Greg Baum - you're My Man.

Have you ever watched paint dry? Or grass grow? If so, you’ve done something infinitely more interesting and edifying than viewing F1 motor racing. There’s little that’s more brain numbing than observing noisy wheeled billboards driven repetitiously in a circle. So unsurprisingly the main story of the Australian F1 Grand Prix eight days ago wasn’t the race. Rather it was an F1 driver – Mr Hamilton, a Briton – doing a burnout [1] in a sponsor’s Mercedes, on a public street. The police impounded the car but neither charged nor fined Hamilton. Another F1 driver – Mr Webber, an Australian – leapt to Hamilton’s defence by calling Victoria a ‘Nanny State’ because it has too many rules and regulations, adding he’s ashamed whenever he returns here. Also leaping to Hamilton’s defence was Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Mr Walker who dismissed Hamilton’s burnout as youthful exuberance. To me, that the police didn’t treat Hamilton as they would’ve you or me had we done what he did, is another deplorable abrogation of the Rule of Law [2]. The whole saga’s beautifully summed up in a piece [3] in last Saturday’s Age by Greg Baum (pictured) [4, 5]. Hard-hitting, incisive, acerbic journalism laced with irony’s always a delight to read. It’s infinitely more interesting and edifying than watching paint dry or grass grow – let alone F1 car racing. Very well done, Mr Baum. I hereby add you to my list of favourite journalists [6, 7, 8].

farmdoc's blog post number 621

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Unlike Sweetheart Vivienne, I’m not a Yahoo! person. So only recently did I learn of Yahoo! Answers. Essentially you get to pose a question on any topic, and someone with nothing better to do, and who may or may not have the knowledge to do so, answers it. Yahoo! grandiosely describes it as a new way to find and share information. Gee whiz, eh. Its mission statement, aka its marketing blurb, is ‘Get real answers from real people’. Its Welcome page says ‘It’s the one place where the world shares what they know, to help each other out. And it’s all for free’. I’ll share what I know: nothing’s for free. Thus you have to sign up to Yahoo! to access Yahoo! Answers, i.e. to ask and answer questions. Today’s list, compiled by JR Raphael of PC World, is titled ‘The 20 Dumbest Questions on Yahoo! Answers’. Judging by his (a tad of googling reveals JR’s male) preamble, JR has a very healthy sense of irony. He foreshadows ‘a sea of jaw-droppingly dumb discussions guaranteed to amaze and entertain’. He then lists the 20 dumbest questions he found surfing Yahoo! Answers, responding to the 20 ‘with the best answers I could come up with’. The questions are something, but JR’s answers are something else. What a fun way to start the 2010 ‘List Friday’ series here at Farmdoc’s Blog. Enjoy!

farmdoc's blog post number 490

Farmdoc’s Blog is part of the blogosphere. But I don’t feel part of it. I don’t want to. And I don’t have time to. So I hardly read blogs of anyone I’m not related to. But one I’ve taken to looking at from time to time is The Elder of Ziyon. I suppose its name derives from the notorious anti-semitic document The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Perversely, because the document’s a hoax and a forgery; and despite the loony conspiracists, there’s never been a secret group of Jews known as the Elders of Zion. I don’t know the provenance of The Elder of Ziyon blog. But its writer clearly demonstrates a goodly degree of knowledge and authority. I find its content interesting. Mostly it’s material I haven’t come across elsewhere. And its tone also appeals to me: the facts and sources are documented, and the text is mostly left to speak for itself. Loudly. Comment by EoZ is invariably a mixture of irony and wit – which sets it off like a twist of lemon does to a gin and tonic. Here is an example. In this internet age, all sorts of campaigns and conflicts are waged in the ether as well as tangibly. In relation to the conflict between Israel and her enemies, The Elder of Ziyon is doing an important job. May it continue to prosper.

farmdoc's blog post number 247

The word irony. I find it difficult to define. My dictionary says it’s ‘Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs’. I reckon that’s close but, ironically, not spot on. I’ve previously written of Dick Adams, who’s my MP in the federal electorate of Lyons. Also how last year he sent details of how to best cook each potato variety. That was on the back of his 2008 calendar. Last week I received his 2009 calendar, and on its back was a blurb about Healthy Eating. Its paragraph titles include ‘Five core food groups’, ‘Can I just take a multi-vitamin?’, ‘Caffeine’ and ‘Tips to cut down on fat’. That Mr Adams would promote Health Eating is as ironic as it gets. Why? Because he’s grossly obese. Probably the most obese person in the federal parliament. Too many potatoes, Dick. And if he can’t practise healthy eating himself, how has he the gall to promote it. I’m reminded, again, of Rabbi Rodney’s adage that you never see a signpost walking in the direction it points. But wait. There’s more. When I googled ‘Dick Adams healthy eating’ up came this juicy piece that a few months ago, he underwent lap band surgery to treat his obesity. I quiver in excited anticipation of what’ll be on the back of his 2010 calendar.