Why I love Slashdot and you won't care

On the contrary, the Prime Minister in a Westminster style system has much more power than the President of the USA, because the PM fully controls the legislative agenda.

In the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, laws that spend public money or raise taxes must be accompanied by a "Royal Recommendation". Since the Monarch of each country with respect to the exercise of the Royal Prerogative has been an automaton since at least 1936 (and for hundreds of years with respect to the UK and its legal predecessors), acting only on the advice of the Prime Minister, this means that the PM has a veto on whether Parliament can even consider most important bills. Ireland and India have similar rules, but have (appointed) Presidents instead of a (heridtary) Queen and (appointed) Governor-General.

This is Section 56 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (current version): "A vote, resolution, or proposed law for the appropriation of revenue or moneys shall not be passed unless the purpose of the appropriation has in the same session been recommended by message of the Governor-General to the House in which the proposal originated." The Senate and House of Representatives both have rules and standing orders forbidding the debate of votes, resolutions or proposed laws that may not be passed, and the President or Speaker enforces these assiduously.

Moreover, in all of these countries except the UK, either the Royal Assent can be deferred, or the Proclamation can be deferred, in the event Parliament passes a Bill that the Prime Minister does not want. In the UK, the Royal Assent has been automatic and has not involved the Monarch or the Prime Minister since the early Victorian era; Proclamation is not a feature of the UK system -- an Act of Parliament that receives Royal Assent becomes law immediately (or at a future date fixed in the Act itself). It is pretty clear that if it became necessary, the Prime Minister could constitutionally insist that "the Queen withhold Royal Assent in order to consider the Bill" ("la Reyne s'avisera", is the Norman French formalization), which in practice would mean sending a letter to the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Clerks of both Houses of Parliament.

This is described in Sections 58 (Royal Aseent) and 60 (Proclamation) of the Australian Constitution.

Finally Section 59 of the Australian Constitution uniquely retains the power of Disallowance (it was abolished with respect to Canada and New Zealand, and never existed in the United Kingdom). (It reads: "The Queen may disallow any law within one year from the Governor-General's assent, and such disallowance on being made known by the Governor-General by speech or message to each of the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall annul the law from the day when the disallowance is so made known.")

In effect, these tools represent a Prime Ministerial veto over legislation, available even if the majority of Parliament supports a bill.

Section 59 might actually be used by the new government. It is normally considered a political mistake to do so, but since the campaign dealt with legislation forced through at the end of the Howard premiership, it is plausible that the new Prime Minister can claim an electoral mandate to exercise the power.

In short, the veto powers of a Westminster-style Prime Minister far exceed those of the President, who must veto or not within a short period of time, and whose veto can be overturned by Parliament.

In the Westminster system, the only remedy for Parliament is to refuse to pass the bills the PM actually wants, or to withhold confidence in the government (by declaration of no confidence, or the defeat of a supply bill), which likely would trigger an election. However in that case it is the PM who decides whether to name a replacement, try to secure confidence with a new set of ministers, or set an election date. The Monarch or Governor is expected to act like an automaton in this regard too.

The only two cases in the past few hundred years where this did not happen (King-Byng and Whitlam-Kerr) led to heavy restrictions on the Crown (King-Byng led to the Statue of Westminster, ultimately; Whitlam-Kerr had a less dramatic aftermath but did result in a revision of the rules of the Senate with respect to blocking supply and the convention that the Governor General serves only during the Queen of Australia's pleasure, and that may be tested ONLY through the Prime Minister) and both led to a more or less disgraced Governor-General. In other words, the Prime Minister always wins, especially if he enjoys a majority in the House of Commons/Representatives.

The last British Monarch who refused to act on the advice of the Prime Minister was beheaded.

The last British Monarch who exercised Royal Prerogative without first securing the formal advice of the Prime Minister was forced to abdicate and leave the country.

Since the Prime Minister typically sits in Parliament, can directly influence the progress of legislation within the rules of the House of which he is a member, and enjoys greater party discipline (usually thanks to selecting even junior members of the Ministry from Parliament), these powers are rarely needed. Cohabitation is unusual in Westminster systems; it is commonplace in the USA.

In fact, the President of the USA is much weaker than most heads of government of systems in which a president is given a personal mandate. In France and Germany, for example, the President (or Chancellor in Germany) has greater influence over the process of legislation both formally (various recommendation systems, and stronger vetos) and through the power of patronage appointments.

The President of the USA has enormous power with respect to firing department heads and members of his Cabinet, but is constrained in the upside of patronage since the Senate must approve of most senior appointments. That approval is occasionally embarrassing to the President (and prospective appointees) and may not always be forthcoming, particularly when the appointment is an overt payback to a former member of Congress for showing loyalty in pursuit of a legislative agenda (e.g. John Ashcroft). No such review exists in the Westminster system, or in France, and the legislature's reviews and confirmations in Germany, Italy and Israel (as examples) are tepid to the point of being pro forma.

In fact, I can think of no area in which the President of the United States is formally more powerful than a Prime Minister in any European state other than Liechtenstein. It's just that the exercise of his or her restricted set of powers can be formidable, since the United States is such a large economic, political and military superpower internationally and domestically, so the President seems much more powerful than other executive heads of government.

*sniff* Wasn't that beautiful? How many places do you know can give you an indepth look into the Australian Federal Constitutional law and parliamentary procedure, comparative and historical analysis with other parliamentary systems AND backed up with examples? All in the one, surprisingly easy to understand (atleast for me) breath?

I want to marry Slashdot.

This lady is my hero

Tired and unable to sleep due to irritating fever, so came across this. (One really hopes she spayed the damn things.)

Warning! Cats! Not the musical kind!

