Fellow travellers' tales | Features | The Australian
Interesting story by Imre Salusinszky on a conference looking at the phenomena of the Australian academic "fellow travellers" who went to the Soviet Union and loved what they saw.
I like this line best:
As for McAuley, Tasmanian critic Cassandra Pybus found his anti-communism such a puzzle in her 1999 book, The Devil and James McAuley that she was forced to put it all down to suppressed homosexual impulses.
Obviously.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
An interesting test for hidden dimensions
New Scientist SPACE - Breaking News - Mini solar system could reveal hidden dimensions
I wonder, do readers like the way I can jump from talking crap (see last post) to theoretical physics?
Anyhow, the story above proposes an slightly odd sounding experiment to test for hidden dimensions. (Build a tiny version of a solar system and run it in space.) Neat.
I wonder, do readers like the way I can jump from talking crap (see last post) to theoretical physics?
Anyhow, the story above proposes an slightly odd sounding experiment to test for hidden dimensions. (Build a tiny version of a solar system and run it in space.) Neat.
Toilet humour to start the week
Foreign Correspondent - 04/07/2006: India - Untouchables
For those who missed last week's Foreign Correspondent, the link above is to a transcript of the story on toilets in India. (Or more particularly, about the lack of toilets there.)
Some extracts:
BORMANN: It’s staggering that in a country of one billion people 80 percent don’t have a toilet and most in cities and towns aren’t connected to a sewage system anyway. That’s eight hundred million people going in the open in rivers, under bridges, anywhere they might hope to get some privacy.
The footage showed that indeed there is little privacy there. Not much sign of toilet paper for the poor masses either.
The story showed the undertouchable woman whose job it was to clean out the "toilets" in some houses. These were accessed from an external hatch, with the poor woman covering the poop with some dust, putting it in a bucket, then going a short distance and putting in an open running gutter/drain in the street!
Oddly enough, said a woman from a charity that specifically is all about building toilets:
It’s not that this is a poor man’s problem, in many places people have the money to build houses but they do not think it necessary to create a toilet or to construct a toilet.
I don't mean to sound too impolite, but compared to the rest of the world, it's kinda taking a long time for this idea to catch on , isn't it?
The story also featured an odd man in a toilet museum. His funniest line was:
The day you give a clean toilet to a lady she will never go on the road to do this thing.
I'm pretty sure any man will go for the toilet over using the river, too.
India in many respects sounds a very interesting place to visit. I assume that smell is not one of them, though.
For those who missed last week's Foreign Correspondent, the link above is to a transcript of the story on toilets in India. (Or more particularly, about the lack of toilets there.)
Some extracts:
BORMANN: It’s staggering that in a country of one billion people 80 percent don’t have a toilet and most in cities and towns aren’t connected to a sewage system anyway. That’s eight hundred million people going in the open in rivers, under bridges, anywhere they might hope to get some privacy.
The footage showed that indeed there is little privacy there. Not much sign of toilet paper for the poor masses either.
The story showed the undertouchable woman whose job it was to clean out the "toilets" in some houses. These were accessed from an external hatch, with the poor woman covering the poop with some dust, putting it in a bucket, then going a short distance and putting in an open running gutter/drain in the street!
Oddly enough, said a woman from a charity that specifically is all about building toilets:
It’s not that this is a poor man’s problem, in many places people have the money to build houses but they do not think it necessary to create a toilet or to construct a toilet.
I don't mean to sound too impolite, but compared to the rest of the world, it's kinda taking a long time for this idea to catch on , isn't it?
The story also featured an odd man in a toilet museum. His funniest line was:
The day you give a clean toilet to a lady she will never go on the road to do this thing.
I'm pretty sure any man will go for the toilet over using the river, too.
India in many respects sounds a very interesting place to visit. I assume that smell is not one of them, though.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Islamophobia and The Guardian
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Out of a cycle of ignorance
The link is to a Guardian column by American John Esposito, in which he complains about Western Islamophobia.
I don't have time to double check his take on the recent polling of Muslim nations, but I do recommend the reader's comments following the article for some very strong counterarguments. I like "Ryans" post in particular, which is a bit too long to copy here.
