Saturday, March 15, 2008

[housekeeping] how to stay alive

Not to put too fine a point on it, world's turned on it's head on the personal front. More - once I come up for breath.

[breakfast] an english exercise

As I can't leave the job just now, I'll bring part of the job to you - the English part. The task - fill in the gaps and make the verbs in bold in to the correct form. They might already be.

For teens look___ to keep weight off, it doesn't have to be a breakfast of champions, but it should to be some kind of brea___st -- and preferably a he___hy one. Yet another study confirm that adole__ents who sk_p breakfast have a higher ri_k of being overweight.

"There's a pretty sign___ant inverse association between how frequently kids report breakfast and how much weight they eat gain over time, and we take into ac__unt other diet__y factors and ph__ical activity," said Mark Pereira, co-a__hor of the study, publish in the March is__e of Pediatrics.

"It's inter___ing to note that the kids who eat breakfast on a daily basis overall have a much better diet and are more ph__ically active," Pereira said.

Added Dr. Peter Richel, chief of pediatrics at Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y.: "Grandma and Mom are right. When we s_ip breakfast, especially in the teenage years, then kids tend snack and graze."

Friday, March 14, 2008

Election Day Report (Albeit Very Late)

So, I will not be talking about the results. Zapatero´s party, PSOE, won but not by enough to have an absolute majority in the Congreso de Diputados. Here are some photos of the day, with explanations ;-)This is the first polling place I was able to find. I woke up at 9 a.m. with the intention of finding one in my neighborhood (Tetuán). Unfortunately, I didn´t realize they only open some high schools (where the polling takes place) for polling, not all of them. So I spent thirty five minutes trying to find the one in my neighborhood before going to an area that I knew better than my own neighborhood, pathetic I know!

The list of who votes where with regards to the interior of the school. People from one street vote in one room, others vote in another, etc.

These photos are just for fun. The school isn´t too far from a church. There´s always at least one member of La Guardia Civil on the street on Sundays, they have a barracks nearby. So I decided to take his photo w/o him realizing.

After lunch, I finally made it to my barrio´s high school for the elections. Here I was able to take every single list for the parties that could be elected to the Congreso de Diputados and their version of the Senate. The Senate´s ballot was much simpler than the Congreso´s. I had to come back later and finish the job, as I was only able to take about 10 of the 40 lists for the diputados before someone looked at me with a ,"What are you doing?" look on his face.

Izquierda Unida observer. Iu is the only hard left party that ever garners any votes. When I mean hard left, I mean borderline Communist!An advisory about the elections (forget what it´s about and am too lazy to translate right now).


The end of the night, about fifteen minutes before the polls closed. We were given estimates by gov´t TV a few minutes later. They weren´t too far off.

[housekeeping] issues

Readers, for five days, major things have been happening with me on the personal front, fundamental things.

They came to a head last night. I shall be blogging as soon as possible but this is very important what's happening here and it must be attended to.

I apologize to regulars and will be with you as soon as I can. Everything's fine so don't worry. Have a lovely remainder to your Friday.

There is truly nothing interesting in the news.

We have rain.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

[superhero] when it's best not to be

Sometimes a glowing report signs your death warrant. the conventional wisdom was that Admiral Fallon was forced out over his criticisms of Iraq. There is another take:

Which is why, after reading Thomas Barnett's Esquire article on America's CENTCOM commander, I knew that Admiral William "Fox" Fallon would be forced into retirement. After reading the article, the men around that table would have thought as I do: that he was lucky he wasn't fired. In truth, I would have busted him to Seaman Recruit.

On Tuesday, Fallon submitted his resignation.

Barnett's piece has to rank as one of the most embarrassing portraits of an American officer in US military history. Both for Barnett, as well as for Fallon.

If this is the true story, then it might have availed Fallon to have the Esquire piece pulled. No one likes someone presented as a superhero when he is one of any number in the field of battle. One would have thought they'd have learnt from the MacArthur demise.

