Picture two different women competing in the Australian team at the recent Athens Olympics. The first had the misfortune to injure herself a few weeks prior to competition. She had surgery & vowed to compete in the games. Jan Pitman ran in the 400m hurdles at the Games, but she came 5th largely due to her recent knee surgery. Her response to the disappointment? ” … Continue reading Olympics – two sides of the same coin …
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 not understand about the Australian electoral system (him being a ‘foreigner’ to these shores and all) is that … Continue reading More on Compulsory Voting …
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 given abilities and boundaries that are broader than men will ever have. We can choose to have children – … Continue reading What is it with Baby Boomer Women?
According to Yvonne Roberts, society has not shaken off stereotypes of mothers, homemakers or tarts : “It is striking how a number of recent events have revealed the enduring power of traditional stereotypes – not least the bad girl and the good mother, now defined by the Vatican as showing the traits of “listening, welcoming, humility, fruitfulness, praise and waiting”. The bad girl is, for … Continue reading Strange thoughts on women & men …
John Howard claims that “Labor [is] returning to IR ‘dark ages’“, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 7, 2004 “The Prime Minister, John Howard, has slammed Labor’s workplace relations plan as antiquated and irrelevant, warning of a return to the regulatory dark ages should the Opposition win government. But the Opposition workplace relations spokesman, Craig Emerson, said Labor was proposing a federal system similar to that … Continue reading Labor returning to IR ‘dark ages’
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 hair clipper manufacturer – indicated that: “the majority of Americans overwhelmingly voted for Bush’s hair over … Continue reading American Presidential Candidates & their Hair
Killer Clutter – 25 June 2004: “Cluttered desks, poor posture and hours spent in front of a computer are damaging the health of office staff, with increasing numbers suffering Irritable 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 … Continue reading Union Safe: News: Killer Clutter – 25 June 2004
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 recent improvements to gmail – e.g. the import contacts – are also good. If they … Continue reading Gmail – progress to date
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 Poon comments: “Well, I dunno. I appreciate that voter participation is a key part of democracy, but … Continue reading Points of Information – We’re off to see the wizard
“I’m convinced that when an atmosphere is created which puts an extreme emphasis on experience over understanding, that atmosphere will inevitably create and encourage infantile selfishness.” 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 … Continue reading The Failure of the Human Potential Movement: From Self-Actualization to Experientialism
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