The Japan Times Online - Straight girls look to gays for a little fun
According to this article (perhaps of dubious reliability), some straight Japanese women are spending time in gay bars to "buy" male prostitutes ("urisen"). Isn't there something wrong with this picture?:
"My husband thinks it's OK to buy these urisen boys," she tells the other women, after explaining that the couple has an open and very liberal relationship.
And why the preference for young gay men, instead of, say, hosts? "Because hosts reek of alcohol and their skin is leathery," she giggles.
More importantly, though, she appreciates the more laid-back style of gay bars as opposed to host bars. "I was surprised when I first went to an urisen bar. Although there were a lot of guys, none of them were trying to push themselves onto me."
The expression "duh" comes to mind.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Italians and TV
BBC NEWS | Europe | Too sexy for Italian television
A couple of odd things from this story about Italian TV: until recently, the weather report was done by military forecasters. (Scroll down the report to see a picture.) More surprisingly, Italians may be getting tired of the gratuitously semi-dressed female form popping up on TV all the time:
Men in many countries would surely be more than happy to see so much flesh on show on their screens - but why do Italian channels offer so much more than those in other countries?
There are two reasons, according to Professor Michele Sorice, who teaches History of Radio and Television at Rome's main university.
"On one hand the TV variety programmes come largely from Italy's show tradition, which has always featured half-naked dancers," he said.
"On the other hand it comes from a terrible lack of ideas," he added.
But things could soon start to change.
Mr Sorice believes viewers are already sick of these programmes. Surveys show they watch, but criticise them harshly.
"I think even Italians are a bit bored with always seeing undressed women on the television," Mr Sorice said.
"The proof of this is in the fact that the biggest hits on Italian TV in recent months have actually been the period dramas."
Speaking of such things, has anyone else noticed how the most sexually explicit European cinema (by far) now seems to come from Spain? Yet they still have a low birthrate. Strange world.
A couple of odd things from this story about Italian TV: until recently, the weather report was done by military forecasters. (Scroll down the report to see a picture.) More surprisingly, Italians may be getting tired of the gratuitously semi-dressed female form popping up on TV all the time:
Men in many countries would surely be more than happy to see so much flesh on show on their screens - but why do Italian channels offer so much more than those in other countries?
There are two reasons, according to Professor Michele Sorice, who teaches History of Radio and Television at Rome's main university.
"On one hand the TV variety programmes come largely from Italy's show tradition, which has always featured half-naked dancers," he said.
"On the other hand it comes from a terrible lack of ideas," he added.
But things could soon start to change.
Mr Sorice believes viewers are already sick of these programmes. Surveys show they watch, but criticise them harshly.
"I think even Italians are a bit bored with always seeing undressed women on the television," Mr Sorice said.
"The proof of this is in the fact that the biggest hits on Italian TV in recent months have actually been the period dramas."
Speaking of such things, has anyone else noticed how the most sexually explicit European cinema (by far) now seems to come from Spain? Yet they still have a low birthrate. Strange world.
Copycat death
A sad history of life — and death — imitating art - Opinion
This is an interesting commentary piece from The Age about the history of copycat suicides (that follow fictional ones.) I did not know that this had such a well established history.
The story is in reponse to the call for a new Australian film, about teenage angst, to have its "R" rating reduced. (I guess because some adults think that teens undergoing teen angst really want to watch other teens having the same problems. Well, that's a little unfair, I suppose they think it has an educative effect. But isn't it a fair bet that the great majority of teenagers who would be interested in seeing it would be the type who are already sympathetic to the type of issues portrayed and don't need to learn more about it?)
This is an interesting commentary piece from The Age about the history of copycat suicides (that follow fictional ones.) I did not know that this had such a well established history.
The story is in reponse to the call for a new Australian film, about teenage angst, to have its "R" rating reduced. (I guess because some adults think that teens undergoing teen angst really want to watch other teens having the same problems. Well, that's a little unfair, I suppose they think it has an educative effect. But isn't it a fair bet that the great majority of teenagers who would be interested in seeing it would be the type who are already sympathetic to the type of issues portrayed and don't need to learn more about it?)
