Oh dear! I agree with Andrew Bolt on something!

Shock!  Horror!  Andrew Bolt and I share the similar concerns about Putin’s Russia (Bolt’s piece 2007-06-09 and my Bear Baiting Required 2007-05-17).

It’s a pity he didn’t write a lengthier piece on this subject.  Maybe he was too shocked at sharing an opinion with the Russian Communist Party!

Turn the sound down to pick the winner

From the US National Bureau of Economic Research Digest 2007-06 : TV Appearance and Electoral Success comes a doozy : it’s easier to pick election winners if you watch them for ten seconds with the sound OFF rather than on.

Students who saw silent videos picked the right candidate 58 percent of the time, whereas those viewers who heard full sound or muddled sound were only right 52 and 48 percent of the time, respectively, no better than the results of random guessing.

Howard’s Australia would fail “western values” exam

For all his blathering on about "western values", Howard’s Australia would not pass the "national citizen test" for Europe, the home of "western values".

I was just going through bits of the EU treaties relating to the establishment of a EU constitution, (see a map, and the preamble on values).  My guess is Howard would hate to introduce some of the values and fundamental rights.

Finnish innovation in cabinets

While I’m against quotas for politicians, and have a lot of admiration for the way the Finns run their economy and society, I’ll note without further editorializing that Finland has a female-dominated cabinet (12F, 8M) as of April 2007.

Details here (europeanpwn.net) and here (vn.fi).

As a snide side remark, and I might be wrong, there seems to be something in common between the Trade Minister and Tony Mokbel?  Another clue here.

Surprise! Sarkozy woos the left!

The new french president, Sarkozy has been shocking the lefties who demonized him as a right-wing demagogue.  The shock is not from being too right wing, but by appointing an inclusive cabinet ^{(BBC: 1, 2)}, nearly 50% female, and with a lot of lefties, including as Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, a leftwing humanitarian crusader, and buddy of Chirac.

Sarkozy might just be playing cagey to increase the chances of the right winning seats in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, he might be trying to get cover for some tough economic reforms, or he might actually be doing something constructive.

Junk food and climate change

The editorial in The Sunday Age (2007-06-10) reviews the problems with junk-food advertising to children and the costs to the health budget.

I must agree with the stance of The Age (although I see the nanny state as often being a good thing), but also see a wider impact of junk food on the environment.

While some people are worried about the environmental aspects of "food miles" (and let’s forget how hard this is to calculate meaningfully), they rarely take the next step and realize that unnecessary food means unnecessary food miles, and unnecessary impact on the environment.