Harry Clarke » people

Christopher Hitchens age 62

hc — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:28:04 +0000

A formidable interview with Tony Jones days before Hitchens’ death. A tribute from his brother. A brief tribute from Christian debating opponent Tony Blair.

Andrew Bolt & Peter Roebuck’s suicide

hc — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:28:04 +0000

A disgusting piece of scandal-mongering by the disgusting Andrew Bolt. Bolt is asserting that in the wake of Peter Roebuck’s suicide that he is being assessed unfairly by the media because he is not being treated comparably to a suspect pedophile priest. Bolt admits there is almost no evidence on the issue but that Roebuck is a suspect pedophile is the clear Bolt inference.

The guy has just died in what are tragic circumstances but don’t let that stop you Andrew. Pursue what you see as the truth Andrew just as you do on topics such as climate change, fake aboriginality and so on.

I didn’t think that the people who frequent Andrew Bolt’s blog were worth giving much thought to. Its just far to easy to dismiss them as ignorant bogans. But, in fact, many of the discussants of this post objected to this awful journalism. Hopefully exposing people to Bolt will have the theraputic effect of getting people to focus on their own nastinesses and their own inner demons.

Shane gets the sheila

hc — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:53:28 +0000

I always liked Shane Warne and thought he would have made a great captain of the Australian cricket team – he had a strong understanding of cricket strategy and had considerable skill at handling the media – at least in interviews. I liked his intensity in relation to cricket and his joy-seeking attitude to life. I remember after his biography was written he said he had not read it and, indeed, had never read any book. Shane has done well in sport, made a lot of money and is using it to enjoy life. His active and varied sex life presumably cost him the Australian captaincy but again he is just pursuing life to the fullest. He has now confirmed his forthcoming marriage to Liz Hurley and she also looks as happy as I have ever seen her. ’On ya Shane!

Bob Gould RIP

hc — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:36:56 +0000

I’ve known Bob since around 1966 or 1967. A great character of the left and a shrewd entrepreneur. Bob held strong Marxist views and sometimes said and did strange things. I remember him up in a tree outside the Soviet Embassy around 1968 when we were protesting the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. His bookstore itself was an amazing musty jungle of confusion with books piled everywhere on every conceivable topic. He could be very direct and extreme in making political judgements and seemingly very uninterested in making a sale in his shop. He could also be very helpful and was generally entertaining. I hadn’t seen much of Bob in recent years but when I did call in at his shop I would have a yarn – he mellowed with age more than a little. He will be missed by his political supporters and by his political foes alike.

Update: Here are some responses to Bob’s passing.

Joe Stiglitz on Strauss Kahn

hc — Sat, 21 May 2011 23:55:53 +0000

The ferocity of the mass media’s trial and conviction of Dominique Strauss Kahn on sexual assault charges makes me wonder whether the “presumption of innocence” principle is finally dead. Anything related to sexual crime these days seems to provoke an orgy of self-righteous indignation.

Strauss Kahn seems to have been a worthwhile IMF leader. Here is a tribute to his accomplishments by Joe Stiglitz,.

The media attack on Strauss Kahn seems Likely to have ended his political career irrespective of eventual judgements of his guilt. Indeed I wonder whether efforts to dig up alleged past misdeeds and the visual presentations of Strauss Kahn as an unshaven, seedy old man in prison garb make any idea of a fair trial a bit of a joke.
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No room for girlfriend at girl’s school

hc — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:07:18 +0000

Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School is a very good girl’s school in the north of Melbourne. Both my daughters went to the school and I have a great deal of affection for it and its excellent teachers and Head. This interested me.

David Campbell

hc — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:47:40 +0000

The treatment of David Cambell by the media and his own party is repugnant. Our society is becoming more American by the day with sexual images and innuendo thrown at us constantly but with, at the same time, a strengthening moral puritanism. It is an understatement to note that David Campbell does not seem to have been a wonderful transport minister in NSW and this may be grounds for dismissal. But that he is ‘outed’ for being a closet gay and because he attended a gay club – that is the substance of the Channel 7 attack - is disgraceful.

Peoples’s sexuality is their own business and having affairs on the side in a marriage is the concern of the individuals involved not, properly, that of journalistic low-life. Politicians are entitled to privacy. The endpoint of this type of revelation is the inference that, after all, there is something wicked about homosexuality and about having a bit on the side. The hypocrisy of Seven’s news director Peter Meakin – a serial drink driver - in attacking Campbell is breathtaking. The best protest the community can make is to avoid watching Channel 7. Their news and current affairs shows are among the worst in the country so little is lost.

The Labor Party itself deserves condemnation for accepting Campbell’s ‘resignation’ . It is the same hypocrisy that drove the ‘resignation’ of John Della Bosca. It is tempting to attribute these actions to the right-wing Catholic lunatics who run the Labor Party in NSW but the problem is deeper and more pervasive than this. We are increasingly becoming a nation of voyeurs, hysterics and sexual puritans.

Jessica Watson

hc — Sat, 15 May 2010 08:36:26 +0000

Inspirational stuff – youngest person (short of 17 years old) to sail solo, unassisted around the world. We have heroes! Jessica has her own blogsite, is releasing a book and will sell her story to Newscorp for a packet. I hope she makes a fortune. The deadheads who say her behaviour is masochistic and reckless should go to sleep on the couch. They were born by mistake and their gutless, insipid lives are valueless by comparison. How many whining lefties will disparage her efforts? Wait for it.

Kottke

hc — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:23:23 +0000

I have been listening to Leo Kottke for decades – the first time in Chicago around 1983 – he has been performing for 40 years. He is an astonishing guitarist and has a warped personality that really appeals - “When Shrimps Learn to Whistle” (no I can’t steal a copy) is a favourite as is Pamela Brown - “I guess the guy she married was the best part of my luck, she dug him ’cause he drove a pick-up truck”. Friend JS pointed out this interesting Youtube with Lyle Lovett. This wistful masterpiece with Chet Atkins. Good preparation for tomorrow and then Easter.

SBY

hc — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:29:37 +0000

Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his address to the Australian Parliament said of the relations between Indonesia and Australia:

‘The most persistent problem in our relations is the persistence of age-old stereotypes, misleading simplistic mental caricatures which depict the other side in a bad light.’

This is accurate and applies to many walks of life and many situations. Racism and cultural stereotyping are a type of diminished vision that limits the ability of one group of people to see the nuances and the shared-humanity of other groups. We all suffer from these ‘sight’ issues to a greater or less degree – it is good to be aware of the issue.

President SBY went on to say:

‘Even in the age of cable television and the internet there are Australians who see Indonesia as an authoritarian country or as a military dictatorship or hotbed of Islamic extremism, even with expansionist ambitions. On the other hand, in Indonesia there are people who remain afflicted with Australia-phobia, those who believe that the notion of white Australia still exists, and Australians harbour bad intentions toward Indonesia. We must expunge these preposterous mental caricatures.’