Sheehan on Einfeld
The Einfeld Follies: a study in ego - Opinion - smh.com.au
Einfeld does not come out smelling of roses, as you may expect when Sheehan is getting stuck into a lawyer.
Einfeld does not come out smelling of roses, as you may expect when Sheehan is getting stuck into a lawyer.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
This won't hurt a bit
The case for genital mutilation. By William Saletan - Slate Magazine
I've mentioned before the weird zealotry and obsessiveness that is on display in most of the anti-circumcision websites. "Foreskin restoration" strikes me as just about the funniest thing that could have a support group.
The Slate article above gives a good survey of it all, including the somewhat uncomfortable fact (for the anti-cutting movement) that widespread use of circumcision in Africa would have helped a lot of people (and not just men) avoid HIV.
I've mentioned before the weird zealotry and obsessiveness that is on display in most of the anti-circumcision websites. "Foreskin restoration" strikes me as just about the funniest thing that could have a support group.
The Slate article above gives a good survey of it all, including the somewhat uncomfortable fact (for the anti-cutting movement) that widespread use of circumcision in Africa would have helped a lot of people (and not just men) avoid HIV.
Anywhere near Uranus?
Hey, a juvenile pun for a title is well deserved when you see what some people spend their time thinking about:
"...I’m writing an article on what I’m calling “spaces of utopia”. I’ve been thinking about festivals, dance parties, raves, protests, political marches/parties like Mardis Gras as the sorts of spaces that have a certain potential to embody the lived experience of a different social order. I think time has a lot to do with this, because like sacralised time, the experience of time at events like this is somewhat out of the ordinary, and their effects are felt throughout ordinary time as well."
Yeah, well, here's my potted version of the article (I recommend hearing it in the voice of Neil from "The Young Ones"):
"Some people, usually young, think that it would be really, really cool if their whole life was just one big rave/ dance party/ political march/protest. Sometimes they find time seems to pass really slooowly at these events, 'cos of the drugs and drinks that they took, either that or the speech that Kim Beazley just gave. But suddenly it's time to go home, grow up and have kids. Or not, in which case they will soon be too old for raves and dance parties, unless they start a movement for raves for the over 50's (wow, what an idea). But remember, you can never be too old or strange for a protest march."
That's about it, really.
"...I’m writing an article on what I’m calling “spaces of utopia”. I’ve been thinking about festivals, dance parties, raves, protests, political marches/parties like Mardis Gras as the sorts of spaces that have a certain potential to embody the lived experience of a different social order. I think time has a lot to do with this, because like sacralised time, the experience of time at events like this is somewhat out of the ordinary, and their effects are felt throughout ordinary time as well."
Yeah, well, here's my potted version of the article (I recommend hearing it in the voice of Neil from "The Young Ones"):
"Some people, usually young, think that it would be really, really cool if their whole life was just one big rave/ dance party/ political march/protest. Sometimes they find time seems to pass really slooowly at these events, 'cos of the drugs and drinks that they took, either that or the speech that Kim Beazley just gave. But suddenly it's time to go home, grow up and have kids. Or not, in which case they will soon be too old for raves and dance parties, unless they start a movement for raves for the over 50's (wow, what an idea). But remember, you can never be too old or strange for a protest march."
That's about it, really.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Too good to be true
Steorn’s Free Energy Technology Challenge | Technology News Daily
Sort of hard to see what benefit nutters would have in advertising in The Economist about this. Influx of capital? A desire to see your name bandied about a lot?
Anyway, everyone should allow a little, tiny hope somewhere in their brain that a "free energy" device may be true.
UPDATE: The Guardian has a story on this. Very curious indeed.
Sort of hard to see what benefit nutters would have in advertising in The Economist about this. Influx of capital? A desire to see your name bandied about a lot?
Anyway, everyone should allow a little, tiny hope somewhere in their brain that a "free energy" device may be true.
UPDATE: The Guardian has a story on this. Very curious indeed.
Depressing stories from Lebanon
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Stand alongside Hizbullah, Lebanon's army tells troops
It would appear from the above story that the Lebanese army will effectively turn a blind eye to Hezbollah weapons that remain in Southern Lebanon:
An internal Lebanese army statement, circulated among forces in the past week, has called for troops to stand "alongside your resistance and your people who astonished the world with its steadfastness and destroyed the prestige of the so-called invincible army after it was defeated".