[truth] seven deadly sins

Greed:Low
Gluttony:Medium
Wrath:Medium
Sloth:Low
Envy:Very Low
Lust:Medium
Pride:Medium


The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

H/T Jams

Actually disagree with gluttony - I'm anything but. Think lust should rank higher for me.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

[сообщение] как я обещал, девченки

Привет, Гузель, Маша и Таня

[dirtiest place on earth] where?

New York on a good day from the World Trade Centre

Just reading about the dirtiest places on earth:

Naples might be known for its great pizza, but it's also known for its ridiculous garbage problem, something no doubt exacerbated by the local Mafia's control over the garbage disposal. The result is that, for all its good points, Naples is a bit of a hell-hole.

... but the author selected Agra as the worst and took a snap of it. What is your dirtiest place in the world? Mine would be Cairo. Remember, we're not just talking about air quality:

Linfen was named by the World Bank last year as having the worst air quality on earth. It features alongside Chernobyl in the Blacksmith Institute's list of the 10 most polluted places in the world and tops the list of most polluted cities compiled by China's own state environmental protection authority.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

[from indonesia with love part 2] to be a woman

All photos are Wiki


Decided to run the whole text of Santi's. This was what she had on her own site and then she translated it for me:

Saya menghormati kaum pria. Bahkan berniat untuk mencintai satu pria nantinya. Bagi saya, pria adalah seperti layaknya hakim yang memimpin pengadilan, presiden yang memimpin suatu negara, dan semacamnya. Pada intinya, pria-lah yang sudah ditakdirkan untuk berada di barisan paling depan. Mengendarai kuda putih dengan sebilah pedang di tangan kanan dan seikat mawar untuk saya di tangan kirinya.

I respect men. I even still have an intention to love one of them for good one day. On my perspective, a man is just like a judge that leads a court, a president that leads a country, or things alike. A man is destined to stand in front. With his white horse and sword on his right hand, and a bucket of rose for me on his left hand.

Pada akhirnya, saya akan berlindung di balik jubahnya. Saya akan bersandar di pundaknya dan akan menyambut uluran tangannya.

At the end, I'll be safe behind his sheild. I will lay on his shoulder and took his helping hand.

Pria adalah kekuatan, sejatinya kekuatan. Dari tangannya bisa tercipta sebuah rumah yang kokoh dan nyaman sebagai tempat berlindung. Pria juga adalah sebetulnya tulang punggung yang menyangga wanita dan keluarganya. Coba bayangkan kalau badan anda tidak ada tulang punggung.

A man is a strength itself. From his bare hands, he could build a house as a safe shelter. A man is also the backbone which is a brace for his family and his woman. Could you imagine if your body doesn't have a backbone?

Saya mengagumi ke-logis-an alam pikiran pada pria. Betapa pria dapat mengambil keputusan dengan menggunakan “kalkulator” pikirannya tanpa dipengaruhi tangisan cengeng. Saya pun mengagumi taktik mereka dalam menyikapi hidup, serta kekerasan hatinya yang menurut saya melambangkan kegagahan. Saya mengagumi pria, itu pastinya.

I adore the logical way of thinking on men. How they could make a logical decision with their "calculator" sense without being effected with tear drops. I admire their tactics on life, also their resoluteness, which I always thought that it symbolized the masculinity of men.

Lalu bagaimana dengan wanita? Terlepas dari sebuah fakta bahwa saya adalah seorang wanita, pun saya mengagumi sifat-sifat kewanitaan yang seorang wanita miliki. Wanita adalah selayaknya benang. Halus dan lentur. Sekarang bayangkan jika pakaian yang anda kenakan sekarang adalah dari kayu, bukan rajutan benang.

Then, how about women? Aside from a fact that I'm a woman myself, I also adore the femininity on women. A woman is like a thread. It's soft and flexibel. Now, could you imagine if the clothes that you were wearing right now are made from woods?



Untuk merobek-robek pakaian pun tidaklah segampang menjatuhkan kaca atau mematahkan kayu. Wanita identik dengan kehalusan perasaan dan emosi-emosi yang justru dibutuhkan oleh pria. Wanita juga akan terus bergelut dengan perasaan-perasaannya, itu pastinya. Moderennya, wanita akan mencoba merasionalkan apa yang dirasakannya. Yang membuat fatal adalah, jika perbandingan yang digunakannya adalah pria. Kenapa pria bisa begini dan begitu. Kenapa pria bisa. Lalu “kita”?

