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Showing posts from November, 2013

What gives us the right to deport people? – News and views for Saturday 30 November

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News and views noted along the way. What gives us a right to deport people? Joseph Carens on the ethics of immigration  “In the wake of the Holocaust, most people in democratic states felt a profound shame about the fact that their countries had refused to respond to the needs of Jews fleeing the Nazis. We all recognized that failure and vowed, “Never again,” and so we set up the Geneva Convention refugee system. And now all the rich states have set up systems to prevent people from accessing that system. You have to get a visa if you are coming to a rich state from a poor one, and if they think you will ask for asylum, they won’t give you a visa. The boats and planes asylum-seekers come on are subject to tremendous sanctions if they transport people without the right documents. So, we’re excluding people. And some of the people who are denied visas are in fact eligible for asylum. They are clearly refugees. It’s an indiscriminate exclusionary system. In taking this approach, we h

Now that’s what I call a proper Friday night drink – Boswell entertains at home

On October 13, 1783 there were three men at dinner at Auchinleck, and between them they polished off three bottles of claret, two bottles of port, two bottles of Lisbon, three bottles of Mountain and one bottle of rum. Three days later six men sat down to dinner, but did not rise until they had emptied seven bottles of claret, two “Scotch pints” of claret (each of which was equivalent to three English pints, and thus to approximately two normal bottles), three bottles of port, one bottle of Lisbon, two bottles of Madeira, one bottle of Mountain and one bottle of rum. You might think that, after such indulgence, a day or so of dry toast and herbal tea might be just the thing. But the following day seven men were at table, and if anything they exceeded the potations of the previous evening. They again drank seven bottles of claret, two Scotch pints of claret, and three bottles of port, before varying the conclusion of the entertainment with two bottles of Lisbon, one bottle of Madeir

Politicians and their abuse of scientific language - News and views for Friday 29 November

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News and views noted along the way. Rumsfeld’s War and Its Consequences Now Politicians and their abuse of scientific language India Falls Behind: Corruption Plagues Rising Economy Creeping China  - "China’s growing geopolitical heft is emboldening its territorial creep in Asia." Newlyweds' gut feelings predict marital happiness  - "Four-year study shows that split-second reactions foretell future satisfaction."

Small steps toward an agreement on climate change - News and views for Thursday 28 November

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News and views noted along the way. Beer-Tapping Physics: Why A Hit To A Bottle Makes A Foam Volcano Darkness surrounds Japan's secrecy debate  - "The governing Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito, together with Your Party and other smaller groups, on Tuesday passed the special state secrecy bill in the lower house. ... Classified information will be designated by the heads of government ministries if the bill goes into law. Confidentiality will be maintained in the national defense, diplomacy, espionage and terrorism fields as special state secrets. People that leak such information face up to 10 years in prison. What will constitute a state secret? That remains vague. People may receive information without knowing it is classified and be accused of breaking the law." This Is How You Lower Corporate Taxes xkcd: New Study The Trouble With Economics Is Economists Cats recognise their owners' voices but never evolved to care, say

Welcoming the Daily Mail to Australia – it will fit in nicely

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Some of my twittering friends have reacted with horror to the forthcoming arrival of an Australian  Daily Mail  website but for the life of me I don’t know why. It seems to me that the British version has become the most read newspaper site in the world for one very simple reason – it gives people stories that they actually want to read. And what can be wrong with that? I’m sure that the same formula will as successful here as in the UK when people start voting with their clicks. Perhaps it’s because of the years I spent writing for Tasmanian and Melbourne  Truth  before graduating to the  Financial Times of London  and  The Economist  that has taught me not to be too precious about such matters. Each to his or her own. One of the biggest mistakes a journalist can make is letting a view of what people should be interested in dominate writing about the things people actually are interested in. The  Mail  does not make that kind of error although if you scroll past the tits and bums y

Dangerous link between power and hubris in politics

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Dangerous link between power and hubris in politics . By  Peter Garrard , Reader in Neurology at St George’s, University of London writing in The Conversation (UK) Most people agree on the qualities that a leader should have: we prefer to follow people who are confident, decisive, ambitious and persuasive rather than the insecure, dithering, apathetic and weak. So it’s not surprising that the people who possess these leadership qualities are those who seek, and often achieve, positions of power and influence. There is, however, a dark side to power, which derives from its mind-changing effects on the people who hold it: the reluctance of subordinates to criticise or question leading to contempt for the views of others; successful outcomes of bold decisions blurring the boundaries between judgement and recklessness; personal status within an organisation generalising into a belief in “special qualities”. The greater the power, the greater the risk of these cognitive distortio

On firing your advisers - a quote for the day

If you are in a position of power and responsibility you need advisers. The main job of your advisers is to stop you saying something stupid in public. You say it to your advisers first, in private. If it's stupid, your advisors should tell you it's stupid. That's their job. If they fail to tell you it's stupid, and you say it in public, and the public tells you it's stupid, and you realise the public is right, you should fire your advisers. They have failed to do their job. Update: you don't fire your advisers because they disagree with you; you fire your advisers because they  didn't  disagree with you when they  should  have disagreed with you. - Nick Rowe on the blog  Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

Hardly a crisis headline – Jakarta Post reports on Indonesian reaction

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So far so good it seems for Tony Abbott’s attempt to put an end to the wrangling with Indonesia over past Australian spying.