The circular has alarmed ministers in the Lebanese cabinet who had been calling for the army to disarm Hizbullah.
It will also fuel the concerns of Israel, the US and the UN security council that the Lebanese army is incapable of securing the south of the country, adding increased urgency to the calls for a multinational force to be swiftly deployed.
What of the multinational force? Europe is not exactly rushing to help, and other offers are (rightly) viewed with some scepticism:
"France - leadership and 200 troops
Bangladesh - two battalions (up to 2,000 troops)
Malaysia - one battalion (up to 1,000 troops)
Indonesia - one battalion, an engineering company
Nepal - one battalion
Denmark - at least two ships
Germany - maritime and border patrols"
...Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman said it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations that did not recognise its right to exist.
Mr Gillerman said Israel would be "very happy" to accept troops from Muslim countries they have friendly relations with.
"But to expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive," he said.
Malaysia said Israel should have no say in the make-up of the force.
It is so hard to see the possibility of any good resolutions for the various problems in the Middle East at the moment.
It would appear from the above story that the Lebanese army will effectively turn a blind eye to Hezbollah weapons that remain in Southern Lebanon:
An internal Lebanese army statement, circulated among forces in the past week, has called for troops to stand "alongside your resistance and your people who astonished the world with its steadfastness and destroyed the prestige of the so-called invincible army after it was defeated".
The circular has alarmed ministers in the Lebanese cabinet who had been calling for the army to disarm Hizbullah.
It will also fuel the concerns of Israel, the US and the UN security council that the Lebanese army is incapable of securing the south of the country, adding increased urgency to the calls for a multinational force to be swiftly deployed.
What of the multinational force? Europe is not exactly rushing to help, and other offers are (rightly) viewed with some scepticism:
"France - leadership and 200 troops
Bangladesh - two battalions (up to 2,000 troops)
Malaysia - one battalion (up to 1,000 troops)
Indonesia - one battalion, an engineering company
Nepal - one battalion
Denmark - at least two ships
Germany - maritime and border patrols"
...Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman said it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations that did not recognise its right to exist.
Mr Gillerman said Israel would be "very happy" to accept troops from Muslim countries they have friendly relations with.
"But to expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive," he said.
Malaysia said Israel should have no say in the make-up of the force.
It is so hard to see the possibility of any good resolutions for the various problems in the Middle East at the moment.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Christians and contraception
OpinionJournal - Taste
See the link for an interesting short article on the two camps within evangelical Christianity on the issue of contraception. An extract:
Anti-contraception evangelicals assert that birth control inappropriately wrests control of the body from the body's creator. Interestingly, the opposite argument is being made by evangelicals in the sexual-abstinence movement, according to my study of church-based virginity-pledge programs. Such evangelicals adopt the feminist argument of "my body, my choice" to curb teenage sexual activity. They believe that our hypersexualized culture--including the condom-in-the-schools crowd--wrongly implies that there is no choice.
Both the anti-contraception and the abstinence movements offer rewards: great sex in marriage for abstinent teens and the blessing of children for anti-contraception couples. But what reward is there for the 40-year-old virgin or the infertile couple? The rhetoric of sacrifice, it seems, has lost its sizzle.
OK, interesting to me, maybe not to many of my readers.
See the link for an interesting short article on the two camps within evangelical Christianity on the issue of contraception. An extract:
Anti-contraception evangelicals assert that birth control inappropriately wrests control of the body from the body's creator. Interestingly, the opposite argument is being made by evangelicals in the sexual-abstinence movement, according to my study of church-based virginity-pledge programs. Such evangelicals adopt the feminist argument of "my body, my choice" to curb teenage sexual activity. They believe that our hypersexualized culture--including the condom-in-the-schools crowd--wrongly implies that there is no choice.
Both the anti-contraception and the abstinence movements offer rewards: great sex in marriage for abstinent teens and the blessing of children for anti-contraception couples. But what reward is there for the 40-year-old virgin or the infertile couple? The rhetoric of sacrifice, it seems, has lost its sizzle.
OK, interesting to me, maybe not to many of my readers.