To tear apart clothes is not as easy as to break a glass or a piece of wood. A woman is identified by her feelings and emotions that is needed by a man. A woman will always have to deal with her feelings/emotions, that's for sure. What I feel right now is that a woman will always try to use her "rational" way of thinking on her feelings. What makes it fatal is when she's using a man as her comparison. Why men are able to do this. Why they can. Then, how about "us"?

Salah satu sifat sejati seorang wanita, baik itu di kota dan di desa, dari kutub ke kutub, adalah pecemburu. Selamanya, wanita akan mendeteksi yang manakah lawan dan kawan. Wanita juga sudah ditakdirkan untuk menjadi seorang penyelidik ulung. Hanya wanita yang bisa secara alami dan naluriah mendeteksi intonasi-intonasi kebohongan, raut wajah dan gerak-gerik lawan. Jika anda (pria) pernah terheran-heran karena pasangan anda pernah mengungkapkan kebohongan anda, maka anda pasti mengerti maksud saya. Hal ini bukanlah karena sihir si Nirmala atau jampi-jampi Mbah Dukun. Tapi ini adalah sifat alami wanita, seorang pendetektor ulung alami yang bermodalkan sensor di otaknya yang tajam.

One of the real character of a woman, whether she lives in a city or a pedestrian, from east to west, is jealousy. A woman will always seek and detect for friends or enemies. A woman is a true detective as she could detect a lie hidden in the intonation of voice, mimic, and other body language. Don't be surprised if your woman could always tell when you're lying. It's not her spells or black magic, but this is her natural instinct. A senser in her brain.

Mencemburui wanita idaman lain dari pasangannya itu masih terbilang wajar. Tapi terasa janggal jika wanita mencemburui pria. Seperti piring yang cemburu dengan gelas. Janggal bukan?

To get jealous because of another woman of her spouse is understandable. But it seems awkward when a woman get jealous of what a man has. Don't you think so? It's like a plate got jealous of a glass.

Merenungi ketiga artikel yang saya sebutkan di atas tadi, lantas terpikirkan oleh saya, apakah sudah semakin banyak wanita (dan pria) yang kehilangan jati dirinya? Seorang ibu yang rela mencari figuran utama untuk ditempatkan di rumahnya, seorang suami yang menyalahgunakan kekuatan fisiknya, dan seorang wanita yang cemburu berat dengan pria.

I was thinking, have women (and men) lost their identity? A mother who is willing to find for her substitute her house, a husband who misuses his strengh, a woman who is jealous of what a man has.

Wanita justru semakin indah dan bersinar karena kehalusan hatinya. Dan pria justru akan semakin terlihat seperti ksatria berkuda putih saat ia dapat menggunakan kekuatannya untuk melindungi.

A woman will become more beautiful and shining for her softness. A man will become more like a knight on white horse when he uses his strength to protect.

- Santi

Sigh. If men love through their eyes and women through their ears, which do you need to read a blogpost? Can you imagine certain western women writing anything like this? Others could do it easily. The world is a wonderful place.

- Higham


Monday, March 10, 2008

[from indonesia with love part 1] women of the archipelago

Modern Jakarta

The enigmatic Santi W [25] blogs from Jakarta and writes equally well in Bahasa or in English. I noticed she'd written on Feminism and ... ya iyalah ... I saw my name mentioned:
... sampai tentang Feminism - James ... Bahkan berniat untuk mencintai satu pria nantinya (ya iyalah).
... so I asked her to write a piece in English about women in Indonesia, maybe even Jakarta. Those bloggers out there have got quite a thing going, just as we have with our blogrolls and so on. How they take to an Englishman descending on them I'll have to find out.

In the light of recent comments here, particularly from North America, I think some of you aren't going to like the sentiments expressed in this post but you can be sure it's firsthand. Maybe you'll have questions for her and I'll ask her if she'll drop in and answer them. Here's her post:


There was a revolution in Indonesia regarding the equality of men and women. The equality of education, to be exact.


