Snap! The very real rewards of business failure

Two perspectives on Greed Unlimited.

From the Brisbane Times last Monday:

The basic wage of Babcock & Brown Infrastructure's boss has risen by more than $300,000, despite the company's shares losing 90 per cent of their value, a market analyst says.
Jeff Kendrew was appointed chief executive officer of Babcock & Brown Infrastructure in June 2007.
On November 12 last year he was also named executive director.
News Limited says Mr Kendrew's basic wage has risen from $365,000 to $700,000, while shares have fallen from $2 in 2007 to less than one cent.

From Stephen Mayne's email newsletter The Mayne Report on the same day:

Will someone shove a cake of Sunlight down the throat of John bluddy Winston bluddy Howard.....

For a man who stated that he was going to refrain from political commentary after he retired was tossed from office, former Aussie prime miniature JW Howard is forever popping up in the media with yet another observation on world affairs or national politics.
This time he combines both (along with some gratuitous brown-nosing) by calling for an increase in troop numbers in Afghanistan.
Yer, right.
Let's send more young men into a region where no invading First World power has 'won' a war in living memory.
Where temporary victory is inevitably followed by successful insurgency, until the 'foreigners' finally take their military bat and ball and go home. Just ask Russia.
And where Australia is supposedly fighting for democracy by supporting a corrupt Afghan government which only holds power because it could rig a national election on a grand scale right under the West's nose.
So will someone do the world a favour and stuff that arrogant little man's gob with Sunlight soap or lock him away in a backroom at Wollstonecraft where his stupidity will only be heard by four beige walls.

Of course if it comes to L'l Johnnie's own hip pocket nerve, he is not as quick to front the microphone.
The media attention was suddenly unwelcome when asked if he is to have a well-paid role in a restructured NRL.
Last Wednesday ABC News Radio reported that he would not comment because he was travelling.
Tha's right! The same 'travelling' he was doing when he opened his mouth about Afghanistan.

Image of the wee richardhead from Pop Culture Caricatures and Cartoons

First Dog On The Moon takes the mickey out of Monsanto with Canolabees

First Dog On The Moon cartoon from Crikey
5 October 2009
Click on image to enlarge

* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.

Link to Austalian Indigenous Languages Database

Wilhelm Schmidt map 1912

AUSTLANG provides information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. The core of AUSTLANG is a database which assembles information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages from a number of sources.

The database contains the following information about each Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language:

• alternative/variant names and spellings
• history of the number of speakers
• geographical distribution
• classifications from various sources
• resources
• documentation
• programs
• researchers

Browser requirements here.