Mark Steyn at his best
Mark Steyn: It's breeding obvious, mate | Opinion | The Australian
You've heard him on the topic generally before, but his lengthy review of the Western world and its woes is excellent reading.
Left leaning blogs love to make snide remarks about Steyn. What they don't seem to do is spend any time pointing out where he is wrong in his demographic disaster argument.
Steyn's conservative critique of the psychology of the West also seems spot on.
You've heard him on the topic generally before, but his lengthy review of the Western world and its woes is excellent reading.
Left leaning blogs love to make snide remarks about Steyn. What they don't seem to do is spend any time pointing out where he is wrong in his demographic disaster argument.
Steyn's conservative critique of the psychology of the West also seems spot on.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Stupidest history idea (and we're off to see the Wizard)
PM leaving history students stranded in the past - Opinion - theage.com.au
Les Terry (apparently, the current "Chair of Australian studies at Tokyo University") writing in the Age this morning has the usual moan of academics about the Howard government trying to impose a conservative agenda on the teaching of history:
As with the referendum for the republic in 1999, the agenda has been firmly established to achieve the desired result of returning the nation to an imaginary glorious past, a time when facts and stories about great men ruled the land.... Taken together, these initiatives represent the Federal Government's intention to impose on the country an old-style nationalist program.... It seems that John Howard and some of his ministers are intent on translating their own personal values, rather than the broad policies on which they were elected, into policy prescriptions.
Blah, blah, blah, we've heard it all before. (And anyway, what did that last sentence even mean?)
But the stupidest suggestion was this:
The historians' manifesto from today's summit should resist making history compulsory, and instead demand that the Federal Government initiate projects of national significance, such as a national online database that contains model curriculums and teaching materials for teachers to draw on. Imagine being able to beam historical characters in their virtual form into the classroom and interview them about their lives and the times in which they lived? Who knows, it might be possible for students of the future to even download a virtual John Howard and ask him why he was so opposed to the new Australian republic in which they now proudly reside.
What?? Our Les might have been spending too much time in hi tech loving Japan. Unless he thinks that the future holographic John Howard will actually have the PM's mind uploaded into it, can you imagine a better method for disguising an interpretation of history as actual source material? Or does he propose the virtual PM only using the PM's words? If so, why not just watch the video of the real PM saying it?
Looking at dramatic historical stories may be a way of kicking off an interest in a period, and should always be accompanied by an analysis of any historical errors or inadequacies. That's about the natural limit of the use of dramatisations in teaching history.
But wait: here's an idea, if you want silly use of technology. When the Republican referendum was on, there was a lot of discussion of who would be "Head of State." My idea: it should be, literally, a giant holographic head, floating in the sky above Parliament House, something like the Wizard of Oz on a bigger scale. (See my profile drawing to get an idea of how it would look.) The facial features could one of those computer blends of photos, as submitted by any Australian citizens who wanted to literally be part of the Head of State.
How would the Head decide important matters? Well, let's face it, in the Australian system, the Governor General and/or Queen only make really important decisions maybe once or twice a century. I think a random number generator, or a Wise Governance algorithms programmed by Google would be all that is really needed. Otherwise, the Head of State could just float in the sky, looking wise and reassuring.
Les Terry (apparently, the current "Chair of Australian studies at Tokyo University") writing in the Age this morning has the usual moan of academics about the Howard government trying to impose a conservative agenda on the teaching of history:
As with the referendum for the republic in 1999, the agenda has been firmly established to achieve the desired result of returning the nation to an imaginary glorious past, a time when facts and stories about great men ruled the land.... Taken together, these initiatives represent the Federal Government's intention to impose on the country an old-style nationalist program.... It seems that John Howard and some of his ministers are intent on translating their own personal values, rather than the broad policies on which they were elected, into policy prescriptions.
Blah, blah, blah, we've heard it all before. (And anyway, what did that last sentence even mean?)
But the stupidest suggestion was this:
The historians' manifesto from today's summit should resist making history compulsory, and instead demand that the Federal Government initiate projects of national significance, such as a national online database that contains model curriculums and teaching materials for teachers to draw on. Imagine being able to beam historical characters in their virtual form into the classroom and interview them about their lives and the times in which they lived? Who knows, it might be possible for students of the future to even download a virtual John Howard and ask him why he was so opposed to the new Australian republic in which they now proudly reside.
