Sikamikanico Blogs

They don't call them "conservatives" for nothing. Conservatives just want everything to go back to the way it was - especially the way it was in the 1950s. I've largely abandoned tormenting Piers Akerman these days. With the Liberals wiped from Government across Australia these days, Akerman is just a sad, desperate man. Picking on him is like hunting dairy cattle with an AK-47. But he still tries, even if he's reduced to the "soft issues", like how children should best be taught to read. Phonics is the way to go , according to Akerman - contrary to the views of the "the inner-urban, academic-stacked Labor branches" who prefer "systems chosen for their ideological purity". (I think that's what he's saying. Akerman's writing is barely lucid at the best of times). It's Reds Under the Bed, or at least under the school desks, recycled for the new millenium (so Akerman is at least in favour of some recycling). Go back fifty

The Australian stock market has surged following the announcement of the death of Heath Ledger . Photo courtesy of Crikey (Well, I don't know how the financial markets work. It could be true). Incidentally, isn't it odd how there are some celebrity demises you can see coming - even if it hasn't happened yet - then there are ones like these, that just seem to come out of the blue. Actually, maybe not. One of those ubitiquous "close friends" who always pop up in these situations reckons they saw it coming . Meanwhile, it's nice to know that cable TV is always prepared (I'm just suprised that came from MSNBC and not FoxNews). Posterity is assured now, in any case.

Follies return, because it's easier than posting properly. From the Onion - news I've been waiting for my whole life, and check out the featured country of the week from the Atlas. How dumb are the kids these days? Well, check out the second item from the SMH's Column 8 on Tuesday . (Wait. A teenager in the 1990s? That was my generation! Goddammit, there goes the whole structure of my existence). From the blogosphere: Enjoy Lightning Bug's Memoirs of an Osco Clerk (ah, the joys of a first job); Claudia's Room hilarity for those who can't believe they ever enjoyed The Babysitters Club , and another helpful Public Interest Courtesy Rule on the use of backpacks. Ever wondered where all The Simpsons movie references come from? Heres's photographic evidence . Well, have a great weekend. It's going to be raining round my way, so I might go to the movies. Possibly to see Juno , because it looks kind of interesting, but mostly because it's directed b

Has anyone else noticed that car drivers are becoming more agressively defensive lately? I'm not referring to road rage here (I've personally always felt that road rage is a brilliant idea), but drivers getting snarky about driving itself. Overwhelmed by reports that car exhausts are causing global warming , not to mention birth defects , they're like addicts in denial about the effect of their addictions; coming up with ever more elaborate excuses about why they need to drive. And they really mean it. Australians bought a record number of cars in 2007, over 1 million. The impulse is understandable - a "last stand before dying". I myself started smoking more in the last few days before I quit. You know when your position is untenable, but the rebel in you clings on ever more desperately before being able to finally let go. For the opinions of "the masses", it's hard to go past those commenting blogs on news.com (for a start, most of them are unawar

It's hard to tell from here how the year may shape up. Let's look at the evidence... The year has kicked off with Sydney's Biggest News Ever - or at least according to the celebrity commentator who appeared on Today Tonight to discuss the happy event (I should have added "no more trashy current affairs shows" to my New Year's resolutions. Where do they find these people?). Of course, we do have a spanking new Prime Minister and Government. Rudd seems to be walking on water at the moment (which must make it very convenient for him to get from Kirribilli to the City), but of course the real test comes when Parliament resumes - long after the rest of us have gone back to work. If you're the kind of person who feels older when you notice how young everyone else is, then licensed venues are not the place for you right now. In Australia at least, there are now people born in the 1990's, who are legally adults. It's best not to think about it. Spea

Civilization really hasn't progressed as far as we might think. On Saturday, visiting the Otzi the Iceman exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum, I was struck, and saddened, by the violent death of Otzi - shot in the back by an arrow as he apparently fled into the mountains, fearing an attack. I couldn't help compare Otzi's death with the current situation in Kenya - it seems that in 5,000 years, not much has changed when it comes to people being shitty to each other . (There's a word that's starting to be used with regards to Kenya - Rwanda . I can remember when I was about twelve years old, asking my mother if, at the time of the Cambodian "Killing Fields", the world knew what was going on. She said people did, and I was confused - if people had known what was happening, than surely someone would have stopped it? My confusion in this case lasted three years, until the Rwandan genocide - the whole world knew what was happening, and nobod