Monday, April 03, 2006
“AND THEN IT HARDENS”
Australian academic Christopher Sheil discusses his writing. Or another subject beginning with “w” and ending with “ing”:
Once my writing lifts off, I can hardly put it down, and it moves every time I go to it, and I feel possessed by it, until eventually it settles, and I can read it without wishing to change anything, and then it hardens, and then it goes away from me completely ...
Via J.F. Beck. Click here for an earlier item on Onan the Historian.
APPEAL FOR CALM ISSUED
Michael Gawenda in the Sydney Morning Herald:
Why is that for all the hundreds of journalists covering the conflict, there was no great attempt to expose the massive corruption of Fatah under Yasser Arafat which most journalists knew about and which led to the squandering of billions of aid dollars that could have been spent, should have been spent, to give the Palestinians an economic future?
Good question. Meanwhile, Hamas attempts to cope with violence that has left four dead:
Said Siam, the newly appointed Hamas interior minister, appealed for calm and warned that his government would clamp down heavily on armed groups who used their weapons against each other rather than in the struggle against Israel.
“We will ensure that nobody is above the law and demand an end to the instability and armed chaos,’’ Mr Siam said.
That’s Hamas talking. It is to laugh.
COMMUNITY NEWS
A puzzling AAP report, in which an unidentified “community” is mentioned:
Detectives were again called to Blaxcell Street, Granville, in western Sydney, after shots were fired at a house about 8.30pm yesterday.
They found a number of spent shell casings in the street, close to the scene of last Wednesday’s fatal shootings of boxer Bassam Chami, 26, and his friend Ibrahim Assad, 27.
State Crime Command chief Graeme Morgan today said six shots were fired at the house last night and another hit a telegraph pole ...
Earlier today, Mr Morgan said tight-lipped residents were withholding crucial details about the double murder.
“They are the people that have the power to stop this, and obviously we appeal for them to come forward,’’ he said. “We can offer them absolute confidentiality.
“We can offer them protection if necessary, we’ll take the information anonymously, but they must see their responsibility and assist police.
“It depends on the community, quite frankly.
“If they are prepared to come forward, if they’re prepared to assist police we can stop it today.”
If only we knew more about this “community”. Possibly they’re as helpful as a certain community mentioned earlier:
Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib was questioned by police until around dawn after reportedly being stopped as he drove past the shooting scene of the double fatal shooting in Blaxcell Street, Granville, western Sydney, last night.
Police say a crowd of 200 people hampered their investigation after the shootings around 11.15pm.
LEFTOIDS PLAYING FAIR
Little Green Footballs has been hacked. Or maybe not; the site now seems to be loading fine without any weird “page not found” messages.
INCOME REPORTED
Latest financial news from Webdiary:
Income in 2006 to the end of March was $13541.86, of which donations were $8066, and ads were the remaining $5745.86 (the odd dollars and cents come from Google Adsense, from which we continue to get an income of around $175 per month at present).
Expenditure in 2006 to the end of March was $11,904.21.
And the latest traffic figures:
The audited SiteCensus analyses show that between 500 and 1500 people visit the site on each weekday, and between 300 and 500 on each weekend day ... In total there were 10,300 unique visitors to the site in March.
These spectacular idiots, who would presume to lecture the government on economic policies, have spent eleven grand running a blog that so far this year has lured a daily audience of between 300 and 1500 people. Extrapolate those numbers: they’ll blow $47,616 over 2006 for a profit of just $6548, writing for nobody. Doesn’t look like founder Margo Kingston is ever going to see much return on her $42,000 loan. Speaking of Margo, Webdiary has an update on her recent comeback speech:
She found that a difficult experience, which did her health no good, and has cancelled all other public engagements.
FISK’S SOLUTION
During his recent war-profiteering book tour, did anyone think to ask Robert Fisk how he might go about combatting terrorism and achieving peace in the Middle East? Fisk is, after all, a Middle East expert; surely he has some notion of what must be done, especially given his criticism of the coalition approach.
