There will be an edition of Stilgherrian Live tonight from 9.30pm Sydney time, so you’d better start nominating people and things for “Cnut of the Week”.
“Cnut of the Week” is where we remember the example set by King Cnut the Great, who proved to his sycophantic courtiers that trying to hold back the tide is pointless.
We’re looking for people, organisations or other entities who are futilely trying to hold back the tide of change — especially the changes being wrought by the Big Bad Digital Hyperconnected Internet. It has to be something in the news in the last week, and you have to explain yourself. Nominees have to be not merely doing bad things, but failing to notice or adapt to the change around them. And you have to nominate here, in a comment on this post, for your entry to count.
We’ll have our usual offer of a t-shirt of your choice from our friends at King Cnut Ethical Clothing. Just nominate a “Cnut of the Week” and be watching the program when we draw a name from the Cocktail Shaker of Integrity.
(Of course, neither me nor King Cnut Ethical Clothing are as lame and unethical as to share your email address with anyone else. I for one have site policies about this sort of thing, and so do they.)
Who do you nominate, and why?
It would have to be Turnbull and the Coalition.
The report that wasn’t policy.
The denialist meeting in Canberra.
Voting down the ETS with no amendments…
The tide will drown them all if there’s a double dissolution election.
I nominate the anti-health care lobbyists in the USA who are fomenting incredible fear and disruption, as well as their Republican (mostly) politicians who are aiding and abetting. The lies have been incredible, the so-called “death panels” being just one of the more noxious. Health care reform is an essential part of helping the country not to go bankrupt, and these vested interests are putting their huge and surging profits in the way of the public good. The town hall shout-downs are all about stifling the democratic process rather than furthering any kind of rational discussion.
May their tactics backfire on them.
S Fielding is my pick on ETS.
With honourable mentions for Wilson Tuckey for continuing to be Wilson Tuckey, his party for getting back in the box and thinking that that will make any difference and our home grown fraudstwr who thinks that he’s actually King Canute.
…getting Tuckey back in the box… that is.
Didn’t someone nominate someone for actually being Cnut-like? A financial person?
Yeah I did, vim a twitter DM.
Graeme Hoy, a Ponzi Scheme (alleged) swindler.
there can only be one nomination for cnut: http://bit.ly/746HW 😉
Greg Inglis. For making the NRL more punchable.
Can I nominate myself? For taking so long to quit this damn job, or am I disqualified for finally handing in my resignation in song form?
@Warlach: You can, but it’s a bit fuckin’ obscure.
This is true. Forgot about the media angle. Disregard.
I nominate Digital Radio Plus
http://www.digitalradioplus.com.au/
The reason. They inform me that perfect digital radio signals should be available in post-code 2747 which includes Werrington. I have an email from them explaining that the antenna should be fully extended and in a vertical position.
At Redfern I could turn the portable radio receiver in any direction with the antenna pointing in any direction and it worked. I have discovered that I can sometimes receive a perfect DAB signal by pointing the antenna in the direction of Maccers on the Great Western Highway, or by holding the device at shoulder height pointing to the Digital TV in the corner – but only for some stations and woah is me if I budge a single centimetre while doing so.
This is why I purchased a portable DAB receiver. If I had purchased a mains operated device that sits in the corner the chances of receiving a signal would be remote and there isn’t as far as I can tell a radio on the market that permits an external antenna to be connected. I do get a good to almost perfect Digital TV signal but this is via connecting to the communal external analogue antenna and using a signal amplifier coupled with high grade cables designed with digital TV in mind.
I understand that although neither AM or FM radio is to be turned off they are simply waiting until every FM and AM radio in the country has reached it’s “use by” date.
Don’t get me wrong. Digital radio is excellent in an area where it’s possible to receive a good digital signal and I am content in the knowledge that if I travel to distant parts of Metropolitan Sydney I can indeed enjoy and record DAB radio – and that the quality is far superior to FM radio.
Not sure I want a CNUT of the week T shirt.
ta !
I nominate Attorney-General Robert McClelland for including ‘Psychological harm’ in new terror laws, sentences of up to 10 years for ‘hoaxes’ and giving police the power to search premises without a warrant where they believe there is material that threatens public health.
Senator Bill Heffernan for giving Penny Wong the finger today in the Senate……or should that be Bill Heffernan for fingering Penny Wong?
Whatevs….
I nominate Dr. V. M. Palaniappan for his 33 years of research that resulted in this tidbit:
Avoiding masturbation and homosexual activities are among preventive measures one could take against Influenza A (H1N1), according to an eminent practitioner of complimentary therapy.
Dr. V. M. Palaniappan said that such activities caused the body to develop friction heat which in turn, produced acid and made the body hyperacidised.
“Thus, the body becomes an easy target for H1N1 infection,” he told Bernama, emphasising however, that normal sexual union between members of the opposite sex was absolutely safe.
So wanking and homosexual activities make you more susceptible, but not sex with the missus….what a relief….oh wait….
The entire Labor party for hosting the anti gay Christian right celebration today of Howards anti gay marriage laws
I nominate you, Stil, for Tuesday’s piece in Crikey. As we discussed earlier in the week, I was pretty disappointed by the piece.
I’m with you on raising awareness about privacy issues being vital so that people can make informed decisions about how much of themselves they share online. Diving to the Hamilton/McMennamin-esque depths with pedo scares was unnecessary, distracting from the main message to the point of doing more damage than good as far as awareness goes.
“The threat from p-dophiles online is vastly over-stated.” doesn’t begin to bring balance to the piece once you’ve dropped the “Hello, Emily? Sarah… sorry, your mum’s running late. I’m her friend Brian. I work with her at the bank. Sorry I missed your birthday party last weekend, but I’ve got a present here for you…†line. Brian’s more likely to be a trusted friend of the family than an online predator.
Thus I nominate you for working against the tide of change which in this case is examining and reacting to online threats without resorting to alarmist tactics.
Cnut of the week nominee is Steve Fielding for having the courage to keep the hope alive that global warming is just an isolated weather pattern that will pass and showing up “Not one Labor member had the guts to at least hear the other side of the science.”
Oh look, this is awesome stuff. Did I mention that nominations close at 8.30pm Sydney time?
It would have to be the Burmese Military Regime for adding a further 3 years hard labour to Aung San Suu Kyi’s current bogus detention.
What makes them even more worthy for the Cnut of the Week Award is because some random nutter breaks into her home and they somehow, in their twisted llittle minds, turn it into an excuse to make this lady suffer even further, for simply being a possible threat to their disgusting, suppressive way of ruling the country.
Not sure if I am allowed to do this, but:
My other nomination would be Kevin Rudd for his so called ‘videochat’, and showing he has no clue when it comes to the world of computers, and for being exposed as a very slow, two finger typist! #EPICFAIL for us to have such a luddite for a PM.
I’d like to nominate futurists – they are holding back the tide of progress by spouting meaningless contradictory drivel.
😉
I want to nominate Miranda Devine for her piece in SMH saying that boys need girls to be nice to them so as not to top themselves http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/match-the-treatment-to-the-malady-20090812-eiae.html?page=-1
Thank you, everyone. Nominations are now closed. Stilgherrian Live starts in one hour.