How to be pukka: a prominent Australian's advice

Original post 23 February: Should someone have saved our gracious queen?





The front page of today's Australian has a photo of Germaine Greer addressing the Queen of Australia, who seems to be taking what looks like an earbashing with very good grace. Any suggestions for a caption? And who is the woman in the middle? And one more: is the male in the background facing the camera Clive James?

Recently, in its report of the Kerry Packer memorial service, The Australian listed all those who attended. Can we have the same for Her Majesty's reception or does new money trump always trump old in these matters?


Update 24 February:

Ms Greer has given her version of her visit to Buckingham Palace in The Guardian . Some of this is reprinted in The Australian's "Cut & Paste" section though for some reason it is omitted from the online version.

Once you have decided to go, you are honour-bound to accept the house rules. Or so it seems to me. So once I crossed the gilded threshold of Buckingham Palace I didn't kick off my shoes, sit on the floor, light up a cigar or complain about the stinginess of the hospitality. I didn't buttonhole the Queen and ask her what she meant by serving wine from Chile and New Zealand at a reception for Australians working in Britain. And I did curtsy. Sort of. More of a bob really.

And later

Before entering mosques, mandirs and gurdwaras I take off my shoes. This is not because I believe in the God of the Muslims, the Hindus or the Sikhs, or any God, but because my hosts will be offended if I don't.

There have been occasions when I have been taken as a VIP visitor to holy shrines, and nothing but arrogance was expected of me, but I have offered reverence just the same. And I fancy the priests and the faithful have both appreciated it. When I went at dawn to the burning ghats in Varanasi I didn't take a camera; because I sat silent and still in my little boat, it was allowed to drift right up into the lee of the ghat, which was where I saw death full-face for the first time. I don't go into cathedrals in shorts and, if I remember, I wear a long skirt to Henley. Part of it is me wanting to show that though I am a hick from the sticks, I do know how to behave.

Like Ms Greer I've always removed my footwear before entering mosques and temples (on one occasion embarrassing myself by revealing a holey sock). My experience last year at Varanasi was however different to hers. When I went on a boat before the sun rose over the Ganga I did take a camera and used it (without flash). I didn't ask for the boat to go near the burning ghats (which are a relatively small proportion of the total) nor did I approach close to them later on foot,as I felt that to do so was to intrude too far into the religious practices of the Hindus. I was merely following my instincts: perhaps Ms Greer has received guidance from a power higher than herself?

Greens reign on Parade, or worst cask scenario?

This Sunday the Parade food, wine and music festival will be held in Norwood . In previous years the council's attempts to micromanage the event, eg by banning beer sales on the grounds that a beverage with plebeian connotations is not appropriate for such a hi-falutin' event, have ruffled more than a few feathers. This year, according to the official brochure "The Festival is a Green Event". Does this mean that it is part of the Greens election campaign, or merely that the peacekeeping authorities , presumably including some of the additional police promised by local resident Premier Rann in his electioneering, will remove bottles with the utmost rigour? As the brochure says:

The Parade is a 'GLASS FREE ZONE'. Due to licensing restrictions, no alcoholic drinks are to be served in glass bottles. Any glass bottles, whether purchased at the event or not, may be confiscated. This restriction will be enforced by police, liquor licensing and security personnel.

Taken literally, this edict limits wine sales to cask wines, which may come as a surprise to many of the winemakers whose products are on offer, unless they're using the event as a test marketing exercise for new varieties of container. I must say that the prospect of having sparkling wine poured from a cask (or a plastic container for that matter) doesn't appeal to me. But then everyone who's attended the event in the past will know that the gastronomic delights available are served on paper plates with, if you're lucky, plastic cutlery.

The "Master Glass Artist" who is programmed to give demonstrations of glass blowing must also be concerned about having the fruits of his labours confiscated.

David Irving given prison sentence

Although today's Australian reports that holocaust denier David Irving's defence lawyer was hoping for a suspended sentence in consideration for a guilty plea, the BBC reports that Irving has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The Australian's story has some interesting background information, including that in 2004 724 people were charged in Austria with holocaust denial or related offences (though apparently few were imprisoned). The BBC site contains some good links to other media reports.

No doubt there'll be a lot of comment about the decision, which Irving has said he'll appeal against. IMO Irving is a disingenuous ranter but imprisoning him, while unlikely to make him a martyr as some are claiming, will keep him on the margins of fame (celebrity?) instead of letting him slip out of the public mind.

Racist abuse closes cricket chat channel

The Age reports that a BBC chat cricket channel has had to be closed because of racist abuse. Yet another reminder of Orwell's description of international sport as war without the shooting.

Great performances as Australia wins series 2-1

The Australian has printed a picture of Ricky Ponting's catch in the cricket final last night. It is one of the greatest catches I've ever seen.

