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Stilgherrian Live finally returns… tonight

Cnut of the Week graphic

Do you remember Stilgherrian Live? I know. It’s been weeks. Well, it’s back. Tonight. And you know what that means…

Nominations are now open for “Cnut of the Week”, 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. 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.

Everyone who nominates and leaves a valid email address goes into the draw for a free t-shirt of their choice from our friends at King Cnut Ethical Clothing.

Nominations for “Cnut of the Week” are open until 8.30pm Sydney time, and you must nominate at the website for it to count. And also, when we draw the t-shirt winner, you must be watching the program and email us the code word within 3 minutes of your name being announced, otherwise we’ll pick someone else.

(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.)

Stilgherrian Live starts at 9.30pm, Sydney time.

Who do you nominate, and why?

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21 Replies to “Stilgherrian Live finally returns… tonight”

  1. cnut of the week: Wilson Tuckey.

    For the benefit of our common entertainment, may he never change!

  2. I nominate Wilson Tuckey. Just because. Because the 50s ended HALF A CENTURY AGO. Because Agrarian Socialism DOES NOT MEAN YOU NEED TO BE A CLIMATE CHANGE DENIALIST. Because Australia and WA and even the outback deserve better than a man who is CLEARLY MISSING HALF HIS BRAIN CELLS.

    I could go on. But why bother? The man’s a shoo-in.

  3. Wilson Tuckey is Cnut of the last few decades. However, Cnut of the week would have to be Amazon for removing 2 e-books from their Kindle shop and from buyers kindles; AND missing the irony that it was for George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm.

    1. I agree. Amazon truly tried to stop the tides by stealing back books about oppressive regimes (1984) and corporatism (Animal Farm) that for all intents a purposes should be in public domain by now anyway.

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  5. I nominate those gossiping about Berlusconi for Cnut of the week. Politicians get to have a sex life, really, they do.

    What the man chooses to do, and who he chooses to do (it with) don’t really have any impact on the job he does as a politician, whether that’s good or bad.

    1. Well, true, but the man is fascinating! I mean, he’s rich, owns the best sport team, is the Rupert Murdoch of the Italian media, is incredibly rude to other pollies, was President, then not, then came back, etc etc etc.

      The ‘sex scandals’ over the years are just icing on the cake. I mean, I would still say womanising sexist would have an affect on how he governs, but I hardly think the fascination with him makes people a Cnut.

    1. I whole-heartedly agree, though I suspect I would have to nominate him for something else….

  7. As revealed by Crikey (http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/22/digital-radio-democracy-jammed-by-commercial-stations/ , behind a paywall) I nominate the commercial radio stations of Geelong who are proposing to jam the digital radio signals of their rivals in Melbourne so that people in Geelong are stuck with their sub-standard rubbish.

    Geelong is about 70km from Melbourne and its residents have always been able to enjoy the benifits of being near a big city, including decent radio stations. I grew up there, and the only reason I would listen to local stations was if every other available station was playing a Peter Andre marathon.

    Not only will it f–k up the signal for Geelong residents, but anyone who wants to broadcast to areas nearby their jamming signal will have to install repeaters to defeat it.

    Apparently, ACMA haven’t responded to the proposal yet, so perhaps I should be nominating them for not immediately just saying no.

  9. I’d like to nominate all those about to lose their multimillion dollar dwellings along the coastlines of the Gold Coast/Belongil Beach/Byron Bay to the rising tide of. . .well, the tide, who refuse to call it a day and admit that their houses are going to fall into the sea, quit their losses and go INLAND!

      1. So they should… abandon their houses, before the tide has risen? I’m not saying that the tide’s not going to rise, but geez, buggin out years early’s a little weird.

        1. @Willozap: Well, the issue in the recent flooding at Byron Bay is that homes have been built in flood-prone areas in the first place, often without proper planning processes. which is why they’re cheap.

          Byron Shire mayor Jan Barham, the only elected Green mayor in Australia, said yesterday many of the beachside houses in Byron Bay had been built without full consent. Like many coastal towns, Byron Bay had developed ad hoc, and she wanted a more formal approach to coastal development.

          “Planned retreat” from the coastline had been council policy since 1988, and anyone who had built a house on Belongil Beach since then had done so “in the full knowledge that they were taking a risk”, she said.

          I read somewhere else that people hadn’t bothered to ask why some older houses were being sold so cheap, spent a bunch of money on renovations, and discovered the hard way that they’re susceptible to flooding. Oops.

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