There is a thesis in why some deaths are more newsworthy than others. 50 people die in London and it is high news, more than that number die every week in Iraq, and we barely notice, while our need for mobility led to an average 31 deaths each week […] Continue Reading…
July 11, 2005 | Graham
Primate monkeys around with industrial policy
How’s this for a variation on pundits predictions? If I had blogged on it I would have predicted that Philip Aspinall would become Primate of Australia, so can I count it as a successful prediction even though I never got around to committing a word to electrons?
It was obvious. […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 10:46 pm |
Comments (1)
July 09, 2005 | Graham
In the war on terror we are all footsoldiers
Last time an event like the London bombing occurred I deliberately left this page blank in what I thought might be the blogger’s version of half-mast. This time I just didn’t post. It’s not that I didn’t care. It’s that I cared enough that if I didn’t have anything […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 6:13 pm |
Comments (4)
July 07, 2005 | Graham
They must be guilty
Apprehensions of bias will create actual bias, at least in the case of two health bureaucrats who are threatening to take the Morris Royal Commission to court. Actually, one of the bureaucrats, Peter Leck appears to have stepped back, while keeping the threat alive, no doubt a face saving […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 12:27 pm |
Comments Off on They must be guilty
July 04, 2005 | Graham
Can Schapelle come up with the goods?
Schapelle Corby is to have her case reopened. This would appear to be her last chance to work out what the Indonesian justice system is really about. It is not about abstract notions of justice, it is about power, influence and most significantly, money.
Probably the stupidest thing that has […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 11:14 pm |
Comments (6)
July 03, 2005 | Graham
Sandra Day O’Connor retires
Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court has retired. Justice O’Connor tended to be the swing judge on the US Supreme Court, with some difficult-to-predict decisions. For example, on affirmative action she ruled against legislation that took account of race in federal government […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 1:59 pm |
Comments (1)
July 01, 2005 | Graham
Roger, Dr Stone
Another entry for my yet to be constructed database of predictions is climatologist Dr Roger Stone of the University of Southern Queensland and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
On the first of June ABC Rural carried these pars:
The prospects for normal winter rainfall and crops have deteriorated, with […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 3:56 pm |
Comments Off on Roger, Dr Stone
July 01, 2005 | Graham
39th balance of power Senator
Neophyte Senator Barnaby Joyce is hogging the limelight this morning on a false premise. While the Howard Government theoretically takes control of the Senate today, it is not because of Joyce’s election, but that of Russell Trood, the third elected Liberal Senator from Queensland.
So I thought it was worth […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 9:28 am |
Comments (1)
June 30, 2005 | Graham
Judicial officers lose their majesty
Two of the undercurrents lurking in the Fingelton saga are the increasing politicisation of court appointments and the increasing willingness of judicial officers to go public.
We published a piece yesterday by Senator Joe Ludwig, who was is Federal ALP Justice Spokesman, suggesting alternative, transparent approaches to the essentially political […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 7:05 am |
Comments (1)
June 29, 2005 | Graham
Fisycian heal thyself
In all the Wagnerian sound and fury as Di Fingleton swoops on the Queensland legal and political establishment blaming everyone but herself for her conviction and incarceration I have yet to hear anyone ask one of the more basic questions. If the High Court’s intepretation of the relevant section […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 7:42 am |
Comments (3)