The link is to a Guardian column by American John Esposito, in which he complains about Western Islamophobia.
I don't have time to double check his take on the recent polling of Muslim nations, but I do recommend the reader's comments following the article for some very strong counterarguments. I like "Ryans" post in particular, which is a bit too long to copy here.
Rats supporting conservatives, again
news @ nature.com-Rats taking cannabis get taste for heroin-Study suggests cannabis-users may be vulnerable to harder drugs.
Here we go again. Nothing terribly conclusive about the above work, but yet again a case of drug research seemingly coming round to validate old fuddy-duddy conservative's long held suspicions about marijuana:
Neuroscientists have found that rats are more likely to get hooked on heroin if they have previously been given cannabis. The studies suggest a biological mechanism — at least in rats — for the much-publicized effect of cannabis as a 'gateway' to harder drugs.
The discovery hints that the brain system that produces pleasurable sensations when exposed to heroin may be 'primed' by earlier exposure to cannabis, say researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, who carried out the study.
I note that one site criticises the report, but on some fairly spurious grounds:
But the article did not note that the problem with the “gateway theory” is that the vast majority of cannabis users never try harder drugs. While most illegal drug users start with the most widely available illegal drug — marijuana — most marijuana users start and stop with cannabis. Some 50 percent of high school students try marijuana before graduation, but just eight percent try cocaine, six percent try methamphetamine and less than one percent try heroin. This is why the Institute of Medicine, in a 1999 report on the use of marijuana as medicine, gave no credence to the gateway idea.
In fact, the news@nature report does talk about the role of social issues when you talk of "gateway drug". The point of the study was clearly stated as this:
There has long been a debate about whether exposure to drugs such as nicotine or marijuana might lead to harder habits. Many argue that the most important factors in the equation are social ones: people who get one drug from a dealer are probably more inclined to try another. But researchers are still interested to know whether there is any physiological effect that might additionally predispose users of so-called soft drugs to harder-drug addiction.
Fair enough. Seems to me to not be too much point in being nitpicky about what exactly the "gateway theory" means, if studies do confirm use of cannibis means greater addiction to harder drugs if you try them. (Even if it is only social reasons as to why you have the opportunity to try them.)
UPDATE: Futurepundit's post on this story points out that it should be no surprise. Early alcohol use is a clearly related to increased alcoholism in future too:
In results that echo earlier studies, of those individuals who began drinking before age 14, 47 percent experienced dependence at some point, vs. 9 percent of those who began drinking at age 21 or older. In general, each additional year earlier than 21 that a respondent began to drink, the greater the odds that he or she would develop alcohol dependence at some point in life. While one quarter of all drinkers in the survey started drinking by age 16, nearly half (46 percent) of drinkers who developed alcohol dependence began drinking at age 16 or younger.
Here we go again. Nothing terribly conclusive about the above work, but yet again a case of drug research seemingly coming round to validate old fuddy-duddy conservative's long held suspicions about marijuana:
Neuroscientists have found that rats are more likely to get hooked on heroin if they have previously been given cannabis. The studies suggest a biological mechanism — at least in rats — for the much-publicized effect of cannabis as a 'gateway' to harder drugs.
The discovery hints that the brain system that produces pleasurable sensations when exposed to heroin may be 'primed' by earlier exposure to cannabis, say researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, who carried out the study.
I note that one site criticises the report, but on some fairly spurious grounds:
But the article did not note that the problem with the “gateway theory” is that the vast majority of cannabis users never try harder drugs. While most illegal drug users start with the most widely available illegal drug — marijuana — most marijuana users start and stop with cannabis. Some 50 percent of high school students try marijuana before graduation, but just eight percent try cocaine, six percent try methamphetamine and less than one percent try heroin. This is why the Institute of Medicine, in a 1999 report on the use of marijuana as medicine, gave no credence to the gateway idea.
In fact, the news@nature report does talk about the role of social issues when you talk of "gateway drug". The point of the study was clearly stated as this:
There has long been a debate about whether exposure to drugs such as nicotine or marijuana might lead to harder habits. Many argue that the most important factors in the equation are social ones: people who get one drug from a dealer are probably more inclined to try another. But researchers are still interested to know whether there is any physiological effect that might additionally predispose users of so-called soft drugs to harder-drug addiction.