I can't believe that i've had to do this again

BUT I HAVE THE INTERNET AGAINS LOLS YES

See, it's things like this that drives me to whisky. Atleast you can't get disconnected from sweet, sweet Chivas.

Either way: INTERNET LOLS YES

Technological Hullabaloo

Posting to resume shortly.

Fuck the pain away

Damn Peaches and her sexy (yet addictive) agenda!

Plastic is back. That's all I'll say for now.

Am I the only one excited by the changes to the NSW Liquor laws? In previous discussions about bars, I facetiously remarked that I would go to Melbourne [bars] to meet interesting new people. The reason was that bars in Sydney often have to cater to the lowest common denominator to make any money, one of the costs being the $15,000(!) dine-or-drink license.

From what i've read, the new laws are 1) aiming to encourage wine bars and other 'boutique watering holes' and 2) increasing live music, and making it easier for underage performers to get into bars (Operator Please keeps coming up. They're not that good, or that influential...or are they!?) More details here. They 'stiffed' hotels, but they have more than enough power anyway. Not really a big deal. Either way, the new deal looks to be awesome.

In inflationary news, milk went up by 10 cents a litre. That's a 10 percent rise! Methinks Woolworths is lying about low prices. Also, possible interest rate rise? 8-ball says:

YES.

Frighteningly fast time travels

(that made more sense if you talk like Yoda. Also, mixing tenses!)

Misinterpretation!

The Actual™ quote is "R U 4 SECKS CHAT????" (it's from a Slashdot story) When I recontextualised it into my musings below, I was parodying the way the people behave in such places, claiming through this clever use of technique that bars and such were the real-life equivalents of seedy chatrooms and the like.

As Dostoevsky said,"Goddamn it, I shouldn't have to do all the work."

Well, that was what I said. What he said was a trifle more poetic ("Let the reader do some of the work.")

Know that I miss you

In what must be truly karmic retribution to my longwindedness downstairs, I got 'Around The World' stuck in my head for a day.

Who knew it was actually good advice to not go shopping on an empty stomach? I'd attach an addendum to that, which would be more generally along the lines of, 'Don't go shopping while craving something' and more specifically along the lines of, 'Don't go shopping while craving icecream.'

Because you know what the inevitable end of that transaction is going to be.

Answer: Delicious.

I may have royally pissed off my boss today. That's too bad, because I got sick of skipping class for him. I did what I had to do however, so we'll see what the fallout is. My Prac. Ethics class ended on a nice enough note, but it did get a little tiring to rag on MacKinnon the entire time. State priests are so tiring, you dig?

I'm trying to keep my writing fresh and interesting, and I realise it's hard work. This is an example of me not doing so. Jesus, I haven't started a third day of this and I've moved on a meta-post. I have no qualifications whatsoever.

As an excuse, I offer the time tested one of writer's block. To paraphrase Marx (the one with eyebrows, not the one with the beard), if you don't like that one, i've got others.

(Was that actually Groucho Marx? A quick google search is inconclusive)

Really, the main thing I'm trying to do with my writing is less is more approach. I hope you appreciate how difficult that is for me to take, even if you are as I, believe brevity is a high form of wit (as Shakespeare did! This I am sure of. Well, I actually think irony is the highest form of wit, whiles good ole Shakes there thought it was brevity)

[If you wish for me to level with you, I'm feeling not so peaky; there exist pockets of depression hiding in my mind longer than I thought possible. It's not something i'm proud of, nor should it be something you should encourage. This has been your Public Service Announcement. Please take the proper precautions.]

Ravioli: Buoyant

All systems go!

Unfortunately, it boiled over :(

I'm talking a lot. It seems to stem from my mind. This is how I deal. The cards.

Some justification: I've (presumably) remarked numerous times (possibly to no one in particular) of my general distaste and dislike for what might be named dance music (really, as the link states, more correctly, electronic dance music, music played at clubs, discotheques, raves and the like) My reasons for this range from the aesthetic to the philosophical, and i'll try to go through as many as I can to prove my point.

To me, however lax I may be about it, music is an artform. It is a platform from which to express, from which to edify, educate and entertain (I mean entertaining solely through the music itself) Really, I can find no better aesthetic position on which to explain it from as well as: Do you dig it? I mean, man, do you really dig it? When someone says something like, 'It's all about the music', that's what I mean.

What 'dance' music seems to do is subordinate that talent, that ability, merely to the point of sounding non-offensive (might as well say boring), providing a beat to move to. Technically, it seems dull. 4/4? C'mon, that shit went out with Beethoven. Music should be listened to, not measured in bpm. If you want to dance (physical sense of the term) to a beat, get a metronome.

The social reasons: most clubs, discos, raves, hell even most bars play this sort of 'dance' music. I dislike most of these places, not only due to the type of music being played, but due to the fact that they play music too damn loud, making it near impossible and seriously infuriating if you try to have a half-decent conversation. The innate seediness of many of these places doesn't help either; it's like a real-life version of people asking "R U FOR SECKS????", with louder music, and overpriced drinks.

Now, the disclaimatory personal reasons: I've remarked (again to someone) how much I hate my brother (goddamn douchebag). He listens almost exclusively to dance music (although recently he seems to be broadening; i've caught him listening to both my (that's right, my) MIA (that was most likely because of hearing her at Parklife, again an event I do not like) and Gotye))) In addition, he frequents many of those places i've mentioned above. In particular, he goes out specifically to 'dance clubs'. If my impression that my brother is the average sort of solicitor of such places is correct, well that really explains my dislike of those places.