I haven’t found any examples (and haven’t searched much, admittedly). But there is this, from October 2001, when the New Statesman asked Fisk (among others): What would you do? Fisk’s reply:
It is impossible to declare war on terrorism without eliminating its causes. I believe injustice in the Middle East is at the root of the international terrorism problem. The west should produce a new foreign policy in relation to the Middle East and fully engage with it.
Not exactly big on detail, is he? What would this new foreign policy be, Robert? It’d be useful to know, before we, like, fully engaged with it.
LAST ANGRY FRENCHMAN
Sorbonne University president Jean-Robert Pitte:
“I’m very angry about the demagogy, the ignorance and the stupidity of the young and of the French,” said Dr Pitte, 56, a geography professor who has taught at Oxford and Cambridge and holds the Légion d’honneur.
“Today’s youth don’t have dreams, they have illusions. To dream is to want to accomplish something difficult that is a challenge. Instead youngsters believe they have a right to everything and if things don’t go the way they want it’s someone else’s fault.”
Dr Pitte’s car insurance just quadrupled.
LEE THE KEY
Third Test thriller in JoBurg: Australia currently requires 45 runs with four wickets remaining.
FRAMING ALLEGED
Three face terrorism charges in Melbourne:
One of three men charged with terrorism-related offences has told a court this afternoon he is a victim of a police plot against Muslims.
Brunswick man Bassam Raad, charged with belonging to and helping finance a terrorist organisation, made the accusation during an unsuccessful bail application at Melbourne Magistrates Court.
“You may not believe me but I am innocent. They have framed me,” he told Magistrate Paul Smith.
“Because I’m a Muslim this (anti-terrorism legislation) affects me. These (court officials) are all non-Muslims and you all work against us.”
Bassam Raad, 24, described how police arrived with batons outside his house on Friday evening and arrested him, and said officers accused him of having a machine gun.
“I own a $200 car. How would I have the money to buy a machine gun?”
Poverty breeds terrorism. Mr Raad and one of his co-accused were last noticed behaving in an (allegedly) interventionist fashion outside the court appearance of other terror-accused folk.
RESOURCES CONSUMED
Chatting with Nick, the Greek guy who owns the coffee stand at work, on Friday:
Nick: “You going to the Grand Prix?”
Me: “Yes. You?”
Nick: “I go every year! Taking the wife this time. Should make sure I don’t miss the first three laps, like last year.”
Me: “But, Nick ... the race started at 2pm.”
Nick: “I know. Big night.”
This year’s race was brilliant. Some notes:
* Michael Schumacher made a series of 11/10ths micro-errors in the three laps before he finally tagged the wall; he was working hard.
* Does Felipe Massa ever complete two consecutive laps using the same lines? It’s like he’s in the World of Outlaws or something.
* The McLarens are the only cars you can pick by ear. They sound like 19,000 rpm diesels.
* Giancarlo Fisichella reeled off a sequence of late-race laps in which he hit exactly the same exit point on the kerb leading on to the main straight, a point beyond which he’d have ended up in the same situation as Schumacher. Haven’t seen his times yet; bet they were quick.
* Juan Pablo Montoya’s parade lap spin demonstrated how difficult it is to replicate Fernando Alonso’s aggressive weave-and-burn tyre-heating technique.
* Massa is out of contract at Ferrari next year. Mark Webber is out of contract at Williams next year. Hmm. No Australian has driven a factory Ferrari since Tim Schenken was a member of the Scuderia’s sports car team in the 70s.
* Although Alan Jones was offered a contract in 1978, only to be overlooked in favour of Gilles Villeneuve.
Naturally, The Age—as is its custom—went negative:
The crowd of 103,000 at yesterday’s Grand Prix was the lowest race-day attendance of the past five years.
Attendance across the four-day event was down on last year by almost 68,000. Over the four days, 301,800 people attended this year’s Grand Prix.
Only 301,800; hardly worth hosting the thing. Actually, the drop in attendance (over four days) was equal to just one-and-a-half Telstra Dome AFL crowds. Which might explain that slight reduction ...