Fair enough. Seems to me to not be too much point in being nitpicky about what exactly the "gateway theory" means, if studies do confirm use of cannibis means greater addiction to harder drugs if you try them. (Even if it is only social reasons as to why you have the opportunity to try them.)
UPDATE: Futurepundit's post on this story points out that it should be no surprise. Early alcohol use is a clearly related to increased alcoholism in future too:
In results that echo earlier studies, of those individuals who began drinking before age 14, 47 percent experienced dependence at some point, vs. 9 percent of those who began drinking at age 21 or older. In general, each additional year earlier than 21 that a respondent began to drink, the greater the odds that he or she would develop alcohol dependence at some point in life. While one quarter of all drinkers in the survey started drinking by age 16, nearly half (46 percent) of drinkers who developed alcohol dependence began drinking at age 16 or younger.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Hitchens time again
Cause and Effect - It's time to stop blaming the good guys for problems in Iraq. By Christopher Hitchens
It's been a little while since Hitchen's last Slate column on Iraq. The new one is pretty good though. (It even has a bit of Bush bashing to keep everyone happy.)
The final paragraph though is good:
Whatever its disagreements over the initial confrontation may have been, the international community has a moral and legal obligation, expressed in a major U.N. resolution, to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq and to support its elected government. This cannot happen while serious powers like Russia use even their own victims to make the wrong point. And it cannot happen while so much of the intellectual and media life of this country is infected with Putinism: a nasty combination of the cynical with the unrealistic.
It's been a little while since Hitchen's last Slate column on Iraq. The new one is pretty good though. (It even has a bit of Bush bashing to keep everyone happy.)
The final paragraph though is good:
Whatever its disagreements over the initial confrontation may have been, the international community has a moral and legal obligation, expressed in a major U.N. resolution, to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq and to support its elected government. This cannot happen while serious powers like Russia use even their own victims to make the wrong point. And it cannot happen while so much of the intellectual and media life of this country is infected with Putinism: a nasty combination of the cynical with the unrealistic.
What a laugh
Beazley against history revival | News | The Australian
Beazley and the State education ministers do nothing to help their credibility by their poo-pooing (or should that be "pooh-poohing"? - my education has gaps) reaction to the Federal proposal to get history back to some fundamentals. Teachers being so highly unionised, what else can the Labor side say?:
KIM Beazley has dismissed the push by federal Education Minister Julie Bishop to reinstate the teaching of traditional Australian history in schools as an "elite preoccupation"...
South Australian Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said: "We believe the necessary facts in a child's education should be determined by teachers and experts in the field, not politicians."...
Tasmanian Education Minister David Bartlett said he was "horrified" by the proposal and added: "If this is a stalking horse for John Howard's personal Australian history being taught inschools then I am not interested."
What a hoot! Problem is, I strongly suspect that most of the public would be well on side with the Federal government on this one, and don't like teachers setting the agenda (or coming up with unintelligible methods of reporting progress). It's just that the educational academics (and many teachers) don't realise it. Or think they know what is best anyway.
Beazley and the State education ministers do nothing to help their credibility by their poo-pooing (or should that be "pooh-poohing"? - my education has gaps) reaction to the Federal proposal to get history back to some fundamentals. Teachers being so highly unionised, what else can the Labor side say?:
KIM Beazley has dismissed the push by federal Education Minister Julie Bishop to reinstate the teaching of traditional Australian history in schools as an "elite preoccupation"...
South Australian Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said: "We believe the necessary facts in a child's education should be determined by teachers and experts in the field, not politicians."...
Tasmanian Education Minister David Bartlett said he was "horrified" by the proposal and added: "If this is a stalking horse for John Howard's personal Australian history being taught inschools then I am not interested."
What a hoot! Problem is, I strongly suspect that most of the public would be well on side with the Federal government on this one, and don't like teachers setting the agenda (or coming up with unintelligible methods of reporting progress). It's just that the educational academics (and many teachers) don't realise it. Or think they know what is best anyway.