Lastly, the philosophical/psychological: I've wondered whether my opposition to dance music (and its [is this the right apostrophication, or lack thereof? Apparently, grammar nazis read this, so I be wary. I've never really been solid with rules of possesive apostrophes; I feel there should be a ' after the 's' of the 'its' I just did] wider association with clubs, bars, et al) comes from that wider association. I've never really been comfortable with those places; I do not enjoy flirting/hitting on people, I'm much more of a direct lecher for that. Primarily, I talk a lot; this is most how I make friends, socialise and develop (secret) crushes on people. I do not 'groove', nor 'move', nor do I 'tear up the dance floor'. Those places seem like places where looks and style (how I loathe that word) seem to dominate, filled with younguns full of hormones aiming to have fun and casual sex, with a minimum of talking or engagement. This distinctly doesn't suit me, as a) I lack looks b) I lack style and

c) my greatest strength is most likely my intelligence, which I express through talking. Put me in an environment where you cripple that, and it's natural I get defensive. I'm still wondering whether all this talk is just a post facto rationalisation for my dislike of dance music.

Obligatory caveats: Generalisations apply heavily in above. I acknowledge that there exist artists who make great music, utilising 'dance' techniques, or even artists who make great dance music (Kraftwerk comes to mind). However, I should have made it clear by now that i've talking about a different subset of music (read: fuck you Purple Sneakers), of which again i'm generalising. Please filter where appropriate.

A reply

The (surprising) amount of things said about what I said has freaked me out. But also, a reply:

The problem is that people are naturally risk averse, and thus we always arrive at a point of utility that is sub-optimal. Not only that, we are not wise enough, nor rational enough to live anywhere near the lives that we have within grasp.

Risk-averseness: I agree, partially. Knowing you're risk-averse can (and should) lead you to compensate for it. See winner's curse, prospect theory et al. And I'm not entirely sure about risk-averseness outside agency problems. If the axioms of invariance and substitution hold (as they should within standard micro theory), risk-averseness should be compensated for.

we always arrive at a point of utility that is sub-optimal.

Better a point that is sub-optimal than null-optimal.

Now in analysing tasks from a simple marginal benefit/cost analysis, you risk falling into a pattern in which the tendency to be risk-averse moves you closer and closer to adapting demand to supply, rather than supply to demand. To some extent, this has to happen

On adapting demand to supply: Even you said this has to happen, in a sense. Remember, unlimited wants. There's no real way you could possibly satisfy all those wants, so you adapt those demands to the ones that can (ir)rationally be satisfied.

The economic problem is precisely that, in one sense: To pick the option that gives you the most utility at the lowest opportunity cost.

but in satisficing, rather than maximising, this can have the effect of higher qualities being run out of business and thus resulting in a continual narrowing of boundaries for all.

I call slippery slope. This was a subjective account of my own demand/utility functions, and there obviously exist some people who place greater utility on maximising than satisficing. I never said everyone does this.

Higher qualities? I call strawman. Higher qualities (in a consumer-sovereign, market-oriented sense) are those qualities I (and you, and everyone else) determine to have value to me/them. You can't blame people for buying what they want, regardless of how misinformed they may be (or want to be even. You can lead a consumer to information, but it doesn't mean they'll learn. In addition, I'm making concessions to market-distortive situations such as monopoly, externalities, cartels, etc. This is where stepping in is justified.)

That's why I object to the logic of obeying price signals. To some extent it's unavoidable, but the extent to which you conform creates a greater alienation from self that degrades the lives we lead.

Greater alienation of self that degrades the lives we lead? Shopping around is not a "greater alienation from self that degrades the lives we lead." That's a mighty presumptious statement about my life right there. Call me what you want, but do not call me a bad consumer. Price signals are a valid (and valuable) form of information transmission. Are you saying I shouldn't act on information available? Not only that, I act on other signals available to me as well; if this were some other game available to me at the same price, I would not buy it. I do not base my decisions solely on price.

Effectively, what I was describing in The Spectrum of Wants was a simple heuristical method of demand sorting, given finite time, finite information and infinite wants. YMMV. In short: cognitive biases do not an argument make.

Jesus, you've made me sound like Miltie Friedman. I feel dirty.

As to Sam's whiteness:

I told you!

The next time you weather an existential storm

pause and wonder if it's all in your head. And bring clean underwear. It's important.

So i've had a few things whirling in my head recently, and I really wish it would stop. It's making me dizzy. I'll try to set one of these things down as a short (hopefully) essay I will entitle for now:

"On the Spectrum of Wants"

After my recent and fairly annoying incident of wallet losing, I've begun the process of replacing my cards. One of the cards I replaced was my 'Access' card, the commie one that lets you do commie things. It's great, I recommend you get one. Now, with this little card came a bag of goodies, mostly in the form of vouchers. The big voucher book (like the one we got last year with the krispy kreme vouchers, which are back this year; hurrah for diabetes!) had a voucher for Liberty City Stories [the PS2 version: as a change of style, brackets] for 10 dollars in it. Which brings me to my point.

I went and purchased this game from the Broadway store that had this promotion, with Ed who came along as he seemingly had nothing better to do. As he generally does, he asked a simple enough question: did I actually wanted the game or not? Good question. Demand, generally speaking, isn't supposed to be a function of price, as it is a function of utility. Now, obviously, you have to look at tradeoffs between utility and the money exercised to obtain this utility, but did I buy the game because it was cheap or because I actually wanted it? My response was/is this: I did buy the game because I did really want the game. It had existed in my spectrum of wants, albeit at the fringes. It was pushed further towards the middle by a combination of a lower of price[effort], and the new information provided to me in voucher form.