We (women in Indonesia) used to stay at home and were not allowed to study as much as men. This happened a long time ago, before Kartini published her story (about the situation in Indonesia) in the international (Dutch) media. And things were different ever since.

However, I rarely hear the news about gender issues in Indonesia.

It's probably because in our culture, a woman has her own obligation that is different to a man's.
For instance, when an Indonesian woman gets married, she's obligated to take care the family, or in other words, to be a mother and a wife.

That should be her main priority in life. To work in the office and pursue a career is nonsense if the husband disapproved.


The husband also has his obligation, to support the financial and other tasks, or in other words to be a husband and a father. This system seemed to work in our country as we believe that a man is made to be a leader in a family.


However, a wife's role is the key to the happiness in the family.

The cooperation on both sides is crucial and both roles need to be placed on the right side. Otherwise, you can't have a balance in life.
Knowing our self's capability is pretty important.

Do not underestimate the woman as women were made for men. Also, don't underestimate men as they were made to protect.


Santi


Part 2 is tomorrow, if I get permission to print it and it goes a whole lot further than this. I've read the translation and it's probably worth checking out.

[lizard queen] sincerity is my second name

Hillary and Bill Clinton are again teaming up on Barack Obama - this time saying the first-term US lawmaker, whom they have derided as inexperienced, would be a strong running mate on a Democratic presidential ticket headed by the former first lady.

In hailing Senator Obama as a possible vice-president, the Clintons are reaching out to him and, perhaps more importantly, to his backers, whose support she would need to defeat Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the November election.

[grendel meme] seven good things in life


Sorry it took so long, Grendel, old chap - seven good things in life. You want a serious reply or a funny one?

1. Finding the truth vis a vis my Maker before it was too late.

According to a literary anecdote, the author Nancy Mitford had asked Waugh how he could behave so abominably and yet still consider himself a practising Catholic. "You have no idea," Waugh had replied, "how much nastier I would be if I were not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being."

There is a Comforter, He [She?] exists and is free online for all.

2. A special woman/girl.

My mate phoned me yesterday and was suspicious. "Is it snowing? No? Er ... am I interrupting anything?" He knows the two things here which put me into a jolly mood.

Why not? Might be wrong about it but I enjoy this maybe more than the average man.

3. Snow.

Lots of it, in huge droves, walls of the stuff, all year round. Sun shining, minus ten - heaven. Let me slip nature generally in here too, particularly the forest in summer and particularly if N2 is involved.

4. Real life and blog friendships.

Communication and intellectual stimulation plus touching base are assuming greater and greater importance. I don't rate what I write as all that important but the communication is. Just adore the way a blogger posts about a prat like Darling, broods, then runs another post on the theme just for good measure. In the end, we're all BS-ing.

5. Sailing.

It's my sport and as I wrote to an Indonesian girl, it's the second best feeling - the sound and feel of the spray is blissful and the whole motion is both harsh and beautiful. Skiing is very close too.

6. My work.

It's certainly varied and from the sweet part of it [uni] to the tough part of it [trade], it's never, ever boring and I give thanks for that. Also that I'm semi my own boss and that I work the hours I choose to.

7. Variety.

Everything from 1 to 6, excluding N2. The buzz there is one at a time. I was playing ICQ once and two girls made contact at the same time. So I was running a split screen, one in Russian and one in English. Both were impatient why I didn't reply. Both turned out to be from the same city. That was the city I was in. Both were online from the same computer room, sitting beside one another. Never tried that again.

Unable to fit these in

* Travel - tired of it now.

* Trenchermanfests - used to enjoy them.

* Football/rugby/cricket - love them but not in the seven.

* One's family - well you know, that's a long story and not for the blog.

* The Novels, creativity - up there but not in the seven.

* Music - adore it and can't live without it but can't fit it in the seven. All cultural pursuits - theatre, ballet etc. are in here.

[alcopop test] as useful as the mcdonalds test

Iain Dale asks the question, appropriately on his current poll on the best and worst chancellors since 1945, "Should alcopops be taxed more."