Palestinian apologist ignores rockets
'Dispute' or 'occupation?' - Opinion - theage.com.au
The Age has a staff writer today come to Hamas' defence. Interesting that while the capture of CPL Shalit is mentioned (in a way to suggest that it is wrong to blame the Palestinian Authority for that), the continual rain of missiles from Gaza into Israel since the withdrawal from Gaza is not.
Question: why should Israel recognize the Hamas "government " when it acts as if it has no intention of policing itself to prevent terrorist attacks from Gaza into Israel?
That the "man in the street" in Gaza suffers to varying degrees from Israel's response is not really in doubt. But why don't they take the line that they have to show real self governance to prevent the counterproductive provocation? How hard would it be for a "real" government anywhere else in the world to have patrols to see where the missiles are being launched from, or built?
The column also says:
Hamas, meanwhile, has limited itself to de facto and not de jure recognition of Israel because it understands that the sovereignty which stands in need of recognition is not Israeli but Palestinian. Or, to put it another way, the question is not "is Israel?" but " where is Israel?"
To be honest, I don't quite follow what Hamas (or elements of it) have said recently about "de facto" recognition of Israel. But, as far as I know, no one is questioning that those towns now receiving missiles from Gaza are definitely Israeli towns.
UPDATE: for an opinion piece that does seem to talk realistically about the whole Palestinian problem, see this one in the Jerusalem Post. An extract:
I still believe what I've always believed - that Israel has no right to rule the Palestinians, that ruling them is bad, not good, for Israeli security, so it's both immoral and impractical for Israel to gobble up the only territory the Palestinians have for their own.
However, the belief I've lost is that the Palestinians are a basically rational, reasonable nation, that they can be talked into putting down their weapons and making peace with Israel - if not out of goodwill, than out of their own self-interest.
What I believe now is that only Israeli military deterrence, which will no doubt require the periodic use of force, can get the Palestinians to stop fighting.
I strongly recommend it. Pity it ends on such a pessimistic note, though.
The Age has a staff writer today come to Hamas' defence. Interesting that while the capture of CPL Shalit is mentioned (in a way to suggest that it is wrong to blame the Palestinian Authority for that), the continual rain of missiles from Gaza into Israel since the withdrawal from Gaza is not.
Question: why should Israel recognize the Hamas "government " when it acts as if it has no intention of policing itself to prevent terrorist attacks from Gaza into Israel?
That the "man in the street" in Gaza suffers to varying degrees from Israel's response is not really in doubt. But why don't they take the line that they have to show real self governance to prevent the counterproductive provocation? How hard would it be for a "real" government anywhere else in the world to have patrols to see where the missiles are being launched from, or built?
The column also says:
Hamas, meanwhile, has limited itself to de facto and not de jure recognition of Israel because it understands that the sovereignty which stands in need of recognition is not Israeli but Palestinian. Or, to put it another way, the question is not "is Israel?" but " where is Israel?"
To be honest, I don't quite follow what Hamas (or elements of it) have said recently about "de facto" recognition of Israel. But, as far as I know, no one is questioning that those towns now receiving missiles from Gaza are definitely Israeli towns.
UPDATE: for an opinion piece that does seem to talk realistically about the whole Palestinian problem, see this one in the Jerusalem Post. An extract:
I still believe what I've always believed - that Israel has no right to rule the Palestinians, that ruling them is bad, not good, for Israeli security, so it's both immoral and impractical for Israel to gobble up the only territory the Palestinians have for their own.
However, the belief I've lost is that the Palestinians are a basically rational, reasonable nation, that they can be talked into putting down their weapons and making peace with Israel - if not out of goodwill, than out of their own self-interest.
What I believe now is that only Israeli military deterrence, which will no doubt require the periodic use of force, can get the Palestinians to stop fighting.
I strongly recommend it. Pity it ends on such a pessimistic note, though.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Not smart Part II
IAF strikes school, Internal Ministry building in Gaza | Jerusalem Post
As a sign that at least certain elements in Gaza do not want any form of quick resolution to the crisis there, an even longer range missile is shot into Israel:
The attacks came after a Kassam rocket traversed a record range of 12 kilometers and landed Tuesday night for the first time in the heart of Ashkelon, sending the city's 120,000 residents into a state of fear that their city would be bombarded by rockets like Sderot has since the disengagement last summer.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert termed the Kassam attack a "grave escalation" for which Hamas is responsible and for which there will be far-reaching ramifications.