Atleast for me, the spectrum of wants is extremely wide. I generally satisfy the spectrum of wants through a value system: how much effort do I have put into this to satisfy a particular want? Which is why consistently, my wants tend to be things that are possible already to me: reading, gaming, music, learning and so on. However, it should be noted that I internally individuate those wants quite specifically; that is, there is a different want when I want Baldurs Gate as opposed to Majesty, there is a different want when I read Steinbeck rather than Slashdot, and so on. Those wants are not monolithic blocks of things.

Occasionally, such events (mostly concerts) have enough utility attached to them such that even though more effort would be required of them than simpler wants, I am willing to expend the effort required to satisfy them. To be accurate, it's not neccessarily more utility that i'm gaining, as it is a different type of utility not available to me from other wants.

A anarchist's motto

If men were angels, there would be no need for government.

If men were angels, they could be trusted to government.

1000 pictures and all that

Keep looking

It's nice isn't it

When will people learn

Democracy doesn't work.

Imagine a courtroom. You have lawyers for two sides, who (presumably) has gone through several years of cheating and ly^h^h^h^schooling to obtain their positions. You have a judge, who has gone through schooling and (presumably) even more experience to obtain his/her position. Now, let take 12 members of the general public drawn by general ballot to decide the verdict. Also known as:

"Why are the smart people outnumbered?"

Medical marijuana reform, and this comment:

Why

by SimonGhent (57578) on Thursday October 04, @11:25PM

Why is this put to a public vote?

If the medical establishment say that something has a clinical benefit, what business is it of the public?

Should we have a referendum for every new drug?

I like your Art.

But I do not like your artists. You artists seem so much unlike your Art. (with apologies to Gandhi)

Sam is inspiring. He does amazingly insane things that, most of the time, I would consider just sheer folly if performed by others. He's hella impressive, and that's nice to know.

"I like the fact"

No. Stop. You will not like the facts. They are rarely pleasant, and never beautiful.

Things have lately been things. Not like facts. They make the world, and that is all the case.

"I'd like to fuck his/her brains out."

What conceivable reasons could you ever have to say something like this? Do you really wish to imply that sexual activity with you is either a) so incredible or b) so mindnumbingly dull that your partner (or more correctly, victim) is lobotomised at the end of it?

People are crazy.

I've become so old. "Every night I used to go to sleep dreaming of beautiful women. Then one day I woke up realising I went to sleep dreaming of the Caribbean." Except, I went to sleep dreaming of social contract theory and patent law.

The only thing being worse than old is being young, and vice versa.

And you said it couldn't be done

But I did it bitches! I voted! Woo rights!

On a related note, end women's suffrage! Why must women suffrage?

I got to see Michael Cera! He's ridiculous awesome.

"It's like wearing a wet pair of jeans."

"No thanks, I've seen it."

Superbad is a nice flick. Cera has exquisite nipples. Snappy, snappy movie. The whole dicks thing is...imaginative, to say the least. Kinda cool, also...disturbing. But only mildly.

Lots and lots of work has been happening! I'm making money. I used this to purchase salad! Gooood salad.

Baldur's Gate. Was ended. By me. For. The. Win.

On to Baldur's Gate II!

How many of you are there?

Only one. The rest are all evil twins.

Really, I wish to commemorate a damn fine omelette. It was delicious, and I (accidently) made so much that there's some left over! yay for overmaking.

A good day, surprisingly, despite me not getting to eat my apple. My classes for Prac. Ethics got cancelled, which was slightly disappointing, but I managed to confront the guy who threw me off so damn much last week. I managed to stumble upon a solution to social contract and animal rights, but it's unwieldy, as making moral obligations go. It's simple enough to enact morally good statutes, but making morally obligatory rules for animal ethics is much more...convoluted.

It's useful to have lawyer friends who know contract theory extremely well.

Had a nice shot of Campos, got to see and hear Sam's great guitariffic croonings, and got my book back. Good day was had by all.

Stuff to do! Why must there be several good things on at the same time? Gittins is talking tomorrow at 5, Hermes has journal launch, and Filmsoc on at same time. Yet I have work through all this. Seriously lame.

I hold in my hands BG II. It looks uber fantastic. Granted, haven't finished BG I yet, but I'm nearly done, if it weren't for my rather absurdly busyness this week. Off I go. Weee.

I have no idea what you're talking about

so here's a bunny with a pancake on it's head

This is what happens after reading hours of philosophy.

So adorable!

See, I thought it was going to be a crude drawing of a bunny, with a round thing on its head to represent teh pancake, but it's an actual bunny with an actual pancake on its head. It's so cute I've bookmarked it. Its ears are kinda pinned back by the pancakes...so great.


See, the bunny and this is the stuff I want on my walls. Nifty.

Nothing turns people off Christ like Christians

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."

- Marcus Aurelius

I've been wondering

What else is left to do nowadays?

It's been said before, and it's going to be said again, but the United States is completely insane. What's really interesting is how it's been insane this entire goddamn while. Sure, De Tocqueville called it, but he's French. Automagically disqualified (especially with a name like Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville)

One of the reasons (abortion politics) is the seeming lack of said politics in Australia. It's almost bizarre: Abortion regularly comes up on legislative agendas and it can make or break political careers there. Here, it gets a passing mention. Maybe. We only pay attention when somebody decides to be stupid about it. *cough* Family First *cough*

Good time have had. Baldur's Gate edges to completion. Bought myself wonderfully cheap collection of Steinbeck. Babies must go! Need to articulate differences between political and social liberterianism. Possibly add economic concerns as well. Also note: Keep away from Hitler. Keep Hitler away from everything.

I'd say something about white people

But i'm outnumbered and one of you is Hitler.

It's rather weird when shit comes together...My "plans" as such are kind of working. It's a deeply unusual phase.