What?? Our Les might have been spending too much time in hi tech loving Japan. Unless he thinks that the future holographic John Howard will actually have the PM's mind uploaded into it, can you imagine a better method for disguising an interpretation of history as actual source material? Or does he propose the virtual PM only using the PM's words? If so, why not just watch the video of the real PM saying it?
Looking at dramatic historical stories may be a way of kicking off an interest in a period, and should always be accompanied by an analysis of any historical errors or inadequacies. That's about the natural limit of the use of dramatisations in teaching history.
But wait: here's an idea, if you want silly use of technology. When the Republican referendum was on, there was a lot of discussion of who would be "Head of State." My idea: it should be, literally, a giant holographic head, floating in the sky above Parliament House, something like the Wizard of Oz on a bigger scale. (See my profile drawing to get an idea of how it would look.) The facial features could one of those computer blends of photos, as submitted by any Australian citizens who wanted to literally be part of the Head of State.
How would the Head decide important matters? Well, let's face it, in the Australian system, the Governor General and/or Queen only make really important decisions maybe once or twice a century. I think a random number generator, or a Wise Governance algorithms programmed by Google would be all that is really needed. Otherwise, the Head of State could just float in the sky, looking wise and reassuring.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Blogger confusion
That was confusing. My blogger account seemed to change to a beta version or something (without my asking) and it forgot my password. Requests for emails to make sure I was using correct password did not arrive either. Finally a way around this was found. Normal blogging may resume soon, I hope.
Monday, August 14, 2006
For future reference
Stephen Morris: It is Islamic fascism | Opinion | The Australian
Tim Blair has already recommended it, but this piece in the Australian was really good, and I mention it here so I can more easily find it myself in future.
By the way, I was reminded today (by Keith Suter on the radio) of one really important point against the involvement of the US military in action against Iran: with 100,000 or so troops still there for the foreseeable future, it would be extremely dangerous to attack Iran and risk a Shia uprising against the US military presence in Iraq. Given that the recent London arrests (and Israel not having the best result out its Hezbollah war) has given an increased sense of inevitability about a military confrontation of Iran, this is an important point to remember.
Tim Blair has already recommended it, but this piece in the Australian was really good, and I mention it here so I can more easily find it myself in future.
By the way, I was reminded today (by Keith Suter on the radio) of one really important point against the involvement of the US military in action against Iran: with 100,000 or so troops still there for the foreseeable future, it would be extremely dangerous to attack Iran and risk a Shia uprising against the US military presence in Iraq. Given that the recent London arrests (and Israel not having the best result out its Hezbollah war) has given an increased sense of inevitability about a military confrontation of Iran, this is an important point to remember.
Slow progress on the robot front
Stone: Japan's Love Affair with Androids - Newsweek Brad Stone - MSNBC.com
Who would have thought, say, 50 years ago, that making more life-like robots would be so difficult. (Well, let's assume the person in 1956 at least liked science or science fiction and thought about this from time to time.)
Who would have thought, say, 50 years ago, that making more life-like robots would be so difficult. (Well, let's assume the person in 1956 at least liked science or science fiction and thought about this from time to time.)
Young men don't read this
Libido lags for ladies in luck | Health | The Australian
From the above article:
THE female sex drive starts sputtering to a halt as soon as a woman has got her man, according to a new study.
Researchers have found that women's libido plummets so rapidly when they believe they are in a secure relationship that after just four years the proportion of 30-year-old women wanting regular sex falls below 50 percent.
There are few things that appear able to keep a woman sexually interested, the study found, but living apart for extended periods can help.
(But - surely living apart for extended periods must also run a much increased risk of infidelity, which tends not to help the sex life back at home.)
Back to the story:
The findings for women contrast with those for men, whose sexual appetite hardly flagged at all up to 40 years after marriage.
"Male motivation remains constant regardless of the duration of the partnership." Dr Klusmann questioned more than 500 people about their sex lives in order to measure changes in their libido.
He found that within a year of a relationship starting, female libido moved into steep decline.