Adam Gilchrist and Simon Katich's centuries were also pretty good in their different yet complementary ways.

Blue over Curly

Today's print media devote a fair bit of space to the Michael Leunig cartoon hoax. The Australian and The Age as you'd expect adopt different positions which are reflected in the headlines of the former's first editorial "Poison Pen's Perils: Who knew Curly Pyjama was so big in Tehran?" and the latter's story "Caught in a hoax, Leunig finds it no laughing matter." Not unexpectedly some elements of the international media including the BBC have picked up the story.

Some interesting points have emerged from the affair to date:

1. The allegedly offensive cartoon was published in 2002 on the ABC's Media Watch website, where as I post it is still available. It would be interesting to hear Mr Balding's attempt to reconcile this with his banning of the Danish cartoons.

2. Today's Crikey suggests that the hoax was the work of persons connected (or with access to) Chaser. The SMH (but not The Age) has updated its online story to reflect this.

Call for another ABC head to roll

Michael Duffy, presenter of ABC Radio National's Counterpoint and occasional journalist, has incurred the wrath of Ben Oquist, a Greens advisor who has written in Crikey :

The ABC must sack Michael Duffy. An employee attempting to bring its employer into disrepute would not be tolerated by any other boss – public or private.

While obviously taking thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money through his salary from the ABC, Mr Duffy continues to run down our national broadcaster through public utterances like those in The SMH on Saturday.

Here's some of what Duffy said:

My view is the ABC ought not to provide middle-class welfare - those services that, if it withdrew from the market, would continue to be provided by private companies supported by advertising.

Much metropolitan radio and much television falls into this category. Instead, the limited funds available should be devoted to areas where the free market arguably fails: regional radio, high-quality local drama and documentaries, and commercial-free news and current affairs and children's programs.

Alternatively, the ABC should consider running advertising in entertainment programs. As SBS has shown, much of the opposition to advertising is no more than dated fundamentalism. In a prosperous and technologically abundant society, commercials are an important source of information.

It can even be argued that businesses have the right to reach the educated middle class through broadcast media, which the ABC's near-monopoly largely denies them. Fairfax and The Australian certainly suffer from being unable to advertise on 702 ABC Sydney or Channel Two. (Incidentally, under the existing legislation the ABC could run paid commercials now on its very successful website and its podcasting.)

I disagree with much of this, especially the assumption that if the ABC withdrew from some program areas commercial stations would step in and continue to provide the programs (or "services") , but don't see why Duffy or anyone else, whether or not they work for the ABC, shouldn't raise the questions he has. He's correct to point out that the world of broadcasting is changing and that the ABC must change with it. Although it's anathema to the likes of Oquist and the hierarchy of the Friends of the ABC, paid advertising along SBS lines would IMO make very little difference. ABC TV already devotes a significant amount of time to promotion of its programs and some ancillary services eg ABC Shops. Aren't they really commercials?

Oquist also implies that Duffy is the beneficiary of political patronage:

Mr Duffy owes his job at Radio National to politics. Unlike everyone else at the ABC who had to win positions on merit, Mr Duffy had a whole program invented by an ABC management desperate to pander to the Howard Government.

And nobody else at the ABC owes their job to politics? And everyone else there has won their positions on merit? Do pigs fly?

As for Counterpoint, when it began I thought that it might be a thinly camouflaged forum for neo-cons and others of similar disposition. While such persons are more likely to be given a platform here than on for example Late Night Live there are refreshing exceptions. This week's program featured a journalist from the UK Guardian (hardly an organ of the right) discussing his concept of Unspeak which he defines as "a mode of speech that persuades by stealth eg climate change, ethnic cleansing". Even Mr Oquist might learn something from this.

ABC treads cautiously around cartoons

Tonight's Media Watch on ABC TV spent some time discussing THE cartoons. Like almost all of the local media, it did not show them, though Monica Attard (the presenter) did read this letter from Russell Balding, the ABC Managing Director, explaining its reasons, which included having regard to freedom of expression, the ABC's role as an independent public broadcaster, the public interest, safety and security of ABC personnel and "our responsibility to treat all sections of society with respect" (whatever that means). Apart from reading the letter Ms Attard kept her lips sealed, yet her body language suggested that she might not entirely agree with her boss's edict.

The Media Watch website does however have a digest of links to Australian and international sites, including several which have published the cartoons, and reasons from other Australian media outlets for their decisions (or lack thereof).

Desert storm

The ABC reports

Natural resources company Halliburton Australia has rejected allegations of worker exploitation at its gas extraction plant in the South Australian desert.

A company spokesman says claims that four Indonesian workers received as little as $40 a day to dig ditches are unsubstantiated.