As a sign that at least certain elements in Gaza do not want any form of quick resolution to the crisis there, an even longer range missile is shot into Israel:
The attacks came after a Kassam rocket traversed a record range of 12 kilometers and landed Tuesday night for the first time in the heart of Ashkelon, sending the city's 120,000 residents into a state of fear that their city would be bombarded by rockets like Sderot has since the disengagement last summer.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert termed the Kassam attack a "grave escalation" for which Hamas is responsible and for which there will be far-reaching ramifications.
Taxing airplane gas in Europe
Air fares 'to double' as Europe votes for green tax - World - Times Online
From the above:
AIR passengers will be charged up to £40 extra for a return ticket within Europe to pay for the environmental impact of their journeys, under plans approved by the European Parliament yesterday.
MEPs voted in favour of the “immediate introduction” of a tax on jet fuel for flights within the 25 member states of the EU. The charge would double the cost of millions of budget airline flights.
This is going to go over a treat with the public.
Some more:
Andrew Sentance, BA’s head of environmental affairs, admitted that aviation could account for almost half of Britain’s total CO2 emissions by 2050, compared with 6 per cent today.
Something tells me that such figures are likely to be rubbery in the extreme.
Meanwhile, what is to be done about China and India?
From the above:
AIR passengers will be charged up to £40 extra for a return ticket within Europe to pay for the environmental impact of their journeys, under plans approved by the European Parliament yesterday.
MEPs voted in favour of the “immediate introduction” of a tax on jet fuel for flights within the 25 member states of the EU. The charge would double the cost of millions of budget airline flights.
This is going to go over a treat with the public.
Some more:
Andrew Sentance, BA’s head of environmental affairs, admitted that aviation could account for almost half of Britain’s total CO2 emissions by 2050, compared with 6 per cent today.
Something tells me that such figures are likely to be rubbery in the extreme.
Meanwhile, what is to be done about China and India?
Death of a parapsychologist
Guardian Unlimited | Obituaries | John Beloff
Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of parapsychology would have heard of the name of John Beloff. He's now off finding out first hand if there is life after death.
From his obituary above comes this piece of irony:
By the time Beloff visited Rhine, he was already acquiring a reputation as a psi-inhibitory experimenter - that is, an experimenter whose presence seemed to discourage the appearance of evidence for psychic functioning. None of his experiments yielded positive results.
He sounds just the right sort of person for this line of inquiry, though:
In an area where passions run high and opinions too often are guided by prejudice, Beloff relied on data and reason. He had no theistic inclinations; and always demonstrated an even-handed approach to the material and to opposing points of view. So although he never overtly encountered the paranormal first-hand, and although he never succeeded in obtaining evidence for psychic functioning in his own experiments, he saw no choice but to accept at least some of the evidence for ESP, PK, and survival of death.
Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of parapsychology would have heard of the name of John Beloff. He's now off finding out first hand if there is life after death.
From his obituary above comes this piece of irony:
By the time Beloff visited Rhine, he was already acquiring a reputation as a psi-inhibitory experimenter - that is, an experimenter whose presence seemed to discourage the appearance of evidence for psychic functioning. None of his experiments yielded positive results.
He sounds just the right sort of person for this line of inquiry, though:
In an area where passions run high and opinions too often are guided by prejudice, Beloff relied on data and reason. He had no theistic inclinations; and always demonstrated an even-handed approach to the material and to opposing points of view. So although he never overtly encountered the paranormal first-hand, and although he never succeeded in obtaining evidence for psychic functioning in his own experiments, he saw no choice but to accept at least some of the evidence for ESP, PK, and survival of death.
Shuttle sightings
Thank God the shuttle launched successfully. A 4 July takeoff disaster would have attracted no end of commentary on the dire symbolism for the United States.
