Who stopped the music?
May 26th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
The parlous state of music in public schools means not only are our children missing an important dimension in life, but they miss out on something that promotes brain function and social skills. China and Venezuela understand the value of music very well, and so do Australian parents, but our politicians are tone deaf. Reporter: Stephen Crittenden
A link to the Radio National show from 2009 examining this important question can be found here
link to “Who stopped the music?”
curious cows…
March 9th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk..
NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks t he other, and then throws the milk away…
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority share holder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkimon’ and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy….
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive
Daylight saving in WA
January 28th, 2009 § 8 Comments
Perth CBD
Daylight saving ends 29 March 2009 ….. Set clocks back one hour.
If the vote is no, are we setting back our thinking by 100 years?
We’re about to have a referendum in Western Australia about daylight saving. It’s probably going to be one of the hottest topics around. Barbies will be buzzing, pubs will be prattling and radios will be ranting about this incredibly divisive issue.
So what are the arguments for and against?
Well, the primary producers don’t like having to get up in the dark, nor do city people who have early shifts. People with kids complain that it causes disruption to their sleep patterns. And then there’s the stories about fading curtains and cows not milking properly.
On the positive side, I hear stories of families enjoying being able to share time outdoors walking and playing in the park before they head for the couch and the blue flickering screen. I’ve also heard it said that there’s a reduction in pedestrian fatalities due to increased daylight hours in the evening. People who finish work can come home and have time to enjoy some leisure time with a little more daylight. There’s also the greater ease of contacting the eastern states of Australia during their business hours.
Pollies will milk this for all it’s worth and WA Premier Colin Barnett has attempted to curry favour with the electorate by declaring his no vote long before the referendum.
For those undecided among you, let’s just examine the facts.
In Europe during summer, the sun goes down around 10pm and in some parts of Scandinavia it comes up again at 1am. How do they cope? Curtains. Not a new-fangled invention by any stretch of the imagination. And in winter, the sun barely comes up at all! Somehow their kids manage to deal with the slings and arrows of outrageous sleep disruption.
There is a strong argument that our hot climate isn’t suited to daylight saving. Maybe it could be shown that our use of airconditioners would be lessened if we didn’t have daylight saving. Maybe if we DID have daylight saving, there’d be renewed debate about extended trading hours in the city so the place doesn’t shut down altogether after business hours.
It’s going to be close, so get down to your local barbie, pub or talkback radio station and have your say. There’s a whole hour of daylight at stake here!
For another link to the whys and wherefores of daylight saving try visiting “Daylight Saving Time: What’s the point?”
What will YOU say to your kids when they are older and ask how you voted on May 16th 2009? If your answer is you voted no, you’d better have a plausible, rational reason for them.
Update on WASO.
September 8th, 2008 § Leave a Comment
There’s an article in today’s west about this.
I also received the following today.
Dear Alex
Stephen Smith, Federal Member for Perth, has asked me to thank you for
your email and to advise that he has raised the issue of a permanent
home for WA Symphony Orchestra with Minister Garrett the Minister for
the Environment, Heritage and the Arts.
Yours sincerely
Anne Keane
Electorate Officer for
Stephen Smith MP
Federal Member for Perth
