A good story and well told

Susannah Walker reports on Shaun Micallef finally achieving long overdue mainstream popularity.

The Shaun identity - TV & Radio - Entertainment - theage.com.au

Strike me down with all of your hatred

November is going to be a good month for Star Wars fans who also play video games, and without wanting to perpetuate stereotypes, chances are that they probably do. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition is a follow up to last year's best seller with additional levels. The game takes place in an alternate Star Wars universe in which Darth Vader takes a secret apprentice, named Starkiller, who is sent out to kill the remnants of the Jedi order. The game received mixed reviews, but the storyline, set between the prequels and the original movie trilogy, was actually quite compelling, with lots of twists and turns. Click on this link for more information. Unlike the previous game, this expanded version will only be released on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and high spec PCs.

Pedantry corner returns

Casual observers will notice that one of the trends in Australian politics is that when in opposition, the Liberal Party often attacks Labor governments for what they see as squandering of taxpayers' money. Sometimes this is justified, as was the case with the Cain-Kirner government that held office in Victoria from 1982 to 1992. This government had an appalling record of financial mismanagement. The most tragic result of this was the election of the Kennett government in 1992. In order to repay massive government debt, over the next seven years, Premier Jeff Kennett embarked on an unpopular program of mass public servant sackings, privatization of government utilities, and slashing funding on infrastructure, health, education, and other public goods.

Now Federal Liberal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has picked up the baton, as reported in our national broadsheet, accusing the Rudd Labor government of massive overspending and waste.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26213921-26103,00.html

Pity about the typo in the headline. What's an oppsotion? It just goes to show again that you cannot rely solely on an automated spellchecker. Occasionally it pays to manually proofread your copy. No elephant stamp for you this time, News Limited.

Ben Folds

It's good to see that there's a market for books that don't involve fad diets, global conspiracies or teenage vampire romances. Author Christian Lander has taken it upon himself to satirize the pretensions inherent in the cultural values of urban, professional Caucasians, and about time too. While many of his references will be lost on non-American readers, what he says just as easily applies elsewhere. Among the items listed in his book are recycling and driving hybrid cars, expensive gourmet sandwiches, irony, organic groceries, having ethnic friends, drinking fair trade coffee, supporting worthy causes, world cinema, arts degrees (touche) and spirituality without commitment (ie any belief system that is not monotheistic and dogmatic is fashionable), and liking Barack Obama, because it's racist not to, to name but a few. Given that I partially fit this demographic, I recognise a lot of myself in this book. Very funny and incisive.

Food for thought

If Facebook died - Eureka Street

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Discrimination or commonsense?

After a long review process, last weekend the Victorian government announced that the current exemptions in place in Victorian equal opportunity legislation that allow religious organisations to not employ staff who share their beliefs will be retained. While the religious organisations themselves have welcomed this decision, other community groups have expressed their deep disappointment. For its part, The Age reported this news with the inflammatory headline, "Government bows to religious right."

Even religious leaders and opinion makers themselves are divided on this issue. Anglican Bishop John McIntyre found the decision "perplexing," while education consultant Kevin Donnelly disagrees with McIntyre. On the day Donnelly's article was printed, The Age ran an online forum to discuss it further. This is what I had to say when I weighed in with my five cents:

For some of you it seems that this is an emotive issue. Have you thought of it this way? Do you think it's unfair to make accusations of bigotry against religious schools for only wanting to employ teachers who share their beliefs? These arguments aside, it seems to me that it's also a matter of commonsense. Let's imagine you're looking for work. If you don't support the ethos of an organisation, religious or otherwise, you're not going to be a good fit for it, and chances are they're probably not going to waste their time by employing you anyway.

Let me expand further on the above by stating that I speak from personal experience here. Many years ago, when I was looking for work, I applied for a job working for a political party. During the interview, since I didn't wholeheartedly support their ideology and wasn't prepared to join this particular party, it was clear to the interview panel and myself that despite having the skills they required, I was unsuitable for the position. If you don't support the ethos of an organisation, you're probably not going to be a happy, motivated, and productive employee. In no way was I being discriminated against, it was simply a matter of commonsense, and that's all there was to it.

In a word, disturbing

Lately there's been some disturbing developments in the seemingly endless euthanasia debate. Apparently a Christian group in South Australia called Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia has been formed for the express purpose of supporting euthanasia. Social commentator Bill Muehlenberg has been following this issue closely for a number of years, as have I, and brought this development to our attention.

He graciously posted my comment on his blog:

In the Netherlands, I remember reading that there have been cases where chronically or terminally ill people have been euthanased simply because their relatives did not want the inconvenience and disruption that having them in hospital for a prolonged period would cause to their lives. I speak from personal experience when I say that it would be truly appalling if this ever happened here.

While I may not necessarily agree with everything that Muehlenberg writes, on this issue I think he's absolutely right. He has articulated a constructive, Biblical and compassionate response to this highly emotive issue. I pray the day never comes when an Australian state or territory successfully introduces euthanasia laws.