He says the workers were hired for skilled labour and were paid up to $US80 ($108) a day, as a bonus on top of their salary.

The Industrial Relations Minister has said his department will investigate the allegations.

The unspecified "South Australian desert" location presumably means the Moomba - Cooper Basin area in the north east of the state where, according to the Halliburton website, the company has a presence.

Anyone is familiar with the area will know that working in the open there at this time of year (and for several months either side) requires great physical strength and fortitude. If the reported bonus figure is correct the workers will certainly earn it.

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Wellbeing

Today the media, includingThe Australian and The Age , report on the "Australian Unity Wellbeing Index". This is based on surveys of people in each of the 150 or so federal electorates asking them to rate their level of satisfaction with seven aspects of their life: standard of living, health, relationships, achievement in life, safety, community connection and future security.

The Age summarises the findings:

"The happiest electorates tend to have lower population density, a high proportion of people over 55, more females, more married people, and less income inequality.

Importantly, they have a strong sense of 'connection to their community'."

Sunday morning TV emerges from aestivation

Dare I sat it but I'm a fan of the Sunday morning TV current affairs shows which today emerged from the cocoon of their summer aestivation. I switched (more accurately channel surfed) between Sunday on Channel 9 and Insiders on the ABC.

As usual Sunday had the wider ranging program including an inertview - correction interview - with the PM in which Mr Howard demonstrated his ability to deal with all that Laurie Oakes could throw (or gently lob) at him.

Insiders has been extended to an hour: a lengthy news bulletin at the beginning appears to soak up most of the additional time, though this may have been an illusion created by Kim Beazley's contribution, which embodied a disingenuous shafting of Simon Crean and disclosure of his new physical fitness regime (whichhe says includes regular swimming and walking) . It's a pity that he didn't disclose his plans (if he has any) to reduce his verbosity The panel is usually the most interesting part of the program, and today was no exception. The participants Virginia Trioli, Matt Price and, in the bogeyman's seat on the right of the set, Andrew Bolt. AB held his fire until VT had shown enough of her limited hand for him to trump her with some characteristically incisive questions and make her look a fool. MP maintained his customary composure and good sense leavened with some wry comments but had enough sense not to move into the crossfire between AB and VT. I rarely agree with Bolt but have a grudging admiration for his ability to focus on issues (usually on his terms) and to avoid being distracted by peripheral matters.

The ABC has augmented its Sunday m0rning schedule with Offsiders, a sports panel show which is an Insiders spinoff using the same set and some of the same cast. At least Barrie Cassidy looks (and sounds) like a sports caller and Matt Price, judging from his writings in the Australian, seems to have a good feel for many sports. But the other commentators are specialists, which means that they will be speaking a foreign tongue (or at best a dialect) if their sport, such as the various football codes, does not have a broad national following. Today the avuncular rugby commentator, whose name eludes me, was speaking to the converted, whih meant that he lost me after a couple of sentences. Perhaps Peter Wilkins, whose years doing the sports summary for ABC news have given him a working knowledge of most sports, could be drafted onto the panel.

One up to Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka last night defeated an Australian team which buckled under the pressure at some crucial stages, notably the last few overs of the Sri Lankan innings and intermittently during its own.

The Lankan fielding was excellent, with Dilshan outstanding: his run out of Martyn by hitting the stumps on the full from a swooping pickup was as good as you could hope to see . I don't know why he didn't win the player of the match award (as well as effecting four run outs he biffed some useful runs in the final overs of the Lankan innings and took a catch).

Richard Earle's report in today's Advertiser also gave evidence of buckling under the pressure of a tight deadline (" A comical series of mid-pitch brain explosions sabotaged Australia's chase of its 275 target to win Adelaide's inaugural final in front of 23,512 fans') though his version published on the Herald Sun website ("Dilshan throws spanner in works") is much more restrained.

Observations on the crowd's attitude to Muralitharan's bowling

When Murali began to bowl there were a few a few cries of "no ball" from some people (many of them children) near me but these were were countered by applause, and as he soon took a wicket the cries ceased while the applause continued.

Cartoon consequences

The brouhaha over the publication of the cartoons depicting Mohammed has now gone beyond words and pictures to physical attacks on embassies, as the BBC reports.

For a summary of other opinion see here. At the time of posting this site contained a link to the cartoons, which were first published in Denmark on 30 September last year.

The Australian media has been more circumspect in its reporting, perhaps in response to actions like this , a plea today from a senior Islamic cleric to the local media not to publish the cartoons.