In Brisbane, there would seem to be many morning opportunities to see the shuttle in the next few days, and one evening opportunity low to the north. From the Nasa website comes this list for Brisbane (more details are at the site):
SHUTTLE
Wed Jul 12/05:44 AM
Thr Jul 13/06:05 AM
Fri Jul 14/04:55 AM
Sat Jul 15/05:17 AM
Sun Jul 16/05:39 AM
Tue Jul 18/04:52 AM
Wed Jul 19/06:20 PM
It is good to show it to young children.
In Brisbane, there would seem to be many morning opportunities to see the shuttle in the next few days, and one evening opportunity low to the north. From the Nasa website comes this list for Brisbane (more details are at the site):
SHUTTLE
Wed Jul 12/05:44 AM
Thr Jul 13/06:05 AM
Fri Jul 14/04:55 AM
Sat Jul 15/05:17 AM
Sun Jul 16/05:39 AM
Tue Jul 18/04:52 AM
Wed Jul 19/06:20 PM
It is good to show it to young children.
The Alan Jones affair
Disputed book 'may out Jones' - Top stories - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au
Well, Mike Carlton gives voice to the reasons that everyone must have already suspected were behind concerns that Master's biography of Alan Jones will attract a defamation action. (That sentence will make absolutely no sense to a reader from overseas.)
I have just a few comments:
1. Defenders of ABC left wing bias often allege that it is just balancing up the right wing media bias as demonstrated by Alan Jone's power. But, surely all moderately thoughtful right wingers, who generally hold down jobs and don't sit around listening to Sydney daytime radio, don't find Jones persuasive or very likeable, do they? And if he is seen to have political influence on "struggle town" listeners, aren't they are exactly the type who virtually never listen to or watch the ABC to get the counterbalance to the Alan Jones bias.
2. How anyone finds him even likeable as a media personality has long been beyond my understanding.
3. There is little explanation in the media of the point that in legal actions, the winning party is generally awarded costs (that is, they are to be paid by the loser). However, the way legal costs are done means that there is always a significant percentage of the total costs to the client that will not be recoverable from the loser. As a rough rule of thumb, I think this can be around 30% of the total costs, but probably it depends from case to case and in which jurisdiction. I imagine that if you have a bunch of QC's involved it might be higher, but I am just guessing.
Therefore it is not inconsistent to have a legal opinion saying that the ABC should win a defamation action, but still to have the commercial concern about how much money may be lost in defending it. As I take it that profit from Australian published books is not all that high (given the limited market), it seems reasonable grounds for concern for a commerical enterprise.
4. That said, it is easy for the likes of Phillip Adams to paint this as a case of political appointments to the ABC board acting politically. It would be good if they could defend themselves of that charge. (Does anyone know what the 3 most controversial members of the board think of Jones anyway?)
5. If the book is published by someone, which seems likely, then no one has been denied the dubious pleasure of reading the biography anyone. (And Chris Masters can stop moaning as if all his work is for nought.)
UPDATE: Oh. Keith Windshuttle has denied he was involved. Good.
Well, Mike Carlton gives voice to the reasons that everyone must have already suspected were behind concerns that Master's biography of Alan Jones will attract a defamation action. (That sentence will make absolutely no sense to a reader from overseas.)
I have just a few comments:
1. Defenders of ABC left wing bias often allege that it is just balancing up the right wing media bias as demonstrated by Alan Jone's power. But, surely all moderately thoughtful right wingers, who generally hold down jobs and don't sit around listening to Sydney daytime radio, don't find Jones persuasive or very likeable, do they? And if he is seen to have political influence on "struggle town" listeners, aren't they are exactly the type who virtually never listen to or watch the ABC to get the counterbalance to the Alan Jones bias.
2. How anyone finds him even likeable as a media personality has long been beyond my understanding.
3. There is little explanation in the media of the point that in legal actions, the winning party is generally awarded costs (that is, they are to be paid by the loser). However, the way legal costs are done means that there is always a significant percentage of the total costs to the client that will not be recoverable from the loser. As a rough rule of thumb, I think this can be around 30% of the total costs, but probably it depends from case to case and in which jurisdiction. I imagine that if you have a bunch of QC's involved it might be higher, but I am just guessing.
Therefore it is not inconsistent to have a legal opinion saying that the ABC should win a defamation action, but still to have the commercial concern about how much money may be lost in defending it. As I take it that profit from Australian published books is not all that high (given the limited market), it seems reasonable grounds for concern for a commerical enterprise.
