Craig Emerson, said Labor was proposing a federal system similar to that now operating in NSW and Queensland, two of the strongest
ideas
It is fascinating to note the abundant and well groomed hair of all of the Presidential candidates in the US. This is very different to Australia where neither of the current contenders for Prime Minister has very good hair at all. In fact, a recent survey by Wahl - the
ideas
Killer Clutter - 25 June 2004Irritable Desk Syndrome I just knew it. Sitting at your desk all day is bad for you! Meetings, on the other hand, are good for you. There is the exercise you get on the way to and from the meeting, the interaction with other people,
ideas
Gmail is a fabulous idea. But I cannot wait until it gets out of beta. Current performance issues have been a little frustrating, as has the problem in receiving emails from hotmail. It feels like it is not on a production level server as there are lots of time-outs. The
social computing & social media
Points of Information is an amusing Canadian take on the quaint Australian custom of compulsory voting in elections (i.e. the government punishes you by way of a fine if you cannot be bothered to get of bed and cast a vote in municipal, state & federal elections). As Tim
civil society
Source: The Failure of the Human Potential Movement: From Self-Actualization to Experientialism (c) 1998 Geoffrey Hill This is a relatively old essay but it gives a good critique of the Human Potential Movement and the impact that this and related ideologies have had on modern western society. The focus on
civil society
Why. Let's face it, politics is confusing. Sometimes it's difficult to know who to believe, who to listen to and who to support. We're here to help. Posting on a regular basis are editors representing each major party. Stay informed. " Source: WatchBlog: 2004
civil society
Source: "Warning to problem gamblers: clock off", John Stapleton, The Australian, Sat 24 Jul 2004, p. 111 At the very least every measure like this that reduces the responsibility of an individual to make their own life choices & creates a dependent individual. Over time this increasing regulation
civil society
The Left Behind series by Tim La Haye & Jerry Jenkins is a phenomenon that has just recently been noticed by some in the mainstream press. It is a 12 book series commencing with Left Behind (ISBN: 0842329129) and culminating with Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (ISBN: 0842332375). But