Thursday, 25th of September, 2003

Couple of interesting links via the always-interesting Electrolite, blog of science fiction editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

Here’s a post and discussion about Mel Gibson, the Australian icon who is considerably more bigoted than our beloved Prime Minister. All-out misogyny and thinly-veiled anti-Semitism…

And The Head Heeb is a blog I’ll have to look at more closely soon, by a somewhat contrarian American Jew, and his celebration of “Arrival Day 2003” looks fascinating.

Michael Moore’s been falsely accused of one too many things, and has decided to dedicate a page on his website to refuting the claims of the NRA and other right-wing lobby groups. Read it here. As he says,

Total number of lawsuits to date against me or my film by the NRA? NONE. That’s right, zero. And don’t forget for a second that if they could have shut this film down on a technicality they would have.

Sometimes the Sydney Morning Herald’s Quick Crossword makes me cranky. Especially, it seems, when “NS” writes it.
Look at today’s, for instance:

12 Across: A large, leather military boot (8)
The answer? JACKBOOT!
25 Across: A band or strip of a different colour (6)
Answer? STRIPE!

I mean, am I asking too much to expect that the answer isn’t part of the clue? Let’s take a look back a week ago:

2 Down: The Greek letter with the sound of “th” (5)
Answer is of course THETA but can I point out that if the “th” is voiced, it would be DELTA? (Pronouned “THELTA”, with the first sound like “th” in “this”) – so perhaps “A Greek letter…” would be a little more accurate.
7 Down: Inherited family name (7)
It’s a SURNAME, yeah.
And dare I object to:
13 Down:Woman who sells goods in a store (9)
the answer to which I was horrifed to discover was SALESGIRL. “Woman” becomes salesGIRL? What decade are we living in? Dear “NS”, may I point you to the Macquarie Dictionary? Look up SALESGIRL and we’re told:

a woman employed to sell goods, in a shop, store, etc. [commerce]
Usage: See note at girl.

So we head over to GIRL, where we are told:

Usage: Many women do not like to be referred to as ‘girls’. However this is a form of reference which has been common in the past and which survives still particularly amongst people of an older generation. Moreover it has been entrenched in such combinations as switchgirl, salesgirl, etc., terms which are gradually being abandoned or replaced.

I would’ve hoped, I guess, that the SMH was actively engaged in this abandonment and replacement. Oh well.
One more:
10 Across: Errors in printing (6)
It’s ERRATA. How hard would it be to put “Mistakes in printing (6)” or something?

Annnnyway, all gripes aside, I do think that having the Quick and the Cryptic Crosswords available on the net is pretty cool, and the interface is really nice. Bravo!

Wednesday, 24th of September, 2003

Thanks to Charlie Stross for more depressing news about the world in general.
Project Censored’s Censored 2004 lists the top 25 news stories that got suppressed in the last year, including The Effort to Make Unions Disappear, U.S. Military’s War on the Earth (“…varied and persistent appeals by the Pentagon to Congress for exemptions from a range of environmental regulations and wildlife treaties”), and more.
Meanwhile, The Guardian, still the world’s best newspaper, reports here that the Bush administration is largely ignoring “its own scientists’ evidence of global warming”.

Thursday, 11th of September, 2003

This is a great article on why iTunes Music Store is just as crap as the rest of the music industry. Joy!
I don’t think p2p filesharing is necessarily the answer to everyone’s problems – I don’t have that much faith that most inveterate downloaders will pay the artists for their pleasure, although some no doubt will. But given how little most musicians make from their recordings anyway, the whole “p2p is killing the music industry” really is a big beat-up, and direct downloading of the iTunes variety just lets the record labels screw the artists in new ways.
Not that FourPlay would let anyone screw us ;) FourPlay knows the score.

Wednesday, 3rd of September, 2003

Carmen Lawrence writes movingly in yesterday’s webdiary about the appalling situation of refugees in Port Hedland Detention Centre.

Meanwhile Australia’s (and still probably the world’s) greatest science fiction author Greg Egan continues to devote enormous time, effort and passion to the refugee cause. Here’s his contents page for writings on Asylum Seekers, and here’s a piece called No Sugar that he wrote back in February 2002.

Margo Kingston’s webdiary, in which Carmen Lawrence’s story appeared, is always great reading. She is merciless about the lies our government continues to peddle, more than just about anyone else in the mainstream press.

While we’re at it, here’s Jack Robertson from a few weeks back on being Green.

Tuesday, 2nd of September, 2003

Naomi Klein writes on the War on Terror in her usual perceptive and clear manner in this Guardian article from last Thursday.
The War on Terror (or, charmingly, the WoT) is a handy excuse for deflecting investigations of human rights issues or war crimes. It’s a “deadly franchise”, and unless more people like Klein speak up, it’ll continue to be an insidious one.