While 60 per cent of 30-year-old women reported wanting sex "often" at the start of a relationship, the figure fell to below 50per cent within four years and to about 20 per cent after 20 years.
From the above article:
THE female sex drive starts sputtering to a halt as soon as a woman has got her man, according to a new study.
Researchers have found that women's libido plummets so rapidly when they believe they are in a secure relationship that after just four years the proportion of 30-year-old women wanting regular sex falls below 50 percent.
There are few things that appear able to keep a woman sexually interested, the study found, but living apart for extended periods can help.
(But - surely living apart for extended periods must also run a much increased risk of infidelity, which tends not to help the sex life back at home.)
Back to the story:
The findings for women contrast with those for men, whose sexual appetite hardly flagged at all up to 40 years after marriage.
"Male motivation remains constant regardless of the duration of the partnership." Dr Klusmann questioned more than 500 people about their sex lives in order to measure changes in their libido.
He found that within a year of a relationship starting, female libido moved into steep decline.
While 60 per cent of 30-year-old women reported wanting sex "often" at the start of a relationship, the figure fell to below 50per cent within four years and to about 20 per cent after 20 years.
Today's fantasy article from The Age
Israel must forge new relationship with neighbours - Opinion - theage.com.au
Amin Saikal in the Age thinks that Israel will have to get used to not being able to win every war within six days now. (He doesn't mention that this is because the enemy this time is acting completely outside of the laws of war by taking shelter in civilian communities.)
Amin says this:
If Israel wants to have a peaceful, secure and normal life in the region, its leadership should seize on the UN resolution to engage in bridge building with its neighbours. As a central component of this it must address urgently the Palestinian problem on the basis of the internationally backed two-state solution.
While Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation have already made peace with and recognised Israel, the remaining Arab countries offered Israel full recognition in 2002 in return for such a development. A comprehensive peace would also delegitimise the causes on which such groups as Hezbollah and Hamas have drawn to justify their violent actions.
This is a bit rich, isn't it? The solution to the "Palestinian problem" according to Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria is to drive the Jews into the sea. How exactly does he propose that Israel "build bridges" with those entities that make it clear that they never intend recognizing Israel at all. (And whose populations are brain washed by government consent into believing that Jews are the source of all evil?)
The process by which Egypt and Jordan made their peace with Israel is surely completely different by the dynamic in the Middle East at the moment.
Amin Saikal in the Age thinks that Israel will have to get used to not being able to win every war within six days now. (He doesn't mention that this is because the enemy this time is acting completely outside of the laws of war by taking shelter in civilian communities.)
Amin says this:
If Israel wants to have a peaceful, secure and normal life in the region, its leadership should seize on the UN resolution to engage in bridge building with its neighbours. As a central component of this it must address urgently the Palestinian problem on the basis of the internationally backed two-state solution.
While Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation have already made peace with and recognised Israel, the remaining Arab countries offered Israel full recognition in 2002 in return for such a development. A comprehensive peace would also delegitimise the causes on which such groups as Hezbollah and Hamas have drawn to justify their violent actions.
This is a bit rich, isn't it? The solution to the "Palestinian problem" according to Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria is to drive the Jews into the sea. How exactly does he propose that Israel "build bridges" with those entities that make it clear that they never intend recognizing Israel at all. (And whose populations are brain washed by government consent into believing that Jews are the source of all evil?)
The process by which Egypt and Jordan made their peace with Israel is surely completely different by the dynamic in the Middle East at the moment.
All a worry
Ideals become casualties of war - Paul Sheehan - Opinion - smh.com.au
Paul Sheehan definitely stirs the pot today about Muslim immigration, especially in Sydney.
For a Brisbane person, who only reads about the rape trials and the Cronulla riots in Sydney, it is hard to know what to make of this. I guess whenever any migrant group starts to settle mainly in one suburb or area, the old time residents resent it and can feel uncomfortable. However, Sheehan paints a picture of aggressive action by the new Muslim residents to scare out the old timers (or the permissive young).
It must be a difficult to report on, as it is obviously open to cheap tabloid sensationalism, as well as possibly attracting anti-vilification action in some jurisdictions. It's probably the sort of thing that is best understood (as Sheehand indicates) by knowing many local residents, which those outside of Sydney don't have much hope of doing.