Yesterday The Australian published an editorial "Democracies must not give way on freedom of speech", an assertively forthright defence of freedom of speech which included the statement "the right to offend within the law is fundamental to free speech". I totally agree with this, and would like to see more debate about the issues though I wonder whether The Australian will, given the escalation over the last few days, publish the cartoons as so many other media outlets have done. As they are so widely available on the internet I wonder whether much is to be gained from further publication in the print media, but I would like to see the discussion continue even though I cannot see any immediate resolution of Muslim grievances.

Rascal warlords at large

In today's Advertiser Richard Earle again lets himself go. He describes Shane Warne and Darren Lehmann as "warlords" who were "foretasting a beer and a cigarette" before the SA - Victoria match (or "decisive Pura Cup scrap") began today.

In the next paragraph the two protagonists metamorphose into "loveable rascals" who won't change since "no punter on the hill would want them to". It's nearly all there - drinking, smoking and even a hit of gambling. At least on this occasion there's nothing that looks, sounds or smells like racism, so the rascal warlords may escape the attention of the Indian Solicitor-General when he arrives on his fact-finding mission (see previous posting).

Australian cricket under investigation

Most of the media, the Australian cricket establishment and players are trying to sheet the blame for the alleged racism in cricket to a few spectators (persons of South African voice?) despite uncomfortable reminders such as this about recent events.

The International Cricket Council has appointed India's Solicitor General, Goolam Vahanvati, to investigate. In 2004 Mr Vahanvati was one of two ICC appointed investigators who produced a 73 page report for the ICC which found that there was no evidence of racism (or more precisely racism directed at white players) in Zimbabwe cricket at the time. As subsequent events have confirmed the astuteness of this conclusion, cricket followers may therefore be confident that Mr Vahanvati will produce a fair and balanced judgment once he has had the opportunity to assess the scene in Australia.

For my part I wonder whether the whole process is straining at a gnat to swallow a camel, or as today's Herald Sun put it

"Cricket Australia warns that offending spectators will continue to be kicked out.That is the way – not resorting to a major international inquiry into the aberrant behaviour of a few idiots."

Citizen du Plessis

ABC RN's Media Report today had a story about Deon duPlessis, a South African media entrepreneur who runs the Daily Sun, a newspaper for the "Blue Overall Guy" - not "man" as the ABC website puts it.

The paper has a print run of about half a million, the highest ever in South Africa, but no electronic version, apart from a weekly email circulated to prospective advertisers. Mr duP claims that he is assisting the upward mobility of the Blue Overall Guys (and their partners) by giving them stories they feel comfortable with eg sport (which, he made clear, means soccer, not cricket), and implausible events such as "woman raped by python" (does this make him a snake oil merchant?). Apparently his willingness to venture into the realm of magic has led to him being accused of racism.

For God's sake stop laughing, this is too serious...

A friend has drawn my attention to Rowan Atkinson's speech urging the British government to amend its religious hatred bill to allow criticism of religion by performers.

Some extracts:

All religions deserve equal freedom of worship and practice but none deserve the right to freedom from criticism. It is absolutely right and reasonable that religions should be protected from threatening language, behaviour and written material but I support the amendment to retain the right to abuse and insult, because of the essentially irrational nature of religious beliefs. That is not to dismiss them: indeed, I'm a great believer that the most important and most sustaining things in life are essentially irrational. Love, beauty, art, friendship, music, spirituality of whatever form, these things make no rational sense yet they are more important than any qualities that are rationally measurable.

.....

A key element of this revised bill is an attempt to distinguish between attacks on beliefs and attacks on believers, the former to be allowed, the latter disallowed but it is a distinction which, like so much of this bill, is of laudable intent but which in my opinion is doomed to fail. Beliefs are only invested with life and significance by believers. If you attack one, it is very difficult to claim that you are not attacking the other, because the believers are the only people who invest the beliefs with significance or can take responsibility for them. You wouldn't need to ridicule the beliefs if noone believed them. From a comedian's point of view, you cannot make a joke about a belief or a practice without characterising it in human form. Every joke has a victim and with a religious joke, it is bound to be a practitioner, even if the target is the practice.

.....

In my opinion, freedom of expression is being allowed to cause trouble, or create discomfort, or offence, as long as your words or behaviour are not threatening.

.....

I am not attempting to defend freedom of speech merely on behalf of my self and a few comedian friends. Freedom of speech is not the preserve of the white liberal or the black agnostic. I wish the oxygen of free expression to be available to all but it is not enjoyed by all and where its availability is most poor is often within religious communities. The very nature of a religion is that you subscribe to its beliefs at the expense of some of your individual free expression, the degree of sacrifice required depending on the nature of the faith, so it is hardly surprising that it is factions within religious communities who have lobbied so hard for this legislation. Those who are most keen to stifle the free expression of others are often those who do not enjoy true freedom of expression themselves. And therefore fear it.