I. Labu. Tobys.

The whole getting to try coffee thing is awesome! I had a really good Kenyan today, and had a very nice Sumatran yesterday. Plus I had it with Sam. That just makes it amazing.

Logic is slow, and quite treacherous at times. But English is shitty, and suffers from scope ambiguity. I am trapped with these conundrums. Solution: baby fetuses.

NB: Baby fetuses may not actually solve problem. Consult your uterus for more details.

I know why Jane Fonda married Henry Fonda

She saw him in 12 Angry Men.

Upon my visitation of UTS to partake in the viewing of Magnolia, I learnt that the UTS film society is disorganised. They also seem to have this thing about viewing rights; they're afraid of getting sued or something, it's rather stupid. Nevertheless, we didn't end up watching Magnolia; I ended debating suicide and abortion with a law student, then we watched 12 Angry Men.

12 Angry Men is fantastic. It's better than Tom Cruises's face atleast. I really, really advise you to go watch it. Haven't seen the remake, and I hope I don't soon see it.

You know that one he does, the one when he's running? That face.

Let me say just one thing

I just love molded plastic. The miracle of chemistry!

Now that my laundry is out of the way, lemme continue.

Goddam I love the korz. I didn't realise just how much I missed him, and I hate myself for it. Since when did I want to be this? He's still absurdly good-looking. Ugh, now i'm embarrassed. Which is the real deal; embarassment is one thing, admitting it is another.

I've had to reluctantly admit to myself that I really enjoy television, possibly more so than films. Am I a bad person now? There's so much good stuff out there that I could spend the rest of my life just watching good, enjoyable television...or so I feel. Maybe i'll exhaust all of it.

Assignmenting goes badly! C'mon now, love yourself. Or so she says.

From one cat to another

It's been over two weeks now, and I still don't have the right words to say, nor do I have mental space-time to formulate them. So, I will let Mr. Murakami take over, for he is a better man than I.


Mimi screwed screwed up her long white whiskers and frowned. "I'd rather not think that, or even imagine it, but it is a possibility. Mr. Nakata, I haven't lived all that many years, but i've seen terrible things I never could have imagined. Most people look at cats and think what a life - all we do is lie around in the sun, never having to lift a finger. But cats' lives aren't that idyllic. Cats are powerless, weak little creatures that injure easily. We don't have shells like turtles, nor wings like birds. We can't burrow into the ground like moles or change colour like a chameleon. The world has no idea how many cats are injured every day, how many of us meet a miserable end."



On the Monday of the 23rd day of July, my cat was hit by a car. The impact severed her spinal cord, and paralyzed her from the waist down. There was nothing that could be done; she was put down and passed away peacefully. She was a good cat, and young. She did not deserve this.

My eyes have been soiled

There once was a student named Frisk
Whose sex was exceedingly brisk.
So fast was his action
That the Lorentz Contraction
Reduced his tool to a disk.

*cries with joy/sadness*

It seems that wine disagrees with me. I'm perfectly fine with it; it doesn't seem to like me.

Polyphasic sleep is nifty! I would like to try it. Either way, I'm off to continue the gift buying.

I'd like to bow out like Felix Faure, too.

Me too!

So I finished watching The Barbarian Invasions...again. Instead of one of the myriad movies I have lying around that I haven't seen, I decide to watch the one movie that I've seen a lot. Goooo me.

It's still awesome. I'm so glad that my favouritest movie of all time isn't a sappy, inaccurate pile of suck. I'm also glad that one of my favourite directors of all time isn't a giant douchebag.

Now there's a googlebomb i'd like to see.

Erosion continues unabated

It's dangerous, you know.

Now that i've calmed down enough to return to a semblance of coherency, I'll talk. I'll talk I tells ya!

Patrick Wolf was GODDAMN EXCELLENT. The shit he managed to pull off using just himself, a piano, a violin and two ukeleles is quite astounding! Not only did he play musics, he bantered with us a lot. He gave lengthy (relatively) intros and outros to the songs. He let us pick! He felt bad for turning up in Australia so late, so he had a songlist and asked us for requests. He then proceeded to play songs that weren't even on the list! Like the excellent Tristan, using just him and a piano, though the album cut distinctly features cowbells. Where are my cowbells damnit! He's such a nice kid as well. Plus he *cough* shaved his legs *cough* as well. Hawt.

And once again, I'm left bewildered about the vagaries of production. His voice really is quite good; and yet, this is not easily apparent on the album. Admittedly, I do like his beats and melodies and such, but his vocal capabilities are rather more impressive.

The concert was sooo good, it was like sex. Except i'm having it.

Old joke.

It was quite so great, I had to pin myself (okay, more like give in to inertia and not move from my bed) so I wouldn't go and buy tickets for the next day. That was why Saturday was fun! I managed to stay in bed the entire day! So proud of me. A good 18? 20? hours of lying in bed. I didn't even read or nothing. My parents didn't do anything! So glad. Well, they did, but that was much later and I didn't mind as much.

It's been something I've wanting to do for a while, but i've finally managed to, and I is proud of myself.

I'm going to only do three units this sem methinks. I'm 'deferring' a sem, by doing 4 sems of 3 units each. Ingenious no? I only realised this recently, I should have done this from the beginning! That way, I would have got to 'defer' a year, plus have an actual year of deferment! Oh the fallacies of youth.

I don't think that word means what you think it means

Or free-as-in-beer.

As a recent /. recently mentioned, the USA has gone completely insane. But still probably not as crazy as this guy.

20 good films were watched. What surprises me the most was that I felt that none of those films were a waste of time. Further evidence that Oliver is supremely skilled at the selection process. Eww. I feel dirty.