4. That said, it is easy for the likes of Phillip Adams to paint this as a case of political appointments to the ABC board acting politically. It would be good if they could defend themselves of that charge. (Does anyone know what the 3 most controversial members of the board think of Jones anyway?)
5. If the book is published by someone, which seems likely, then no one has been denied the dubious pleasure of reading the biography anyone. (And Chris Masters can stop moaning as if all his work is for nought.)
UPDATE: Oh. Keith Windshuttle has denied he was involved. Good.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
The "rat community" gets uptight
1,000 pet rodents euthanized; rat lovers furious
From San Francisco comes a story which uses political language in a context that just makes me giggle. (There's also a twist that no journalist could resist):
Rat lovers were furious Wednesday that a Petaluma animal shelter had euthanized more than 1,000 of the rodents taken last week from a man who had been hoarding the creatures inside his home.
Roger Dier, 67, was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty last week after animal control officers found hordes of squealing rats inside his dingy one-bedroom house in Petaluma. Nancee Tavares, the city's Animal Services manager, had promised to find homes for as many rats as possible but admitted Wednesday that some 1,020 of them had to be put down. ...
Rat fanciers, who had formed an e-mail chain called "petalumarats" in an attempt to find homes for the rodents, were horrified. The shelter was bombarded Wednesday with angry phone calls and e-mails. Most members of the rat lobby felt they had been misled.
"This is an unspeakable injustice to those rats who deserved better," Phyllis Mason, a self-described rat lover, wrote in an e-mail. "Why didn't the Petaluma Animal Shelter give us a chance to help? ..."
Tina Bird, of Campbell, said the rat community was in the process of mobilizing when the rodents were killed.
"Maybe they would have been better advised to leave the animals in their horrible conditions until we, the rat community, had a few days to get moving," she wrote in an e-mail...
Now for the odd connection:
She said Dier, a convicted armed robber who first gained notoriety when his home in Southern California was used as a hideout for two men later convicted in the 1963 plot to kidnap the son and namesake of Rat Pack leader Frank Sinatra, didn't seem like a bad guy, just a bit troubled.
"He's an intelligent man to talk to, but he smells like rat urine," Tavares said.
There are photos to the story too, if ever you wanted to see the effects of having a thousand rats lose in your house. (The rats themselves are pretty cute, in my books.)
From San Francisco comes a story which uses political language in a context that just makes me giggle. (There's also a twist that no journalist could resist):
Rat lovers were furious Wednesday that a Petaluma animal shelter had euthanized more than 1,000 of the rodents taken last week from a man who had been hoarding the creatures inside his home.
Roger Dier, 67, was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty last week after animal control officers found hordes of squealing rats inside his dingy one-bedroom house in Petaluma. Nancee Tavares, the city's Animal Services manager, had promised to find homes for as many rats as possible but admitted Wednesday that some 1,020 of them had to be put down. ...
Rat fanciers, who had formed an e-mail chain called "petalumarats" in an attempt to find homes for the rodents, were horrified. The shelter was bombarded Wednesday with angry phone calls and e-mails. Most members of the rat lobby felt they had been misled.
"This is an unspeakable injustice to those rats who deserved better," Phyllis Mason, a self-described rat lover, wrote in an e-mail. "Why didn't the Petaluma Animal Shelter give us a chance to help? ..."
Tina Bird, of Campbell, said the rat community was in the process of mobilizing when the rodents were killed.
"Maybe they would have been better advised to leave the animals in their horrible conditions until we, the rat community, had a few days to get moving," she wrote in an e-mail...
Now for the odd connection:
She said Dier, a convicted armed robber who first gained notoriety when his home in Southern California was used as a hideout for two men later convicted in the 1963 plot to kidnap the son and namesake of Rat Pack leader Frank Sinatra, didn't seem like a bad guy, just a bit troubled.
"He's an intelligent man to talk to, but he smells like rat urine," Tavares said.
There are photos to the story too, if ever you wanted to see the effects of having a thousand rats lose in your house. (The rats themselves are pretty cute, in my books.)
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