This topic is very much in the news of late. For examples see this,this and this.

I saw the second of these on The Age website but I've not been able to link it, so have reverted to the original from the UK Daily Telegraph for the link. The Age story has a great headline "Bible belt around the ears as oldtime religion takes a hold" and an even better cartoon (by Cathy Wilcox) entitled "Wrestling for the Word", which depicts a wrestling match with an audience member saying "...now they're acting out the bit where Jesus gets Satan in a headlock..."

Will this be liable to prosecution in the UK if Rowan Atkinson's views are not heeded? Are there Australian laws which could be used for similar purposes?

Heading for the hills (again)

Today was cool so, partly to satisfy my curiosity as to whether yesterday's unusual weather (esp the low clouds/ mist) would (could?) be repeated, and partly to check whether weeks of heat induced torpor had sapped my strength, I roused myself and ascended Mt Lofty on foot.

It was overcast, but the clouds were higher than yesterday so it neither rained nor produced any special visual effects. Just above Chinaman's Hut (an official geographical name ) I saw this snake. I first noticed it as I passed by it on the track, jumped forward (ingrained prejudices die hard), turned around and composed (myself and) this photo.

I wasn't willing to get any closer ( ditto ingrained prejudices with a dash of folklore) but from 2 or 3 metres away I estimated that the reptile was 60- 70cm long, ie a juvenile. Although it looks pale my recollection (still sharp 7 hours after the event) is that it looked a bit darker than the photo indicates. I'd call it as an eastern brown. In my experience it's unusual to see a snake after spring (this one is my fourth sighting this season but the previous one was in November), and the few that I have seen invariably try to get out of my way (or what they perceive to be my way). This little bloke didn't move, though I was expecting it to make a dash across the path once I'd moved by. I didn't disturb it in any other way so I don't know in which direction it headed.

Mist opportunity

Today the temperature on the plains again rose above 30 degrees (as it has done almost every day this month), but in the hills it was a different story as this photo, which I took from just below the summit of Mt Lofty, shows. A wintry mist, accompanied by what felt to me like a winter temperature, enveloped the summit.

The mist was really low cloud. As I was walking home from the city I watched it rolling over the hills leaving only the tops of the TV masts poking through. I thought that there might be a photo opportunity or three, so drove up there, and was not disappointed.

I've seen similar conditions before but not often and never in January, or February, or March, or April, or December, or November.....

The his-story man

I have read the Prime Minister's address to the National Press Club . Much media comment has focused on the PM's references to the importance of history and history teaching, eg

Quite apart from a strong focus on Australian values, I believe the time has also come for root and branch renewal of the teaching of Australian history in our schools, both in terms of the numbers learning and the way it is taught. For many years, it’s been the case that fewer than one-in-four senior secondary students in Australia take a history subject. And only a fraction of this study relates to Australian history. Real concerns also surround the teaching of Australian history in lower secondary and primary schools. Too often history has fallen victim in an ever more crowded curriculum to subjects deemed more ‘relevant’ to today. Too often, it is taught without any sense of structured narrative, replaced by a fragmented stew of ‘themes’ and ‘issues’. And too often, history, along with other subjects in the humanities, has succumbed to a postmodern culture of relativism where any objective record of achievement is questioned or repudiated.

Part of preparing young Australians to be informed and active citizens is to teach them the central currents of our nation’s development. The subject matter should include indigenous history as part of the whole national inheritance. It should also cover the great and enduring heritage of Western civilisation, those nations that became the major tributaries of European settlement and in turn a sense of the original ways in which Australians from diverse backgrounds have created our own distinct history. It is impossible, for example, to understand the history of this country without an understanding of the evolution of parliamentary democracy or the ideas that galvanised the Enlightenment.

In the end, young people are at risk of being disinherited from their community if that community lacks the courage and confidence to teach its history. This applies as much to the children of seventh generation Australians or indigenous children as it does to those of recent migrants, young Australian Muslims, or any other category one might want to mention. When it comes to being an Australian there is no hierarchy of descent. Whether our ancestors were here thousands of years ago, whether they came on the First Fleet, in the 19th century, or whether we or our ancestors are amongst the millions of Australians who have come to our shores since the Second World War, we are all equally Australians – one no better than the other.

As a former history teacher I'm pleased to see him calling for an increase in the "numbers learning" (despite the mathematical- utilitarian associations of this phrase). When, however, he links this with a call for radical changes in the way history is taught my feet start to turn cold. He envisages a revised orthodoxy ("structured narrative") replacing the "fragmented stew" so that everything becomes much clearer to the students. His story (of Australia) becomes the new history.

