1. Thelma is a new online magazine put out by @kealey and I think you should totally check it out. →

    Love it. Conceived and turned around in no time at all. Plus, it’s got @clembastow in her cosplay finery. How can you go wrong?

    I can’t wait to see where they go with it.

  2. amassofhumanity asked: What is your take on the Pakistani Cricket scandal? Being a Yank and not know a lot about Cricket, is it common for a bowler to step over the foul line by such a large margin?

    Amateur bowlers don’t even do that. The world’s best might step over the crease by an inch (or two) every now and then, but those no-balls are pretty egregious.

    Apart from that, my take on Cricket is that it has become too beholden to the sub-continent, and the huge inflows of money that come from there. The fact that there was a scandal there has therefore barely registered on my radar.

  3. The Governor-General herself seems to be uncertain about her role. She thought she might be choosing between two possible prime ministers when she asked the Solicitor-General whether she should debar herself because her son-in-law is a Labor minister. In a hung parliament, the Governor-General is more likely and more properly involved after the Parliament has met. If Gillard were defeated on the floor of the House, she might ask the Governor-General to dissolve the House and call an election. The convention is that the Governor-General would refuse such a request because the Parliament only recently elected had not been given the opportunity to see whether a different government would gain its support. The Governor-General would then commission Tony Abbott to form a government.

    — Stable Government Not Governor-General’s Concern

  4. Ms Gillard and Greens Leader Bob Brown have signed the deal which ensures newly elected Lower House Greens MP Adam Bandt will support the formation of a minority Labor government. The concessions secured by the Greens include: the formation of • a climate change committee
    • a parliamentary debate on Afghanistan
    • a referendum on recognising Indigenous Australians
    • restrictions on political donations
    • legislation on truth in political advertising
    • the establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Committee
    • a leaders’ debates commission
    • a move towards full three-year parliamentary terms
    • two-and-a-half hours of allocated debate for private members’ bills
    • access for Greens to various Treasury documents

    — 

    Greens sign deal to back Labor - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

    Well, we knew that the Greens were going to side with the ALP no matter what (Bandt had said so before the election) but this is a stunning list of concessions from the ALP. Fixed terms, for a start, would be nigh-on impossible under the current system. In the case of a deadlock, or if the house became unstable, the PM must be able to call an election. Furthermore, the ability to call a double-dissolution election is an absolute necessity in the case of an obstructionist Senate.

    The weird are turning pro this week.

  5. San Francisco Weds - Sun next week.

    I’m in town, and if you’d like to catch up at some stage, let me know through whatever channels you can.

    I don’t bite.

    Well, I don’t have rabies, anyway.

  6. miss4n6: (via 472239364) Another great piece by Mike Montiero. Probably my favourite.

    miss4n6:

    (via 472239364)

    Another great piece by Mike Montiero. Probably my favourite.