">My Big World Of Crap

An inquiry into the merits of a national ID card is to begin shortly.

NSW premier Morris Iemma believes such a card could be a valuable weapon against terrorism, crime and fraud. While I think it has potential benefits in areas such as tax, social welfare, medicare, and forms of identity fraud, I’m really struggling to see how an ID card is really going to make any meaningful difference in fighting terrorism (Osama bin Laden - assuming he’s still alive - is going to have his occupation listed as “terrorist mastermind”, or “CEO - Al Quaeda, Inc” on his card, is he?)

Fundamentally, I don’t have any real problem with the idea of an ID card. After all, governments and other institutions have vast amounts of information about us, and the ID card essentially is creating a single and unique, presumably officially validated key to link all this. I suspect its just making easier what is already done via data mining etc. However, I do think that introduction of any such national ID scheme needs to have its costs and benefits carefully weighed up - and some estimates of cost I’ve seen are around $15b, so its a lot of money to waste if there are no really clear objectives and quantifiable expectations of benefits. Half baked notions about its use in fighting terrorism do not strike me as grounds for spending that sort of money.

I noticed that I’ve been nominated in the Best Australian Capital Territory blog category.

Thank you, thank you, to whoever nominated me.

I think its a great achievement that Kathy Watt, at 41, has won a place in the Commonwealth Games after winning the individual road time trial championship yesterday. In doing so she beat the Athens Olympics gold medallist and current world no 1 ranked rider.

Watt was a bolter when she won the road race at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games. She then went on to win the gold at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and also a silver medal in track cycling. She last competed for Australia at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, and retired after missing selection for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She came back to the sport in mid-2003, culminating in yesterday’s national championship win and Commonwealth Games selection.

She may not be the best team player in sport, but she’s obviously extremely competitive and focused. Congratulations, Kathy Watt …. hope you do well at the Games.

A 19 year old man somehow managed to break his leg in the process of killing a spider. He saw the spider on a wall this morning while at the Attunga Country Campsite in the NSW Southern Highlands and attacked it with a deadly kick that ended the spider’s life - and badly affected his own.

Apparently, and quite naturally, his friends were quite jocular about the cause of his injury - nevertheless concerned for his health. His spider killing effort got him a helicopter ride to hospital.

Its funny how amusing we find other people’s misfortune sometimes. Playing cricket, everyone except the batsman always saw great humour in someone getting a ball in the nuts. It hurts, despite the protector, believe me.

As for spiders, I’m obviously more merciful than the guy with the broken leg. When someone at home summons me as the spider removalist (my daughter’s screams more often than not …. who has to point out some microscopic spider that I can’t even see), I generally catch them and chuck them out the back door rather than kill them.

1. Bloody airconditioning - why does it never work properly in whatever office I work in?
Is this just a Canberra thing or does it happen elsewhere, too? Every office I work in never seems to have airconditioning that works reliably and effectively. I work regularly now in 3 locations, and none of them have decent aircon. At the moment, being stinking hot, of course no cold air comes out. In winter, of course, we get cold air to keep us warm, and we have little heaters under our desks to prevent getting frostbitten toes. This is not only a problem with my current employer …. for as long as I remember, any office I’ve worked in here in Canberra has had shit aircon. Why is this so?

2. Music I’m listening to

I stumbled upon The New Pornographers a few weeks back reading various blogs and music sites and their lists of best albums of 2005. I’ve gotta say I just love Twin Cinema, and also I’ve downloaded some of their earlier stuff. I especially like “Letter from an Occupant” - great song. So thanks to those who steered me in the direction of New Porn’s music. I’ve also been impressed by the work of Neko Case, who is one of New Porn’s members - she’s got a fantastic voice - I’ve downloaded a handful of her songs, and no doubt will go and chase up a CD or two to hear more. (Female singers with interesting voices I just find fascinating - Kasey Chambers is another whose “different” voice attracted me …. although I don’t like her more recent work as much as The Captain.)