Elsewhere in the address he presents his view of what the John Howard structured narrative might look like:

The great struggle of Australia’s first century of nationhood was to reconcile a market economy with a fair and decent society. At the start of the 21st century, we have found a healthier balance in our political economy between public and private – one in keeping with the times and the contemporary character of the Australian people.

What "great struggle"? This sounds like Marx or Lenin for dummies. How, for example, do the two wars and events within them such as Gallipoli, fit into this scenario?

On the other hand his comment about the "heathier balance" implies that we are well down the road to Utopia (and have switched to driving on the right hand side). At best is a self-serving view of current events, at worst hubristic balderdash.

For an alternative perspective see this.

Crescent Moon

Today I went to the Crescent Moon exhibition at the AGSA. I was expecting it to be good and it exceeded my expectations. The subtitle Islamic Art and Civilisation in South East Asia is a succinct summary of the content. The exhibition includes many examples of other traditions and cultures which influenced (or were influenced by) Islamic art and culture, such as fabrics and designs from India and China, aboriginal art depicting the Makassan traders who visited the north of Australia for centuries, and European china plates. One of many exhibits which remains in my mind's eye is a ceremonial umbrella made (with a generous supply of gold thread) in Rajasthan and exported to South East Asia.

The exhibition finishes its Adelaide season this weekend but is moving to Canberra from late February to March. For further details see here. If you can't get there the sumptuously produced guide is worth a look (or borrowing, or buying if you can afford $80).

Radio National again

Update: The ABC has since I posted this contacted me and apologised for the stuff up.


Just as I was composing a post congratulating ABC Radio National on its new program schedule I received an email from the producers of Bush Telegraph telling me that my guestbook post commenting on outback fuel prices had been approved.

This is what I submitted on 5 October last year:

Your report today on fuel prices in Central Australia may have been compiled when prices were at their highest. I drove from Darwin to Adelaide in early September on the last leg of an 8,500 km outback trip and was pleasantly surprised how low prices were compared to the cities now and compared to a previous trip in 1998. In September the difference between city and outback prices was rarely more than 20c a litre: about the same as it was seven years ago. Even where prices are higher they are usually justified by remoteness. Even if I don't need fuel I usually buy something from each roadhouse where I stop as they provide an important service to outback travellers.

Is this too controversial for the ABC to deal with promptly? At least they haven't edited/ censored it.

ABC Radio National

Today the Australian reports that the presenter of ABC Radio National Breakfast Program has been counselled for inappropriate comments. What he did was to ask David Hicks's US military lawyer a forthright question "if David Hicks is released, will it in fact be a very dramatic illustration that the only reason he's been in Guantanamo Bay over these past four years is because of the bloody-mindedness of the Australian Government?"

A forthright question, which should perhaps have been directed at the government but one which needs to be asked.

Earle's caught?

Today, despite all the competing demands for space in its sporting pages, the Advertiser gives a full bodied report of SA's defeat of Tasmania at cricket. The reporter seems to be parodying the old cricket writers who got paid by quantity (number of words) not quality, as in "the shimmering haze of a crazed Mediterranean heat drained SA's attacking energy in the first session" and [after a key wicket fell] "the repressive mood engulfing the Redbacks, desperate for maximum points, promptly lifted."

Need more? We are told that one of the Tasmanian players "executed a rebellious ton that included 15 boundaries and several mini-partnerships with the tail."

I checked to see whether Tasmanian readers were fed the same rich soup. Mr Murdoch's print media reach means that his Hobart outlet the Mercury can economise by taking the reports from the Advertiser's man on the spot. Perhaps the Mercury has better sub editors or perhaps Tasmanians are less tolerant of verbosity, because the Mercury's report, also attributed to Richard Earle is much less florid. The innings of the Tasmanian who the Advertiser said "executed a rebellious ton" is described by the Mercury as "a bold if fruitless 130".

Which came first: the Advertiser or the Mercury report, and who really wrote each? Is the real Richard Earle willing to stand up?

Rumours of Bill Lawry's replacement are exaggerated...

Just as I was thinking that Bill Lawry might have been eased out of the Channel 9 cricket commentary team he bounced back today with a description of the new gee-whiz sightscreen at the Docklands Sauna/ Stadium (sometimes ka Telstra Dome). He gave a boffinesque explanation of its technical features which made me sit up and listen and, for a while, ponder whether it was really him, or a soundalike, speaking. Fortunately the voice quickly followed up with an "it's all happening" which allayed my fleeting doubts. No one says it like Bill does (or as often as he does).

Putting which foot forward?

I haven't seen this mentioned in the conventional media though it's had a good run online. On the one hand it's reasuring to know that the US Vice President (one heartbeat or should it be one false step away from the Presidency?) is as fallible as many of us; on the other we may well wonder whether this man and his entourage of minders can't do better than this. For a more acerbic comment see
Wonkette

Snakes on the grass

There wasn't much venom in the pitch at Lahore where India and Pakistan have just played a high scoring draw which will keep the statisticians busy for many a day.

