Monday, 4 March 2002

Children Thrown Overboard #497 - Just finished watching the 4 Corners report "Too good to be False"  into the election advertising material prepared for the government by the Department of Defense. Scandalous. But do you know what really is most annoying - the Prime Minister refusing to answer yes or no to very simple questions seeking the same. Mr Howard, as an elected official in this country you are elected to represent me and to represent my interests - not, as you would appear to believe - to cover up for yourself, your friends and your staff. As my representative, I request that you answer simply and truthfully to questions you are asked by the media, also on my behalf. Seems your third term will be a term of shame, not a term of honour as you had hoped. 9:24:59 PM    Comments ()

Another intelligent life form - This time it's gammatron. 1) "...nice to see the cluetrain crew get exposed for the idealist morons they are..." 2) "...The only sites linked to from the cluetrain.com home page are other cluetrain.com pages, translations of their 95 whack-job theses, and some shameless self-promotion (thinly disguised as third-party praise) of a "gonzo marketing" story written by Locke for CNN..." 7:42:30 PM    Comments ()

More on the loss of childhood - In a Sydney Morning Herald report the following statistics are cited • According to a survey of 1,000 10- to 17-year-olds, teenagers are earning more money than ever. The average 16-year-old makes $118.67 a week, and spends up to $67.26 of that at his or her discretion. The rest goes on essentials such as transport, food and clothing, the YouthSCAN 2001 survey found. 6:46:11 PM    Comments ()

Australia's 25 Prime Ministers - in caricature. 6:43:58 PM    Comments ()

Australians - Today is an unusual anniversary - it's 200 years since the first recorded use of Australians to refer to the inhabitants of our country. Peter Poland, of the Woollahra History and Heritage Society, tells us that Flinders was in the Investigator on March 4, 1802, when he saw three or four Aborigines near what is now Port Lincoln, South Australia. He wrote in his journal: "Such seems to have been the conduct of these Australians ..." [Column 8] 6:42:23 PM    Comments ()

I want to go home - So says Dr Shah Mohammad Rahim, guest of Her Majesties government at the Villawood Detention Centre. Yet the government won't respond. Strange isn't it, from a government that recently offered to pay for repatriation of illegal immigrants. Another inconsistency Mr Howard. 6:34:03 PM    Comments ()

Clueless #4 - Markets are not conversations. That's silly. It's like saying that cars are chairs, or like saying that schools are resturants. Markets establish a value equation. In its simplest form, a market is an opportunity to test the value of a proposition (a product or service if you like). Let me explain by way of an example: I think that my widget is worth $10. If someone buys my widget for $10, then I have established its value. If no one buys my widget for $10 it does not have a value of $10. Markets are dynamic. On sunny days the value of a disposable umbrella at my local post office might be zero - no one wants to buy one. But on a rainy day, the post master puts them on the sidewalk and sells them for $10 each - and people buy them by the armful. Would they pay $10 for a cheapo umbrella tomorrow? Probably not - if it wasn't raining. A great example of this is eBay. In real time you can see a market in operation. People put out a product or a service - often with no idea of its value, and the market ascribes it a value. I have sold numerous items that I initially list for $1 and have them reach - in my opinion - inflated values. But that is the role of the market - to determine the value of my proposition. Often you see people try to "sell" things on eBay. For example the concert ticket being sold with a first bid of double it's face value. Many times lots like these will be viewed but receive no bids and are subsequently passed in. Why? Because the market is a test of the value of a product or service. And the market says "No." Yes - there are conversations in and around the market, but the market does not consist of the conversation. That is not what makes a market a market. That's what makes a bar a bar. 5:16:31 PM    Comments ()

Paul come back - I miss the former Prime Minister, Paul Keating. To follow a Hawke with a Keating was fitting, a development of the office. To follow a Keating with a Howard was a big step backwards. By comparison with Keating, Howard is a bore. Actually when standing alone, Howard is a bore. Here are a few gems from Keating speech at the third annual Manning Clarke lectures: The Howard Government reserves the right to make a hero of a general when it suits them and a fool of an admiral when it suits them. And pawns of the whole Defence Force whenever it fits their convenience. and this The Government lied its way through an election campaign about a matter of central consequence and then sought to stonewall their way out of it. And when Admiral Barrie finally fessed up, the Prime Minister, brazen as brass, said Admiral Barrie enjoyed his full confidence even though Barrie's admission destroyed the integrity of a central factor in the Prime Minister's election campaign. You can read the full text here. 3:42:01 PM    Comments ()