I am completely convinced that it was one of the best investments i'll ever make. I'd do it again in a heartbeat...after my body's recovered a bit.

I finished reading the Odyssey. There's apparently an audio book (it would be some kind of poem...epic, perhaps?) using the Fagles translation that is narrated by Ian McKellen. Gandalf people! It's Gandalf. Or Magneto. Depends on your POV really. Guy's freaking awesome either way. King Lear too! And nekkid. On my way to obtain.

Translation is fun. It's one of those activities where someone skilled at it can truly be called a craftsman; as much art as science. Wonderful. Such a great way to pass time: it's one of the best puzzles invented. Changing things from one code to another one, according to some incredibly arcane rules.

Which leads me to another point: words aren't things. They are representations of things. They can be studied as things unto themselves; but it doesn't make them the things themselves. The word tree is not the same as a tree.

And unfortunately, I can only say that using words.

"One of them sounds really gay. I can't remember who it was, but I'm sure he has an animal in name. Andrew Bird or Patrick Wolf or something."

Dave is hilarious.

In light of Sicko and all that

From this article:

What could be changed about the health-care system to better help patients?

Dr. Baby: Universal health care.

Dr. Heart1: But you’re talking from a public-health perspective. If you are an individual … if your dad is sick and he has access to insurance and money, do you want him to live in the country with universal health care or our kind of health care? Our kind of health care.

Dr. Virus: The only place I’d defend American care is for the catastrophically ill, where there are miraculous outcomes still.

Dr. Heart2: If you’re talking about separating Siamese twins, yes, I’d want to do it in the United States rather than anywhere else in the world. When money is not an issue, I would still contend that we have the worst, because we get overtested. We chase incidental diagnoses that might not affect the patient’s health.

Dr. Virus: With universal, you’d get the same kind of mediocre shittiness that you’d get in all other kinds of standardized approaches. But for millions of people, that would be a big upgrade.

That last statement really spun me out. It's so...true! It's rather obvious, and yet hasn't been stated as well as that. I really recommend reading that entire article; it's good reading. New York Magazine (not to be confused with the New Yorker, also a very good publication) is really quite good. Here's another nice thing to read, along the lines of Freakonomics.

So yeah

Amongst my very, very staggered bouts of inadequate studying for things, I am surrounded by sucktitude. I forgot about the nature and sheer quantity of this sucktitude, being surrounded mostly by non-sucktitude: listening to live sets of Regina, really digging Patrick Wolf (he's coming to Aus!) and *cough* playing Heroes III waaaaay too much *cough*.

Man I have a bad cough.

Anyway, inbetween the my mothers' attempt to seek attention/lamely joke about suicide, I chanced upon the Sunday Herald. Lo and behold, the sucktitude begins.

Now, I understand that corporate media as such are indecent, self-serving piles of shit, but ye gods the front page story was trash (In fact, it's making me so goddamn angry that I'm barely managing to stay coherent; i'm put some water to boil for ramen, as it accurately reflects my situation: it's fucking making me boil). It was about there was sooo much violence and murder and mayhem on prime-time television on the free-to-air channels in Australia. This is below propatainment; it's not something I expect the even the Telegraph to publish.

And the story itself! Oh my god. They hired media students to catalogue violence that occurs in the primetime block of television (6-10.30pm), note that there is a lot of violence and then make some fucking platitudes about 'being desensitised to violence' and the Premier not letting his kids watch Spiderman or some other bogus crap. I can't even begin to start.

First, off, media students?! What, doing your own goddamn work is too fucking much now? Is watching television so much work you have to delegate it!!? Are you admitting this to me openly?! Fuck, atleast lie to me, so I feel like you went to some trouble to decieve me. Instead, like a shitty lover, you just went and crapped all over my face, and want me to be grateful and pay you. My god.

The worst part? That i'm only just about to come to the worst part.

The worst part was when you looked at the catalogue of violence that they mention. The leader was SBS (big surprise there) and why you might ask? Because of their news coverage. Because it actually goes out of the country (shock! horror!) to cover atrocities being committed, it ends up scoring high. Are you fucking high or something? You're a goddamn news publication, you assholes! They're actually covering news! What, you want all the news to be goddamn kittens and newborns? Jesus Christ.

SBS also scores high on the sex meter, because again they show foreign films. And yes, obviously, this indicates that SBS is a den of craven lust. Gee, you never consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, Australians are conservative prigs? No, it must be those foreigners, they must be the evil, corrupted perverts.

One last thing: One of the media students mentioned how awful it was to watch images of torture victims. During an ABC documentary about torture. Lord forbid, with cases of extraordinary rendition and cases of torture occuring due to major Western powers, why should we ever want to talk about torture? Back to the kittens and newborns.

In retrospect, the trivial bullshit and fluffy airheads of 60 Minutes seem like they're overflowing with integrity. Though they don't, and it contributes to the sucktitude mentioned above.

To cap this off with some humour, bash quotes about Wikipedia. My favourite:

<@ZoFreX> goddammit
<@ZoFreX> I forgot the definition of irony
<@ZoFreX> so I went to look it up on Wikipedia
<@ZoFreX> but Wikipedia is down
<@ZoFreX> AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THAT'S IRONIC OR NOT

Oh, the irony! Ramen awaits.

And fresh off their landmark tour

Do you see this?

No you can't. Because i'm on the other side. If you can see me, stop. Wrong side.

But if you can see this, you can see that i'm quivering. What am I quivering from? The cold partially yes. But more importantly, I just finished the watching the game demo of Starcraft II. All I can say is: Oh-em-gee. It looks awesome. I think the cutest part was the Banelings writing GG. It was adowable. So watch it now! Go go go.