I'm going to extend that to a wider poll below:

Should alcopops be:
Banned from sale
Taxed higher
Taxed lower
Provided free
pollcode.com free polls

The Economist's Big Mac Test was, of course, as a comparative determiner of the state of countries' economies.

[mutual understanding] first lock the militants up

Over the weekend, if you'd read the posts and comments at this site, there was some pretty useful mutual understanding shown between our genders and the mood was quite upbeat and positive.

I ended the weekend more pro-women than ever before and as a male, wanted to look at the real rights and wrongs of the issues confronting women.

It was a lovely weekend, especially on the personal front.


Then the Feminists kicked in today, destroyed all the good work and the result is my post further down the page which has gone right back to the "you know where you can stick your equal pay" style. Am I so fickle as to be pro-women on the weekend and yet against them today? No, I'm even more for women, as I said above but this:

Ignore us and neglect us. Keep your societies pitiful, needy, and backwards. If we are not loved, we will not love back; and if we are not nurtured, we will neglect. If we are not valued - we have no values to instill. Women who are treated with cruelty give birth to murderous intolerants and oppressors. If we are destroyed, we destroy too.

... just re-polarized a debate which was going nicely and in these words, the woman showed about as much negotiating ability as a Rottweiler. So let's first get it clear what this blog actually believes and stands for:


I personally believe in equal pay for equal work and despite the post below, I do believe that women are still short of this. I believe the men in a position to do so should address this question.

Now if the Feminists would stay the F out of it, then this could possibly be achieved far more quickly because most reasonable men would agree.

However, if you're going to assault men with completely one way, oh how we're so oppressed, misandrist, men are bastards material, then the male reaction is predictable. We'll stonewall, pay lip service, oppose and quietly stymie anything the blinkered Feminist demands. We'll write posts like the one below which we don't completely believe in but post anyway to stick it up the Feministi.

I see no mention of oppressed children or the totally iniquitous and laughably named Child Protection Agency or the anti-father family laws in their diatribes. I see no mention of the difficulty men have of adjusting in this new society where respect for men has flown out of the window and only hatred remains. You won't find a post for men on this site of mine either. I've never bothered fighting for men and heaven knows we've needed it in some ways.

Kelly Mac can be my champion:

Hope chests spring eternal

According to those paragons of all that a woman should be, wanting to make a comfortable home for your family means that you don’t value education, or accomplishing anything on your own. It seems that if you don’t fit their narrow definition of what a woman should be, ladies, you should be belittled and criticized.

I think I love that woman.

It's as clear as the nose on your face - if you're going to be strident, shrill, all one way, intolerant - forget feminism just now and let's use a different issue, maybe "smoking" - then people will quietly and angrily oppose you, especially when you try to bludgeon legislation through.

My father and mother both died from smoking related diseases and I have the beginnings. I don't smoke myself so here is a prime candidate to join the anti-smoking lobby. And yet I'm at the forefront of the anti-anti-smoking lobby because the other side polarized the debate and used heavy handed tactics.

That's all.


I had some quite deep discussions with women on the weekend and was in a pensive mood. Enter the bloody Feminists this morning and I've angrily typed up the post below.

Kelly Mac again:

The feminist movement had and has very little to do with how I as a woman live my life. Women and men have always had rights, and they have always had responsibilities. You’re only supposed to know the part where women got shafted.
To paraphrase British journalist Julie Burchill - any woman who says she isn’t a feminist should be summarily stripped of her right to vote (since this right was won for her by feminist activism)...

This actually isn’t true, about women’s right to vote. As gwallan pointed out, women were voting in this country (US) as early as the 18th century. Also, it’s not like every man could vote here either. From what I understand, each landed family had one vote – and it went to the head of the household, whether that person were a man or a woman.

Gwallan also mentioned Emily Pankhurst, one of the more prominent suffragists, and her “White Feather” campaign. You said that she was misguided in her patriotism, but that it didn’t negate the suffragist cause. I say if she were such a patriot, instead of shaming men into fighting and dying for her, she should have taken up a rifle herself, and recruited other women to do so. You can’t pick and choose where you want to be “equal” and where you want chivalry. Let her earn that vote.

