Just in case you ever doubted that John Howard is the problem with the Coalition’s election hopes, check this analysis by Possums Pollytics.
How this ordinary aircraft will change my life
This Boeing 747-400, photographed at Sydney airport last Friday, belongs to Thai Airways International. If you happen to have decent eyesight, you can confirm this by the fact that it has “Thai” painted on the side. Ownership is not about paint, however.
If you paint “Thai” on my side, I do not then become the property of Thai Airways, not even if you’re employed by Thai Airways to do so. Paint is just paint, whereas ownership of property is an abstract concept. A concept which can be supported or asserted by paint or other physical signs, but still an abstract concept which can only be agreed upon by sentient beings.
But what about another concept: nationality?
Nationality is not about paint either. Paint “Thai” on my side if you like. If you use the right brush I might even enjoy it. But I won’t become even remotely Thai. However is nationality something which is just agreed upon? Or is there something essential — in the core meaning of the word, having to do with essence — which makes someone immutably Thai or Australian or Czech or Chinese?
And how does nationality relate to similar concepts, such as ethnicity or race or culture?
I usually don’t think about these categories. The variation within them outweighs the supposed differences. People of every nationality range from amiable to arsehole. However that aircraft — that specific aircraft — has brought it all into focus.
Continue reading “How this ordinary aircraft will change my life”
Toy of the Year’s “Magic Beads” are… magic beads!
The Hong Kong-manufactured craft toy Bindeez, named as Australia’s Toy of the Year, is being withdrawn because its “magic beads” turn into the drug GHB (“fantasy”) when you ingest them.
Sydney-based poisons specialist Dr Naren Gunja said the list of Bindeez’s ingredients supplied by the manufacturer said it should contain the non-toxic chemical known as 1,5-pentanediol.
“What we’ve found in the beads from testing done … by our hospital scientists is that it contains 1,4-butanediol,” Dr Gunja said, adding that this chemical was metabolised by the body into GHB.
“Magic beads” indeed. Get ’em while they last.
793k/second
I must admit, since upgrading our Internet link to ADSL2+ it is rather nice seeing notices like “download 793k bytes per second”.
OK, this is Banksy
Somehow the Snarky Platypus has managed to avoid discovering the British street artist known as Banksy. So here’s a picture. And below there are some links. Enjoy!
The photo shows a recent Banksy work in Pollard Street, London. Thanks to unusualimage2004 for the pic. You can click through to the official Banksy website, or the Banksy photo pool on Flickr.
For fuck’s sake, can we vote yet?
In the first week of the campaign, I thought it was just me. Maybe I’d seen a few federal elections and knew the pattern. But no, now I’m sure. This really is the most boring election in the history of western civilisation. Which is why I’ve written far less about it than I thought I would. It’s depressing.
I blame John Howard.