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Day: May 21, 2009

Absolutely Fabulous

May 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I meant to say something about this a week ago, then forgot about it, and found it again today while looking at something else. It still seems worth commenting on.

Britain seems to be willing to let just about anyone in. The pollies don’t want to appear harsh, after all.

But that free for all welcome does not apply to the Gurkhas.

Joanna Lumley has pointed out more than once that the Gurkhas fought for Britain in several nasty places and have a genuine claim on the loyalty and goodwill of the British people.

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas looked like a ninny in comparison with the delicious and brainy Joanna.

Woolas said “They (the Gurkhas) may be a special case morally, but legally you cannot legislate on the basis. I can’t say ‘let the nice people in and the nasty people not’. We have to have a law,” he said.

While accepting the principle that “if you are prepared to die for this country you should be allowed to live here”, Mr Woolas warned it could open up retrospective cases for other Second World war veterans.

Joanna pointed out, with scathingly raised eyebrows, that there is hardly a overwhelming horde of  World War Two veterans waiting to take over Britain. And surely it is a simple matter to change whatever laws are needed to grant residency rights to anyone who has served honourably in combat in the British armed forces.

The expressions on her face in some of the photos are just delightful.

Muslim Inventions

May 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I forgot to mention, when talking about my islamic teacher friend, that she had also told her class about the many islamic inventions taken for granted and not acknowledged in the West.

She talked about the number system, coffee, chess, arches (in architecture). Students were sceptical. And rightly.

I am not sure whether she had read this article from The Independent a couple of years ago. It lists 20 world changing islamic inventions.

Except not one of them really is an islamic invention.

Bank Blunder Makes Millionaires

May 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

A coupe who own a small business in Rotorua in New Zealand applied to the Westpac bank for a $10,000 overdraft.

The bank deposited $7.8 million into their account.

Not surprisingly, the couple took as much of the money as they could and cleared off.

Detective Senior Sergeant David Harvey has called on Interpol to help track the couple down. “The individuals associated with this account are believed to have left New Zealand and police are working through Interpol to locate those individuals,” he said.

Stealing other people’s money is a bad thing.

Nonetheless I wish them well. And I hope Westpac shareholders ask some difficult questions.

Stephen Long Doesn’t Know What Puerile Means

May 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Otherwise this is a pretty good article about the problems with economics predictions, and the difficulty of developing policy on the basis of those predictions.

Stephen seems to think puerile means pointless, because there can never be any definitive answers. But it doesn’t.

Puerile means childish, immature, trivial. Debate about economic policy is certainly not that. Even if policy makers cannot be certain about answers and outcomes, history and common sense must inform decision making.

A brief excerpt:

The data from around the world at the moment is all over the shop and gives no clear guide to who’s right, other than Yogi Berra.

And if it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future, the whole game gets even tougher when it’s twisted by the force of political spin.

One reason Treasury’s economic growth estimates received such a sceptical, even scornful, response was that the Treasurer had been warning Australians for months that the world is in the midst of “the worst recession since the 1930s”. (Read, “we’re not responsible” and “prepare for a little pain in the Budget’). Did you notice how Wayne Swan tweaked the rhetoric on Budget night, talking of “the sharpest” downturn since the 1930s? No wonder it was hard for the public and many commentators to accept the idea that we’re back on track within a few months and recording stellar growth in a couple of years.

Yogi Berra, notorious for his (often intelligent and amusing)  mis-speaks, said ‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’

My favourite Yogi Berra quote is this: ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.’

Sexting – Just Say No

May 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

A couple of days ago I posted a story about a 14 year old girl who had been charged with possession of child pornography because she had some nude photos of herself on her mobile phone.

Then there was  story about a group of teenagers in Victoria being cautioned by a magistrate in relation to child pornography, because of nude photos of themselves and their friends on their phones.

There have been a couple of articles warning teenagers and parents about the possible legal and social consequences of teens taking pictures of themselves naked, and sending those pictures to friends or boyfriends.

Parents, counsellors and police officers quoted in those articles have all pretty much nailed the whole negative consequences thing – you may get in trouble with the law in ways that stay with you for the rest of your life, once photos are ‘out there’ you have no control over where they go or who sees them, you may be humiliated to the point you cannot return to your school, etc.

It’s good that teenagers are made aware of those things. It would be even better if they were helped to understand that actions can have consequences which are not easily foreseen, and that rules about sexual behaviour and and respect for self and others exist to protect people from some of those consequences.

What has been missing is the simple statement that some things are wrong. This includes taking nude pictures of yourself and sending them to friends.

So I was pleased to read this article ‘It Is Wrong’ by the Joneses. As well as saying the right things, it is funny and well-written.

These are the concluding paragraphs:

Why is it that today’s culture thinks that 16-year-olds are old enough to understand and deal with sexual relationships on their own? Teenagers can’t even handle friendships in a rational manner. But if the only caution you can give your child is, “Don’t do that because it might get you in trouble later,” then you’re waving the white flag and the battle is over.

I care enough about my children, and my friends’ children, and the beautiful, alienated teenagers I pass in town, to say, “You shouldn’t do this. It’s wrong.” To do less is to hand our children over to those who want them only for their bodies.

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