Interesting how sometimes hearing a song leads you on a voyage of discovery with music. I remember once, I guess, 10 years ago, hearing The Screaming Jets doing “Shivers” on a CD at a cousin’s house. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it, but I noted the songwriting credits were for M Harvey (and maybe R Howard, not sure?). Then, some months later I twigged to the fact that M Harvey is Mick Harvey, and the song was originally performed by The Boys Next Door, who became The Birthday Party, and then Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. So off I went, listening my way through their catalogues, branching off to get Mick Harvey’s solo work as well along the way.

The other music I’ve tried for the first time lately is Antony and the Johnsons - mainly because of Antony’s voice …. also a couple of reviews I’ve read got me interested.

3. Why do CD companies want to treat their customers like criminals?

I saw this article today about proposed changes to copyright laws, which the record industry seems to be resisting. Proposed reform aimed to recognise some everyday forms of private copying such as taping a television show to watch at a later date or downloading music from a CD onto an iPod.

According to Philip Ruddock: “We should not treat everyday Australians, who want to use technology to enjoy copyright material they have obtained legally as infringers, where this does not cause harm to our copyright industries,”

But the record industry doesn’t like this.

The chief executive of ARIA argued that existing laws were adequate and that any such amendments would “give out the wrong message” to consumers. He said the music and other media industries already turned a blind eye to the common practice of copying for personal use, but, with the advent of technology that allowed people to make large numbers of high quality recordings very quickly, relaxing “fair use” copying laws might encourage consumers to engage in copying on a much broader scale.

Now I think this is treating all customers as though they are criminals, whereas reality is that a small minority of people are seriously infringing copyright - those making mass copies for sale are the ones the industry and police should chase, not ordinary customers making a spare copy.

I also don’t hold with the industry’s views about downloading music - I find being able to sample different music is a great way to discover music I wouldn’t have otherwise listened to. Often, I’ll hear something, check it out, and go out and get the CD. Thats sales that probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

One of those charged in connection with the Cronulla “riots”, a Danny Glen Shanahan is apparently petrified about being in gaol and fears reprisal violence from Middle Eastern inmates. This at least is what his lawyer argued when applying for bail - which the magistrate refused. (Shanahan is apparently one of the stars of the photo above, which formed part of the evidence against him).

His lawyer said Shanahan was “petrified of being in jail … living in fear that he may be killed” (sympathy card being played), and that he acknowledged that “this is a cowardly act and deserves punishment” (contrition and remorse). But then he goes on to say, “But at the end of the day it is … a punch to the back of the head. Sure, it was in the middle of a riot … [but] that does not call for a period in prison necessarily,” (trivialise the crime) and that Shanahan and “wants to warn other people not to get involved in these mass rallies” (pillar of the community, learnt his lesson and wants to share it with others).

Umm …. maybe the guy should have thought of these things before he travelled from Picton * to join in the fun?

* for those non Sydney folk, this is 95km and a good 1.5 hours drive.

Love that Twenty20 cricket …. its not real cricket but neither is 50 overs a side. Twenty20 is just fun all the way, and over and done with in 3 hours, omitting the boring middle bits of the 50 overs game. Go the whole hog, ditch 50 overs games and play Twenty20 only as the one day version of the game.

Tonight Australia thrashed South Africa - racking up 209 off 20 overs, in reply to which the South Africans could only muster 114. Effectively the game was over by the 3rd over of the South African innings, at 2 for 7. Great batting by Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds, and the Australian bowlers just looked in a different league to the South Africans.

Not much originality in the nicknames I saw on the Australians’ uniforms. “Catfish” James Hopes I thought funny - how’d he get lumbered with that? Mike Hussey - “Mr Cricket”? Somewhere I’ve seen him referred to as “Shameless” - much better in my opinion.

Rashad Hassan Khalil, a former dean of Al-Azhar University’s faculty of Sharia, issued a fatwa claiming that nudity during sexual intercourse invalidates a marriage.

Now, this makes me wonder:

• does it count if you turn the lights off?
• is it only applicable early in the marriage, before you and/or your partner have let yourself go?
• does a condom count as clothing for the purposes of this edict?