Paul Sheehan definitely stirs the pot today about Muslim immigration, especially in Sydney.
For a Brisbane person, who only reads about the rape trials and the Cronulla riots in Sydney, it is hard to know what to make of this. I guess whenever any migrant group starts to settle mainly in one suburb or area, the old time residents resent it and can feel uncomfortable. However, Sheehan paints a picture of aggressive action by the new Muslim residents to scare out the old timers (or the permissive young).
It must be a difficult to report on, as it is obviously open to cheap tabloid sensationalism, as well as possibly attracting anti-vilification action in some jurisdictions. It's probably the sort of thing that is best understood (as Sheehand indicates) by knowing many local residents, which those outside of Sydney don't have much hope of doing.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
The economic woes of Iran
Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Nuclear row boosts 'failing' Iranian president
This Guardian report paints a very gloomy picture of the Iranian economy:
The economy is coming under increasing public scrutiny despite official controls on newspapers and restricted access to the internet. An estimated 80% of all economic activity is under direct government control or managed through cooperatives known as bonyads, often dominated by well-connected clerics. In contrast, 80% of the population works in the private sector.
Critics say US sanctions, which have discouraged foreign investment and technology transfers, cannot be wholly blamed for Iran's economic backwardness. There are also complaints that taxpayers' money allegedly being sent to Hizbullah in Lebanon would be better spent at home.
Particular concern is focusing on oil-rich Iran's lack of refining capacity. It has a petrol shortfall of 30m litres a day, which is made up by expensive imports. Critics also note its failure to keep up with IT and e-commerce developments. A recent UN report ranked Iran 98th in the world in e-government.
This part also surprised me:
Ali, a graduate in part-time employment, said it was very difficult for young people to find good jobs in a country where two-thirds of the 70 million population are under 30.
Of course I knew that all Muslim populations are increasing rapidly (especially compared to the West), but that population ratio still seems extraordinarily high.
I still don't really understand why Muslim populations, even those now in Western nations, want to procreate at such a rapid rate. According to this Guardian article (which is a fun read because of its general disucssion of Islamic views on specific sexual activities) there is no general prohibition on contraception.
Increased wealth and material comfort makes people want fewer children. But can it be that Muslim populations in Western countries having sighificantly higer unemployment rates leads them to having more kids? Seems there must be more to it than that.
This Guardian report paints a very gloomy picture of the Iranian economy:
The economy is coming under increasing public scrutiny despite official controls on newspapers and restricted access to the internet. An estimated 80% of all economic activity is under direct government control or managed through cooperatives known as bonyads, often dominated by well-connected clerics. In contrast, 80% of the population works in the private sector.
Critics say US sanctions, which have discouraged foreign investment and technology transfers, cannot be wholly blamed for Iran's economic backwardness. There are also complaints that taxpayers' money allegedly being sent to Hizbullah in Lebanon would be better spent at home.
Particular concern is focusing on oil-rich Iran's lack of refining capacity. It has a petrol shortfall of 30m litres a day, which is made up by expensive imports. Critics also note its failure to keep up with IT and e-commerce developments. A recent UN report ranked Iran 98th in the world in e-government.
This part also surprised me:
Ali, a graduate in part-time employment, said it was very difficult for young people to find good jobs in a country where two-thirds of the 70 million population are under 30.
Of course I knew that all Muslim populations are increasing rapidly (especially compared to the West), but that population ratio still seems extraordinarily high.
I still don't really understand why Muslim populations, even those now in Western nations, want to procreate at such a rapid rate. According to this Guardian article (which is a fun read because of its general disucssion of Islamic views on specific sexual activities) there is no general prohibition on contraception.
Increased wealth and material comfort makes people want fewer children. But can it be that Muslim populations in Western countries having sighificantly higer unemployment rates leads them to having more kids? Seems there must be more to it than that.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Reaction to the arrests
The first step towards defeating the terrorists: stop blaming ourselves - Comment - Times Online
Worth reading, especially when you see how Daily Kos readers and their ilk respond to terrorist plot arrests.
Worth reading, especially when you see how Daily Kos readers and their ilk respond to terrorist plot arrests.
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