Herpetology and cricket aren't often linked but occasionally the two come together. In 2000 play in the Tamil Nadu - Punjab match at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai/ Madras (where tests are played) was interrupted by a snake in the outfield. The incident was mentioned in Wisden 2001 at p1395 and by The Hindu which reported, in a manner reflecting the Indian veneration of snakes, that the reptile "had to be guided out of the ground".

More recently in rural Victoria, as the Herald Sun reports "a deadly brown snake turned out to a be a lucky charm for a teenage cricket star". The young man in question took a hat trick two days after being bitten by the snake. The report doesn't state what happened to the snake: presumably it wasn't "guided out of the ground".

Stone throwing from within the glasshouse?

The Strewth column in today's Australian has an item "The untold story" which has a dig at The Age for allegedly not printing stories filed after 1pm. This is a bit rich given the Oz's propensity, at least in the edition printed and delivered in Adelaide, to overlook news breaking after lunch. The sporting coverage is especially deficient. Today's Oz has scores of yesterday's play in only two of the three first class cricket matches being played around the country and those only go up to lunch time (ie about 1pm). Things don't seem to have changed much since the Oz began 40 +years ago.

Highly recommended by...

I''ve borrowed the latest edition of the LP guide to Rajasthan, Agra and Delhi from the library to check out a few points about my trip last year.

The guide recommends this establishment. As the photo suggests so do I. The product range may be small but the business name says all that needs to be said.

It is an islet of order, great value and friendly service in a sea of noise and movement which verges on chaos.

Ascending Mt Lofty

As the weather today wasn't too hot ( 27.6 deg max in the city) I decided to walk from Waterfall Gully to Mt Lofty on the main (most direct) walking track, which has recently been reopened after repairs to damage caused by the November floods. During the closure walkers were diverted to other longer and IMO less attractive tracks elsewhere in Cleland Conservation Park.

To give them their due the National Parks authorities have moved relatively quickly and put in a replacement at the top of First Falls. The force of the torrent must have been considerable: for as long as I can remember a tree trunk segment with a diameter of at least 60cm had been wedged under the bridge.

The impact of the floods is still clearly visible. The torrent has cut a swathe through First Creek above the First Falls (the ones visible from the car park) so that it now looks as if it is possible to walk much of the way along the creek line without being obstructed by blackberries and other vegetation. It's almost as clear as I recall it after the Ash Wednesday fires 23 years ago.

Where the official walking track runs above the creek line, which is most of the way, it has escaped major damage. Only in one or two places, such as Wilson's Bog, has it been badly eroded but nowhere is it impassable to walkers who take reasonable care. The disabled access, which previously extended to the Second Falls, now only goes just past the top of the First Falls, so some further work will need to be done to restore the track to its previous condition. As a regular user I'd be happy to volunteer to help. What I wouldn't want to see is another long closure, such as happened a year or so ago when part of the track was closed for months to repair a small landslip.

The damage along Waterfall Gully Road is being repaired without closing the road (if there was the slightest hint that this might happen there would be a huge outcry from residents). Transport SA not the Burnside Council is doing this work.

As for the walk itself it was extremely pleasant (as it usually is). The steep climb in the upper part of the track made me sweat but as I reached the open ground on Davenport Ridge a cooler breeze kicked in. Near Wilson's Bog I observed a couple of firetails, a bird which I don't recall seeing in Cleland before, which is not to say that they are unknown there.

Time for the walk: just over 59 minutes (I was aiming to do it in less than an hour). As I'd not done it for a while I was quite pleased with this. I returned on the 823 bus which was well patronised, though everybody had a seat even on the connecting 165.

Groundbreaking research or just stirring the pot?

Today the Australian's gossip column Strewth reports that some enterprising researchers at the Macfarlane Burnet Institute have used their tea breaks (and other probably other time) to research the phenomenon of disappearing teaspoons. At first I thought this was a hoax, even though 1 April is some time away, but the BMJ website lists it.

Summertime

Here in Adelaide at this time of year we expect it to be hot, and it has been. What do I mean by "hot"? Start with 30 degrees C + and keep it at that level for a few days when old houses like mine absorb so much heat that it's cooler outside than in, except perhaps for an hour or two before dawn. Up north, eg Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Mt Isa, the temperature most days lately has risen above 40 deg. I've heard some locals from those parts say that they can cope because while it may be hotter the heat is drier (even when the monsoon storms and humidity move down from the north). Hmm.

