The Kransky Sisters now have a website. That is all.
Subtle Thai referendum poster
I like plain, straightforward communication. I therefore love this poster for the “no” case in Thailand’s recent constitutional referendum — the first referendum ever held in Thailand. Click on the image for a close-up.
Do you get the feeling they’d rather I voted “No”?
The referendum itself was on whether to adopt a new constitution, and the result seems to be that it’s a green light. Obviously the subtle poster didn’t work.
Thanks to One Plus One Equals Three for the pointer.
What is my degrading media designation?
Author John Birmingham writes (well, of course he writes, he’s an author):
I recently saw myself described as an ‘overrated misanthropic pot monster.’ I liked that so much I’m thinking of getting a tee shirt printed. It made me think of [writing a column] on the topic of media tags, you know — adjective adjective noun. But I couldn’t get four hundred words out of it. So I thought I’d throw it out here. Invent your own degrading media tag.
I like the challenge. I haven’t thought up one for him. But I’m wondering… What would be a good “degrading media designation” for me? And, for that matter, for the Prime Minister?
(On the latter, “lying rodent” doesn’t count. It has to have two adjectives. Even though a Google search on “lying rodent” gives you… well, look for yourself.)
Quote of the Day, 23 August 2007
“If there’s a lemon in it, it doesn’t count as alcohol.” Discuss.
Computer chips destroying the planet
This isn’t new news, but it came out of comments to another post. Weight for weight, the average computer chip does more harm to the environment than the car.
A team at the United Nations University in Tokyo found that to make one 2-gram memory chip requires:
- 1.6kg of fossil fuel
- 72g of chemicals
- 32kg of water
That last one truly scares me — especially as I’m guessing the water has to be pure to wash microscopic components.
Taxing the poor, for years
The media’s full of the Howard government’s magic $3.7 billion “extra surplus” today. It’s hard to know how to start making sense of it all. But here’s one thought which struck me: the tax-free threshold for personal income tax.
Democrat Senator Andrew Murray says in Crikey today that the amount you can earn before being taxed has stayed at the same figure of $6000 since the year 2000.
If it had been indexed since 2000, it would now be well over $7000. Had the 1980 personal threshold of $4,041 kept pace with earnings, the tax-free threshold would now be well over $15,000.
Senator Murray also points out that the minimum income required for basic subsistence is around $13,000. That is, if you earn less than that, you simply don’t have enough money to cover the basic living expenses of accommodation, food, clothing, education, medical care, transport and so on. Sure, you might be able to fake it for a while, but eventually something will give.