Another lady, Michelle S:


Now, because of the bra-burning women's liberation movement, girls are routinely slovenly and ill-mannered (though I think people in general are ruder now than they have ever been) and the phrase "that's not ladylike" is all but extinct.

And as far as the impact on the nuclear family: households are now more likely to have two-incomes from both parents being in the workforce, leaving no one at home to raise the children. Couples are more likely to divorce now, further fracturing the family (for the first time, there are more single/divorced ladies then there are married ladies in the U.S.).

I think core family values are disintigrating, and I think the pebble that started this landslide is the feminist movement.

Nunyaa, who incidentally features a pic of Germaine Geer nude [aaaagh]:

Women like Germaine Greer haven't done me as a woman any favours and I dare say I am not the only woman in the world to think same. In an ideal world we would learn to accept that not everyone shares our ideals and that is their given right , so why place scorn and contempt upon those just because they do not agree with us.

This from KatrinaB:

I think male and female motivations are quite different (thank heavens) and the fact that we often use salary as an arbitrary indicator of gender value (or discrimination) incenses me. Clearly, *individuals* should be paid equally for identical jobs.

However, there is nothing in the literature that suggests the distribution of talent for a particular job will be split evenly between men and women.

This from a girl who blogs as
Purple Fire:

In my opinion 21st century feminists are a dying breed and those that do exist are simply trying to cause trouble. Everyone has a right to their opinion, the right to speak out against what is wrong; but who has a right to say that just because we are women, we are weak, or overly emotional, or constantly searching for a way to reach the same equality level as men?

It may be my unique school, or great variety of friends but I have never felt oppressed or treated unfairly by others simply because I'm a girl.

From Grace Chong:

I had difficulty writing my speech as I don't usually define myself as a woman. I define myself as a person, more particularly a creative writer dependent on God's grace.

Now surely, surely, the Feministi might pause to consider what's gone wrong with their movement. One of them today accused me of having issues and that they were the sane ones. Other way around, in fact. I have no issues being with women and having them as my mates.

Is that insane?


Finally - the Post Below

Is this report on Wimbledon equal pay or over the odds and inequitable? The women's event is not equal, i.e. they are not the top competition, i.e. they'd lose in a final with the men. So this is pay over and above equal.

This, in the NYT illustrates the [alleged] 77% dilemma but nothing is necessarily as it seems..

Strangely, in this patriarchal society over here in the former SU, where the women are not Feminists, there is equal pay for equal work, e.g. tram drivers.

And in the west, teachers' pay scales are gender neutral, i.e. they depend on years of service and brownie points. We paid our teachers equally, given the equal work, i.e. a third year primary teacher did not earn as much as a male Headmaster but did earn the same as her male counterpart.

So, reviewing the efficacy of militant Feminism, in Feminist besieged countries there are only two conclusions - either they've succeeded, vindicating Feminism and all is equal or else it's not equal and the Feminists have shown themselves to be largely irrelevant and quite possibly detrimental to the process.

After all, it's the unions who go in to bat for the equal pay and they contain men too. Which brings us to the question of "equal work" and how it can be measured:

As reported by money.cnn.com, Warren Farrell, author of Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap – and What Women Can Do About It, believes this is a case of comparable pay versus equal pay, or apples and oranges. He says men are more likely to make life-decisions that will lead to a higher annual salary.

He says males are more apt (than women) to relocate or travel for work, take on more dangerous jobs (over 90 percent of workplace deaths are reportedly men), work in the difficult (read boring) sciences, seek jobs that require financial risk and work jobs in unpleasant environments.


In contrast, he says, "women commonly prefer jobs with shorter and more flexible hours to accommodate the demands of family. Compared to men, [the majority of] women generally favor jobs that involve little danger, no travel and good social skills. Such jobs generally pay less.”

For women who earn over $100,000 per year, Farrell says they are more likely [than men at the same pay] to give up a portion of pay to spend more time with their families. Of course, not all women choose to forgo pay, as my post on top paid female executives discussed.
In some careers, Farrell says women actually earn more than their male counterparts do, and he's not just talking about the field of modeling.