This makes it sound unpleasant but humankind can bear a fair burden of climatic reality, ie is able to adjust. This doesn't mean business or exercise as usual but a sensible adaptation to the climate.

For my part in the hot weather I make the occasional daytime foray outdoors, usually to head to somewhere such as a cinema or library where I know it will be cool. When I emerge into the real Adelaide world hotbox I find that I can begin to appreciate the benefits of the climate, such as being bathed in warm air, and not having to wear layers of clothing. Unless a hairdryer wind is not blowing there is occasionally a brief cooling zephyr which temporarily mitigates the worst of the heat.

Language or dialect?

Another report from today's Australian tells us that teenage girls are the most powerful influence on the evolution of the English language around the world. "Language"? Why not "languages" or "dialects"? If not does this mean that I and many of my acqaintances are illiterate?

One ex-politician invokes the memory of another

In today's Australian Neil Brown, described as "a former federal minister and deputy leader of the Liberal Party" (do you remember when that was?) invokes some of Winston Churchill's recently published WW2 comments in favour of executing Hitler and his close associates summarily to support his view that more ruthless measures are needed to combat terrorism.

Mr Brown says (striving unsuccessfully to give a Churchillian ring to his words) " we will get nowhere if we are anything short of ruthless and if we continue to handicap ourselves, as we are now, by self-imposed moral and legal principles that are outdated, counter-productive, highly theoretical and guaranteed to do nothing but give the enemy an advantage that could ultimately lead to our defeat."

This is all very well, but note (1) the WW2 German leaders who were captured were put on trial (flawed though the processes were), (2) Saddam Hussein is currently on trial (no sub judice in Iraq?) and (3) Mr B is fuzzy about where all this might end (or if it will).

A commonsense view of David Irving

The BBC reports that Deborah Lipstadt, one of David Irving's major adversaries and one whom he has pursued (unsuccessfully) through the courts, thinks that he should be let go. Professor Lipstadt is quoted as saying "I am uncomfortable with imprisoning people for speech. Let him go and let him fade from everyone's radar screens." IMO an eminently commonsensical view.

US not in for long haul in Iraq?

Further to my post yesterday about Custer Battles the Washington Post recently reported that the US does see an end in sight for rebuilding Iraq. As usual John Quiggin has some apposite comments, as do many other bloggers - click on some of JQ's links or try a Google search for Ellen Knickmeyer to find out more.

Custer Battles in Iraq: is the last stand nigh?

See this from the current London Review of Books. Decide for yourself what is hearsay and what is heresy.

One of the US firms mentioned in the article is Custer Battles whose website describes Iraq as "a nation and marketplace wrought with challenges, obstacles, and malevolent actors. " Don't despair, because CB assures us " Iraq offers contractors, traders, entrepreneurs as well as multi-national enterprises an unprecedented market opportunity. The ability to identify, quantify, and mitigate this myriad of risks allows successful organizations to transform risk into opportunity. " Read on for more in this vein.

A word for our times?

The Age reports that a panel of linguists in the USA has voted"truthiness" as the best new word for 2005. It is defined as "the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts".

Words such as "doublespeak" at least assume that the user is conscious of the deception inherent in what they are saying. "Truthiness" gives liars, dissemblers and prevaricators a free hand to say what they like as long as they wish (not necessarily believe) it to be true. Will the "truthiness" defence come to be accepted in legal proceedings?

For other examples of trends which need watching see here .

Let's not forget that this year is the 60th anniversary of the publication of Geroge Orwell's Politics and the English Language an incisive essay which still scrubs up pretty well.

A cricketer of his time

Gideon Haigh is an erudite and elegant writer on cricket and other topics. Although he is generally thought of as an Australian, he reminds us in the introduction to A Fair Field and No Favour, his recently published collection of his writings on the 2005 Ashes tour, that he is English by birth and an English cricket supporter.

Cricinfo has just published a piece by him on Bert Ironmonger , the pre -Second World War slow left arm bowler.
The title "Tough in life and in cricket" sums it up well:

His was the Australia of rural hardship: Ironmonger was the youngest of ten children to a farming family who had to abandon working an uneconomic block north-west of Ipswich, whereupon at twenty-five he became a labourer on the railways. His was also the Australia of long-term labour: after arriving in Melbourne in December 1913, and working as a barman and tobacconist, he took a job as a gardener with the St Kilda City Council, tending parklands with a handmower until the age of 70, even though his wages were suspended when he was away from work playing cricket.

Ironmonger is the member of a genus of Australians almost vanished from today's land of plenty, a man of what used to be called steady habits,: he was frugal, conservative, neither smoked nor drank, and lived with his wife and children in the same unprepossessing house, with flower beds and vegetable patch, for forty years; they did not have a telephone until 1939, and never owned a car.