Also finished my essay on time! I don't know whether it'll do well. Sometimes, I just amaze myself. Or astonish. Or unpredict.

Oh what's a Baneling? Why don't you just watch it then!? Going to watch Naruto and warm self up. I don't read enough.

"A clean house is a sign of a wasted life."

This is becoming a speech.

"You're the Captain sir. You're entitled."

"Hmm. Not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows."

Oh Picard. Thou art most quaint. How you warm my mind...and on a good day (A VERY GOOD DAY) my loins.

Not really. Mental loins perhaps?

Animals have ruined anatomy for me.

Books. Are. Good. Librarians are nice. Nice lady complimentated me on White Teeth. Which is fucking great by the way. Got her history down pat, her science down pat, her immigents...Very Very Impressive. I'm tempted to go buy it. If only I had some money...

...Because I spent it! I have a spare ticket to teh Shins now! So tell your neighbours. Tell your parents! Tell your friends! Tell Superman.

Because he is the one true lord. Explain that, Darwin.

Or should I say, Charlatwin?!

Eh it's cold. I'm just warming up. I'm always warming up! What's wrong with me!?

It's been a while since I wrote something on this!! My oh my. Mostly because my capped internet. Popped a cap right in its knee. Crippled. Like my idiot brother. Well, that's not entirely true. The tests were inconclusive. Cap lifts tonight! Huzzah! I require study of sorts. I need to hang around people who are much smarter than me. Osmosis to the rescue...But not Osmosis Jones. Bill Muwway for the win though.

Witness this remarkable act of substitution. Acccidently ciphers much!?

erll, i'm ogg yo trsf snf dlrrp
oops
well, i'm off to read and sleep
looks like you need all the dlrrp you can get.

Why do they never show ugly pictures of famous people?

I'm looking at you, Lincoln.

Season 3 of Arrested is wonderful. All should watch it. For a show in its death throes, it does magnificently well.

And Michael Cera is hawt. That is always a nice bonus.

Unfortunately, I only have two modes: Panic and Dull Fear. I do not learn well in Dull Fear. The problem is, everything shades off from Panic into Dull Fear, given enough time. This is a deep problem. Shit.

Reading Thomas Covenant. Donaldson's writing improves over time I think. Reave the Just and Daughter of Regals have so much better writing in them. Or it could be the short story thing and he's not being disciplined enough. Still good, if a little inaccurate in its treatment of leprosy.

Or Hansen's disease. My bad WHO.

do you know of any major organizations that are similar the CDC?
who?
center for disease control
i said WHO
what? i'm asking you
World Health Organization

not actually a very good joke. Abbot and Costello would be mad. Anyway, back to watching Arrested. Again. And Whose line! Yayyyyy.

As an avid user of the interblags

"

Digg meltdown

by ISurfTooMuch (1010305) on Tuesday May 01, @11:39PM (#18951151)

I've been watching this develop tonight, and Digg has gone into meltdown, not so much in the technical sense but in the sense that the user base is in open revolt, posting stories containing the code and commenting on events over...and...over...and over. As quickly as one article is removed, two more appear, and the tone of them is getting angrier and angrier by the hour.

Just my opinion, but I don't see how Digg can come out of this with any credibility left. Was this ever about the DMCA? Perhaps in the beginning, but it's turned into a battle of wills between the Digg admins and its user base, and, even if the admins could somehow manage to magically obliterate every article on this subject, they're going to have a hard time explaining themselves to the user base, who are, by and large, mad as hell.

And to those who are, indeed, mad as hell, consider what you will do after this incident is over. Kevin and the other admins may indeed fear a lawsuit if they don't take these articles down. Is that wrong, or is the law that allows this possibility the thing that is wrong? It's easy to sit there and paste line after line of numbers, but what would you do in the face of a lawsuit, even if it it's a ridiculous lawsuit supported by a law crafted just for this kind of abuse? You're taking action now, but will you get organized to push for real change tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that?

"

Dear God. There is a veritable war going on, and a lot of people are going to miss it. This is a big deal. Digg is completely toasted, and it's even starting to spill over. It's fucking batshit insane right now. We'll see what the fallout leads to.

Tastes like sawdust with a sprinkling of bark

or bad cereal: somebody's gonna eat it.

Too busy to talk. Playing baldur's gate. Oh carp. Assignments. Test what now?!

That has been the essence. I've become a layabout. The Basics are amazing. I regret that I only have the opportunity to see them once more. Goddamn. If they play Help, all will be perfect.

I'm about to cry

Because I'm genuinely considering going to the V festival. Because it is the only place where I can see Beck live.

Why don't you do a side-show? PLEASE?!? PRETTY FUCKING PLEASE?!? I would love you forever. In as many as or as few ways you want. I won't say a word about the scientology thing. Though he is quite low-key and nice about it.

Also, Phoenix = popular! Not only have they sold out the factory gig, ebay tickets are selling crazy well! What the hell!

*sigh*

The rain it raineth every day
upon both the just and the unjust fella.
But mostly on the just because the unjust
had stolen the just's umbrella.

That's a great little ditty.

So yeah, Ross Noble was fantastic. Funnier than last time, if that's possible. Really great show which I would recommend to watch. Shut your face!

But I love rollerblading! :S

Whose Line continues to blow my mind. Best name for a TexMex restaurant: Nacho Mama! I am busy, if non-attentive at my lectures. I've already blown a hundred dollars of my 120 odd dollars I recieved. This is not good financial sense. I really want to go Dylan Moran's show. Somehow. Sigh.

Teh Little Snail is tomorrow though! Looks goood.

Why can't I say this this simply? Cause I suck.

