Scotch cadets

I see in this morning's paper that there were three inicidents, including one in which a boy died of an allergic reaction to peanut butter, at a Scotch College cadet camp in the Wombat State Forest. If the current cadet corp is like my experience of 25 years or so ago, it's not surprising. Then, in a general well run school, the cadets had a crappy administrative culture. The culture of the army didn't fit schoolboys well. The scouts was a far superior organisation, which I discovered when I switched to it. And Scotch at Cowes was a good holiday. But my experience of the cadet camp at Tolmie (at the foot of Mt Buller) was of boys nearing hypothermia in leaking second world war ponchos while teachers, drank, played cards and played at being officers.

ridiculous fast tracking JP for beatification

The catholic church makes a joke of itself with fast tracking John Paul II sainthood with a posthumous miracle. A nun (convincing?) prayed to him after his death and was cured! Pleeese. Makes the whole church seem shonky and political. Should the alarms bells have been rung (they probably were) when the usual five year waiting period was waived. Why was it waived? Well that's obvious. But what excuse was used? Soon every pope will become a saint automatically. Well it was good enough for him Benedict will instruct.

small business stats

I found these ABS figures interesting and hopeful:

There were 1,963,907 actively trading businesses in Australia
in June 2006, up 1.3% from a year earlier,

Of these, the vast majority are small businesses based on
either their employment or turnover:

* Almost 1.9 million businesses (96% of the total) employed
less than 20 people (this figure includes 1.1 million
businesses who did not employ staff).

* Over 1.8 million businesses (94% of the total) had annual
turnover of less then $2 million.

Close to two-thirds (65%)
of businesses operating in 2003 were still operating three
years later. Of the businesses which did not survive, 43%
exited during 2003-04, 33% during 2004-05, and the remaining
24% during 2005-06.

what's in a name

It's curious the link you feel with someone simply on the basis of sharing a name with them:

Andrew Kelly, a young man of Irish parentage arrived at Antler Creek in the fall of 1862, where he tried mining. A baker by trade, Kelly opened a bakery and Coffee Shop on Williams Creek, and later on Grouse Creek, where he and his wife also kept a boarding house. Remaining on Grouse Creek for 4 years, the Kellys', with their 2 children returned to Barkerville where Andrew opened the Kelly Hotel in 1871. The hotel flourished, and the Kellys' enjoyed the results of their hard labour. All this while Andrew Kelly had kept a zestful interest in the mining of the area, and had shares in several local mines. Andrew Kelly and his wife moved to Victoria to live at Oak Bay in 1905, where they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on 1916.

Treasure chest

We've been struggling with the size of the treasure chest (unsolicted manuscripts). But there's exciting news. We've appointed a Guardian of the Treasure chest, who will remain anonymous of course, and will log, sort, prepare, read, and encourage discussion and review.

fashionable business metaphors

not only "roadmap" and "roadmapping" but also "mud map"

300

I'm fascinated, amazed and stunned that Hollywood can make a film about 300 men challenging the army of a mighty empire and identify the USA with the 300 - not the mighty empire.

Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe reviewed the film thus: "Imagine a large cast trapped in a series of screensavers. It could be ancient Greece. It could be somebody's hard drive."