Pope Francis Calls Unfettered Capitalism ‘A New Tyranny’ – News and views for Wednesday 27 November

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Some news and views noted while browsing. The Neuroscientist Who Discovered He Was a Psychopath Obama Signals a Shift From Military Might to Diplomacy China’s Coercive Play  – “China’s decision to impose a new air defense zone over a wide swath of the East China Sea is at odds with its claim to want a peaceful resolution to territorial disputes over a group of islands there. The announcement is a highly provocative move that has increased tensions and could make direct conflict with Japan more likely.” Spies worry over “doomsday” cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden How German Firms Help Women Get Ahead Sunni-Shiite divide in Mideast near violent boiling point Pope Francis Calls Unfettered Capitalism ‘A New Tyranny’

Pressure builds for tougher UK bank reform

Pressure builds for tougher UK bank reform – FT.com . George Osborne will on Tuesday face fresh demands to toughen up “inadequate” new banking regulation as public pressure mounts over the controversies plaguing Royal Bank of Scotland, the Co-operative Bank and payday lenders. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will join Lord Lawson, the former Tory chancellor, and other senior peers in seeking to amend Mr Osborne’s banking reform bill, which is intended to draw a line under the banking scandals of the last five years.The peers want a robust licensing regime for senior bankers below board level, draconian sanctions for banks that undermine the new “ringfence” separating high street lending from investment banking and other new powers for regulators.

Stopping minor party nonsense – South Australia leads the way

An  interesting story today  on the  In Daily – Adelaide Independent News  site that predicts that in South Australia something will be done to stop the lunacy of candidates with virtually no votes in their own right winning seats in the parliamentary upper house. The story says that new laws to bar Upper House candidates who can’t gather more than 2.5 per cent of the primary vote from collecting preferences will be rushed through parliament this week. After intense negotiations between the main players in the last fortnight, a deal has been agreed to add a further amendment to have a 2.5 per cent minimum vote qualification. “It means that if you can’t get 2.5 per cent of the primary vote, then you are not eligible to ‘receive’ preferences,” Shadow Attorney-General Stephen Wade told  InDaily . “As candidates are eliminated, their preferences will only go to candidates above that 2.5 line. “It will prevent the coordinated harvesting that’s happened in a few recent elections.

Dr Who at the box office – News and views for Tuesday 26 November

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Some items noted while browsing along the way. ‘Doctor Who’ Special Scores Record Ratings for BBC America Dr Who breaks box office record  – “Special cinema screenings of the 50th anniversary episode of Dr Who over the weekend have broken the European record for box office takings from so-called ‘alternative content’.” Obama needs to take on the Israel lobby over Iran  – “The outcome of a looming showdown between two leaders who loathe one another will be critical.” A new wave of U.S. mortgage trouble threatens  – “U.S. borrowers are increasingly missing payments on home equity lines of credit they took out during the housing bubble, a trend that could deal another blow to the country’s biggest banks.” Malaysia summons Singapore envoy over spying reports  – “Malaysia’s government summoned Singapore’s high commissioner for talks on Tuesday, saying it was “extremely concerned” by media reports that the city-state helps Western intelligence agencies spy on its Southeast Asian nei

The ABC’s Fairfax fascination and a dose of anti-Abbott bias

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As an avid ABC listener I was subjected yesterday to repeated versions of stories like  this one  that appeared on the ABC website: As an avowed disbeliever in the point of opinion polls measuring voting intention a long way from an election, I made my views about the page one efforts of the  Sydney Morning Herald  and the  Age  known yesterday in my little item  The great opinion polling irrelevance . It was little better than fictional nonsense and proved as such today when in  The Australian  a  Newspoll  version of the state of the nation came out with the Coalition having a four point led over Labor with  Essential  putting the score at Coalition 53% to Labor’s 47%. Given my prejudice against the reporting of opinion polls I can hardly express anger that the ABC largely ignored the story all day today but I was surprised at the difference in treatment. Labor in front – a big news story. Government still comfortably in the lead, give it the barest of mentions and move on to

Is this a Guardian joke? Labor strategist Bruce Hawker to address negative campaigning as Ed Miliband accuses David Cameron of mud-slinging

I guess it’s true because I read it in the paper. didn’t you? Bruce Hawker, fresh from his recent triumphs for Kevin Rudd and Labor in Australia, flying off to London to help the British Labour Party? Surely not. But then the  website of the  Guardian  tells me: Labour is to receive advice this week from an Australian Labor campaign manager on how to combat negative election campaigning by rightwing media. … The Australian Labor campaign strategist Bruce Hawker is due to speak to the Labour party this week on the impact of the Murdoch press in defeating Labor’s Kevin Rudd. In an article in the magazine Progress, he says the Murdoch press always had major stories ready to distract the public from Labor’s positive messages. He advises Labour: “It is important to hang a lantern on any media-led campaign against Labour well before the election is called so you do not waste precious campaigning time exposing the motivation behind their attacks, as we were forced to do. Second, enlis

The great opinion polling irrelevance

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The great media obsession with opinion polls continues. The Fairfax tabloids this morning both report that Labor is now leading the Liberal-Nationals. Not only reports it but pretends it is somehow significant by putting it all over page one.

Scotland's referendum date set and what are the chances?

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The Owl is a believer in the markets being the best indicator of likely political outcomes. Hence the series of  Political Indicators  you will regularly find on this site giving a probability of various results occurring. Now that the Scottish government  has set March 24, 2016  as the date Scotland will become independent of the United Kingdom if a majority of Scots vote to end their 306-year-old union next year it is time for our first Scottish Independence Indicator.