"Interesting point - in the article, a therapist tells Ms. Moser [just learned that she has a predisposition to Huntington's Disease] that it would be unethical for her to have kids. This makes her very upset, understandably. But is he/she right? If you know that any children of yours are likely to have a short life and a protracted, horrible death, is it wrong to reproduce?

I tend to think it is, but that's me."

"My take on it: What gives you the right to KNOWINGLY inflict a high probability of unusual suffering and early death on your children? How is having a child in that situation NOT unfair to your kid?? It's like saying to your kid, "We knew in advance that your life would probably suck big-time, but we did it anyway." Producing a child under such circumstances isn't love, it's just selfishness."

I'd take it a bit further. Bad eyesight is not something that's enjoyable.

Too many posts.

This is apparently no. 400. LoL. Too many.

I've got a cold! And several ulcers. And a sore throat. In retrospect, this is not really a celebratory occasion.

I've got such an eclectic reading list recently. Reading business strategy, a book of feminist articles, assorted readings on liberty, democracy and economics and french. Must seem very odd to people.

I lost my phone today! But I found it again. So there's that. Work tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be nifty. Night.

So exciting!

It truly is!

I'm buzzing. Like a bee. I'm overstimulated. It's great.

Great, GREAT, couple of days. Harp-playing, tap-dancing, mariachi singer. There is nothing more to say.

Oh, Disney songs. That too.

It's a type of ship

This is your junk.

Best. Double. Entendre. Ever.

Why was it so hot today? I was muchly tired! I did consume timtams though. They were fucking great.

Or, grrrrrrrrrreat! Something an anthropomorphic tiger would say. For more advice on cold cereal mascots, consult this wise sage.

My penchant for bringing up smart people during conversation must cease. But it's much too fun. Shit. Dilemma!

Just dropped in

To see what condition my condition is in.

"Hey, some crude garage mix of the little bastards rehearsing Christmas music just went to No. 1 on the Holiday Charts. Think Kenny G is choking on his own cock over that one?"

Not entirely relevant, but that's okay. Cause Jon Stewart said it.

My life is odd. I know that much. Finished the book with that long title. I don't know what to say about it. At ALL.

Lotsa stuff is happening. Going through a depressive phase. I think i'm going to have some cheese. I'm not really solving anything though. Self-medication to the rescue. Hopefully, this thing lifts before Olivers'. Olivers' may in fact lift it. That would be rad.

Theological Implications.

I no longer think it a coincidence. It is a fact, irrevocably and painfully true.

There is a force out there greater than us, and it is evil. It conspires to keep us out of touch with the one and true good, Moginie.

Every single time I want to see Moginie in a band, something comes up.

"Hey you wanna come see me play?"
"Tonight? No goddamn it, I have two assignments due in a couple of days."

"Message recieved: The Fiends ride again!"
*works till 11 that night*

"Message recieved: Moginie family plays! With family dog!"
"...Just organised that night for Umbilical!"

But not this time. No force shall keep me from the sacrament that is the Moginie family playing. It has been said; it will be done.

I bought a magnum of chardonnay. A goddamn magnum. I don't even like Chardonnay!

I've been reading a lot, but nothing newish recently. Finished reading ZAMM and Lila again. Read some Chomsky. Started reading about Derrida, but then put that down due to complications. Like his odd inscrutability. I'll give it another whack soon.

Looking forward to vacation. Nice word. Vacating is nice.

Things to do and organise. I should sleep. 'I can sleep when i'm dead.'

'Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.'

Three. 3. Layers.

Rob Corddry linkage! Also, a ad for Gondry's new flick The Science of Sleep. I didn't even know it was out on DVD. I invested in it!

There probably is a 95 theses for gaming

I wish I were there.

It's three-thirty in the morn, i'm mildly unable to sleep, and so here I am, trying to hunt down games.

I game way too hard. I regard gaming not just as a divergent pastime; it is an activity unto itself. It has as much meaning and substance as reading or doing something 'productive' does for me. It's fuckin' great.

I'm downloading some oldskool stuff I remember, now that I have space and junk. I've been fiddling around with my computer a bit, and I'm all gumptioned up. I haven't been doing anything major, just moving optical drives and hard drives, but it feels really good. Mistakes made: remove all optical media from optical drives. Don't repeat this mistake. Twice.

Remember Theme Hospital? I played the game a lot, and got very far, when it suddenly started glitching on me. Strange stuff like doctors stuck in doors, and floating rooms. Was deeply sad. So i'm downloading it now! It's finished. My predeliction for oldskool has just started.

Penny Arcade introduced me to this rather addictive game. It does not help there is only one seed. I is sad. Hopefully that person will stay in seed for atleast another 5 hours. Eww. Seed.

There was a random doco on SBS about porn stars. It looked kinda interesting.

Free moofie tomorrow! I am totally going. They've had that program for years and i've never taken advantage of it. What would the economist think of me? Shame probably. Ironic shame.

I have to make it

I have to make it.

Before I make it in my pants!

I've had the quote/mis-take on my mind for 2 days now. I'm glad that's over.

I finally have a home number, though that doesn't really seem all that important. But it's there.

Oots is turning out to be more and more awesome. That is insane, purely due to the fact that it is already so goddamn great. It's getting to the point where it's literature worthy; now if only some people took notice *Stephen King*.

Oh. I forgot to cough.

And I fuckin' knew it. I'm all jubilant and shit because I thought that Miko would become fallen, but wasn't sure about my alignments, and after reading that article, I thought she had a chance, but obviously the gods don't agree. I thought so.

The other comic is great too.

I'm pro-life, because you can't eat babies until they're born.

Suck dear, don't blow.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

OMG

I HAVE TEH INTARWEBS!!1!!1!