Monthly Archives: February 2003

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Age: Financial woes threaten museum

Age: Financial woes threaten museum jobs
“Staff at the Museum of Victoria face possible job cuts as the financially embattled institution considers abolishing admittance fees to boost visitor numbers.
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks today indicated the Melbourne Museum would have to work through its financial difficulties with little or no assistance from the government.”
Thanks Bracks, you’re Jeffing the Jeffed. Don’t punish Melbourne Museum for having been Jeff Kennett’s grand vision. After dreaming of a Labour government in Victoria for so many years, it’s sometimes hard to remember why we did.

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I’m off to Belfast tonight.

I’m off to Belfast tonight. I’ve just booked flights to Milan for Easter. A proper Italian Easter! How fabulous.
I’ll leave you with this, from Umberto Eco in last Saturday’s Guardian (1.2.2003):
“In the era of globalisation, global peace becomes impossible. So there remains just one possibility for peace: working for peace on a case-by-case basis, creating each time a possible peaceful solution on the context of wars that follow one after another. Peace on a local basic can be achieved if, when combatants are wearied, a negotiating agency puts itself forward as a mediator and produces a ceasefire. A continuous series of these “small peaces” can, in the long term, act as a sort of drain by washing away the tension produced by permanent war.
For example, a small peace today in Jerusalem would contribute to the lessening of tensions at the epicentre of the global war.”

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BBC: Australians given anti-terror packs

BBC: Australians given anti-terror packs
“The pack includes a 20-page booklet entitled “Let’s look out for Australia”, which gives first aid advice and tips for spotting potential terrorists.”
I can hear the cheesy theme song already.
“The booklet calls on Australians to be vigilant for unusual behaviour, suspicious vehicles in public places and people taking pictures of public buildings.”
Wouldn’t want to be tourist taking photos of public buildings when this pack comes out!

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Age: Labor and US clash

Age: Labor and US clash over Iraq
“As Mr Howard prepared to leave for talks with President George W Bush, the US warned that the personal nature of some anti-American Labor rhetoric on Iraq was not helping the US-Australia alliance. [Diddums!]
Opposition Leader Simon Crean replied that US Ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer was naive if he thought the debate on Iraq would not become passionate.
Labor opposes war with Iraq which is not sanctioned by the United Nations, and some ALP members, notably frontbencher Mark Latham, attacked President Bush during this week’s parliamentary debate. [You can always count on Latham to speak his mind.]
Mr Latham said he was flaky and the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory.”
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“Mr Howard said that, far from simply doing what Washington wanted, he had real influence.” [Is he fooling himself, or trying to fool us?]
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“However, the US was a very powerful country and, in the end, would take its own counsel, Mr Howard said.” [No shit, Sherlock.]

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Age: New fears raised about

Age: New fears raised about GM plants
“Further questions have been raised about consequences of growing genetically modified plants after Australian scientists showed that a hoped-for method of preventing “superweeds” does not work.
[…]
This week’s edition of the science journal Nature says University of Adelaide researchers have shown that even if foreign genes are injected elsewhere in a cell, the genes can “hop over” into the nucleus and end up in the pollen.”

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Dannii sings an ode to

Dannii sings an ode to her vibrator
Apparently these are the lyrics:
“”Instead of just lying there,
Why don’t you show me that you’re powerful,
Put in triple X batteries just so you give me something wonderful,
Change it up fast and slow.
Till I find the frequency I like.
Love it when you do my vibe on.
Good vibrations, that’s what gets my ride on, gotta have vibrations,
Jump on to it, sit right on it, plug it in, give me my vibe on, gotta have vibrations.
I don’t want to put you down, looks like I’m a vibraholic now.”
Minogue then begins rapping, saying: “Be like giving me vibrations over my stimulation, straight out of the box uhh the hesitation, your love is like a pony that I love to ride, making me crazy.”