Neutral language

THE EDITOR'S REGRETS

~ Norman Campbell

Although we're quite respectable,

And virtuous, and old,

We love a lie, delectable,

If it's discreetly told.

A libel that is hot with spite

Affords us infinite delight.

But, oh! the Law's severity

Holds as an iron band;

It curbs our wild temerity,

And stays our dauntless hand.

Much defamation we would dare,

But Damages make us forbear.

Our duty to society

Is ever in our mind;

We stand for strict propriety -

For fear we should be fined.

We keep our sheet from libels free

Because it pays us best, you see.

We ever strive to stimulate

An arctic air of probity,

And virtues oft we fabricate

From nauseous necessity;

The pen is greater than the sword -

But Costs are things we can't afford.

First published in The Bulletin, 13 May 1915
Cartoon by Michael Leunig.

My week?  There have been some challenges but we are working with stakeholders to ensure a positive outcome. Code for 'flying by the seat of my pants'. At least there's swimming tonight. Some things stay the same.

A New Timetable

This week we try a new piano teacher for Ro-Ro and a new timetable.  His teacher is a lovely girl we've met before who writes notes about the lesson in an exercise book, and inscribes helpful tips for home practice.  We hope she can make him focus on learning the notes rather than memorising the key strokes and zipping through the melody at breakneck speed.

There is no more soccer practice. Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings can be reclaimed until October.  Charly is going ice-skating at the Phillip rink instead this week. (A gem of a place. So unexpected in dreary Woden, right slap bang next door to the swimming pool.)  There are birthday parties scheduled from one end of Canberra to the other. Girl Guide notices arrive at the last minute heralding a miscellany of events.  Other things just crop up unexpectedly.

So, the pressure mounts to get better organised individually and collectively.  We should avoid trying to construct an entire convict settlement in miniature before breakfast for a class presentation that day, and we need to think about our News item during the week and practice it at times other than the drive to school on the morning it will be delivered. 
 
When Mummy says "What did you do at school today?", this is a cue to pass on class information, hand over notes and regale her with impressive accounts of what you learnt.  'Nothing' and 'I can't remember' are unacceptable responses.   
 
I have the 2011 month-to-a-view calendar desk mat already.

Budget Night

 

We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

Winston Churchill

Budget Night 2010. The secrecy. The announceables. The speech. The packages of measures. Landmark Reforms. In the National Interest. For all "Orstrayans".

Think of the small army of public servants who wrestle with big numbers into the wee hours, and overnight on occasion, rounding up the zeros under the glare of the fluorescent lights and by the soft glow of the computer terminal.  Fuelled by instant coffee and ordered-in Turkish or Thai.

Wandering out when the job is done, for another day/night, to empty car parks, save for a few other stray vehicles there in the dark, surrounded by fog, windscreens frozen, dew on the bonnet. 

Home to chill, silent houses where children squirm under covers and snuffle gently. Padding inside, jacket rustling, when a voice murmurs from the bedroom, "Is that you?"

And you are not entirely sure because your head is full of tables and columns holding aloft the fiscal strategy and outlook like a Jenga tower. 

It's pure wizardry.  At a keystroke, some will gain and others lose, but we'll "all be better off".

Cartoons by Tiedemann  and Nicholson

Back to School: Term 3

or playing Super Mario on the DS.

Back to the packed lunches, lost hats and hoodies, and brooding discontent over the state of public education.

Cartoon by Pat Bagley of the The Salt Lake Tribune