According to Farrell, the median salaries of women exceeded that of men's by at least 5 percent, and in some careers, up to 43 percent in 39 occupations. Some of the 39 professions include: sales engineers, statisticians, legislators, transportation workers, automotive service technicians and mechanics, speech-language pathologists and library assistants.

However, to play fair:

A Carnegie Mellon study found that female job applicants were less likely to be hired by male managers, if they tried to negotiate a higher salary, unlike men. Some years ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that female scientists were paid less than men are.

And so on. Where the women do become CEOs or are in the more dangerous professions, they do earn male salaries - e.g. Carly Fiorina and the like. Just how much money did she need for bringing down a company?

One of the commenters on the Dr. Salary article said:

I have been fortunate enough to have worked in several fields, including the military, police, and now in the private software arena. In the military and police I saw equal pay for equal work, but based on merit (job performance and testing). Yet in the military and police work women candidates physical fitness standards were half of what was expected of a man.
Further reading here and here.

[tri-nations] three losses

Now I wonder if the Scottish bloggers would have run the photo if the result had been different? Do they also have a magnificent sense of fair play?

France

President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP conservative party is trailing in the first round of French local elections. However, the socialists' lead is smaller than some predicted, and the outcome in some large cities in particular remains finely balanced.

Spain

With nearly all the votes counted, the Socialists had won 169 seats, short of the 176 needed for an absolute parliamentary majority.

Disunited Kingdom

We've played pish all this tournament but it seriously wouldn't matter if we didn't win another game again because today we trampled the English - well that is of course until next time we play the English, then we'd better win there too.

National differences are alive and well, I see. Interesting how a Scot can be induced to say the words England or English under certain conjunctions of circumstances. :)

I was at a Rugby dinner once on the same day England played Scotland at Murrayfield so naturally we watched it. The instant the Scots turned out onto the park, it was as clear as day who was going to win - there was a mania in the Scots' eyes, quite different to the grim determination of the English.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

[telemarketers] how to deal with them

Get thee over to Colin Campbell to find out how:

Click on pic

There's plenty of advice today on how to deal with these pests but in Britain there's another type of pest as well - the double-glazing salesperson:

The Double-Glazing salesperson along with the life insurance salesman, estate agent and used car salesman has often been the 'butt' of a comedian's joke and the general public's 'loathing'.

Or how about the Jehovah's Witnesses? How do you deal with those suits and ties?

[birdman rally] wings across the water

There's a bridge across Melbourne's upside down river and off that bridge fly the intrepid Birdmen, the event a televised highlight of Melbourne's annual and very parochial festival, Moomba.

Every year, madmen fling themselves off this bridge for the honour of having taken part in the Birdman Rally.

There are always party poopers though like the hang gliders who fly 17 metres and win the trip to to Thailand but generally it's people like the "mild-mannered 36-year-old banker from Hawthorn", Simon Spinks, who flew as Super Unicorn Man.

In my years in Australia I always wanted to ahve a go at this but was more interested in being the party pooper and winning that trip to Thailand with my own kite design. Alas, it never happened.

There are always people doing these things. You remember Eddie the Eagle of course.

Were you for him at the time or did you think he was making a right prat of himself?

He came last, of course - too heavy, short-sighted and self-funded - an amateur in a professionally amateur world:

His lack of success endeared him to people all across the globe. The worse he did, the more popular he became. He subsequently became a media celebrity and appeared on talk-shows around the world. The press nicknamed him "Mr. Magoo", and one Italian journalist called him a "ski dropper".

The widespread attention that Edwards received in Calgary turned into a large embarrassment for the ski jumping establishment. Many athletes and officials felt that he was 'making a mockery' of the sport.

Shortly after the Olympics finished, the entry requirements were greatly toughened, making it next to impossible for anyone to follow his example.

At the closing ceremony the president of the Games singled him out for his contribution: "At this Games some competitors have won gold, some have broken records and one has even flown like an eagle."


At that moment, 100,000 people in the stadium roared 'Eddie! Eddie!'. It was the first time in the history of the games that an individual athlete had been mentioned in the closing speech.


Excuse me but I find that simply fabulous.