Andrew Jaspan:

The Age’s Communications Director Nigel Henham writes: Re. “Andrew Jaspan – the editor that Fairfax Forgot” (yesterday, item 18). Andrew Dodd’s report is both inaccurate and unfair. Mr Dodd was obviously not at the RACV club last Friday or, if he was, he misheard the director of Fairfax Media, John B. Fairfax, generously praise both Andrew Jaspan and The Age’s chief executive, Don Churchill, for what has been achieved in recent times at The Age. This includes the highest readership in 14 years, best weekday circulation in a decade, leading online site in Victoria, and more awards for editorial excellence than any other paper. It is no wonder The Age was recently awarded the newspaper industry’s highest honour, the PANPA Newspaper of the Year Award. For the record, the Australian and international judges’ citation reads: “Undoubtedly one of the best broadsheets. An exceptional product with the readership growth to prove it. Hard to fault the professionalism in all aspects of the publication. The Age excelled in content, design, production and campaign journalism”.

Who are the media really serving?:

Ailie Bruins writes: Re. “McClelland’s execution should be a lesson for Rudd” (Wednesday, item 2). Kevin Rudd’s overreaction against McClelland was a slip, but the PR beat up is another excessive media contrivance. Who are the media really serving? While the media grovels to the big PR machines and the government grovels to big business, democracy is perverted. Where was the beat up when John Howard announced there was nothing wrong with Gunns donating to the Liberal Party, because Gunns provides jobs for Australians ie. big business is much more important than the electorate. The Labor Party’s PR machine did not challenge the PM’s words. No doubt Labor didn’t want to compromise future “donations” from the big end of town. A pox on both their houses!

Some clarifications about the Filipino prison:

Adam Jasper writes: w/r/t Cam Smith’s article on Byron Garcia’s mass dance routines at CPDRC jail in the Philippines (Sadness in the Philippines’ “Happiest Prison”?, yesterday, item 17) ) I wanted to make a couple of small clarifications. When I covered the Cebu Prisons for Vice Magazine earlier this year (some months before the inmates performing the thriller dance started breaking records on YouTube), I went without any preconceptions as to what I would find, and was initially positively disposed towards CPDRC, which in contrast to the city’s slum jails seemed healthy enough at first sight. It was only after finding out about Byron’s innovations in internal governance that my impression changed. Byron openly uses convicted ex-cops and military men as his enforcers behind bars. It’s a very fast and easy way to create a climate of fear that cannot be regulated. The prisoners in CPDRC were afraid. You can tell when people are afraid, you can see it in their gestures and their eyes. The prisoners in BBRC (which is now closed) were not afraid; they were a lot of things—bored, depressed, strung out, irritable—but they weren’t frightened. I have never claimed that enforced mass dancing is a human rights violation per se, although it’s probably humiliating enough to be considered “cruel and unusual” punisment. It’s more that it’s completely irrelevant to whether or not CPDRC is a well run prison, and certainly can’t be seen as evidence that Garcia is “progressive”. It’s more just an indication that he has precious little regard for his prisoners as individuals, and more or less sees the prison as his personal toy. Finally, it seems important to note that I did not claim that the Garcia family has direct ties to organised crime. Merely that Byron has well known investments in Philippino handgun manufacture, a business that, in Australian terms, could be fairly described as having a “colourful” history, and not one that sits easily with Byron’s new media role as a humanitarian prison reformer.

Sudan, Andrews and Nixon:

Steve Martin writes: Re. “An appeal to Minister Andrews” (yesterday, item 1). We have had the remarks of Kevin Andrews concerning the disproportionate number of Sudanese gathering in gangs and drinking in public parks etc etc; and we have had Commissioner Nixon denying that Sudanese are any more represented in antisocial behaviour than other ethnic groups. My vote goes to Nixon in this matter as I have observed the hard working and decent African migrants here in Darwin, more particularly in the Darwin Public Hospital and their compassion and dedication to their patients. But I have a question for both Andrews and Nixon – How do you know? Is race and country of origin of offenders tabulated for statistical purposes, and if so why?

Making history, history:

Peter Lloyd writes: Re. “Howard’s history 1: OMG, is this a win for the left?” (Yesterday, item 3). Julia Bishop has defended the government’s typically half-arsed history teaching wedge, err, curriculum. Apparently it didn’t include many key events. “This is just a 20-page guide. It couldn’t possibly contain every single event that every historian or every history teacher around Australia believes should be included in the course,” Ms Bishop said. Unfortunately for Ms Bishop her statement belies the entire problem with “narrative history”, the version so popular with the simple-minded and those with a political axe to grind. If you try to cut history down into events, which events do you include? History presented as a simple story is so much more attractive, to the stupid, than a vigorous, engaging history that invites scholars to compare and contrast events, looking for similarities and differences. Such an approach is also far more useful to interpreting today’s events, but a cynical, sport-obsessed PM after 12 years in office might not want kids to have this mental equipment.

The Victorian channel deepening project:

Jane O’Grady writes: Re. “Melbourne’s channel deepening dredges up a murky past” (yesterday, item 14). Lionel Elmore reports that the Victorian channel deepening project will produce 20,000 cubic metres of contaminated spoil. The principal contaminants are lead, mercury, arsenic, organochlorine pesticides and tributylin tin. The strategy appears to be to lay this material down and cover it with sand. This might possibly raise the level of water in the bay slightly. Instead, why not use the material to make a sea wall to protect Melbourne from rising sea levels? Since we are going to be able to deal with nuclear waste quite soon, some appropriate containment technology should be available.

John Hassall writes: You may have already read this, but the report from The Greens senator Sue Pennicuik on the dredging and the panel process is excellent, it has tonnes of detail on the dredging and the lack of transparency in the process. I am concerned that the importance of the dredging issue is being blown away by the Pulp Mill saga (an important saga, but a saga nonetheless) at an important time, not only for the campaign but in terms of the election.

No logo:

Christine Mitchell writes: Writers to Crikey consistently point to the fact that their local MPs are sending out material without the Liberal logo – easy answer – if they send it out without party affiliation it is paid for from the electorate office budget – with the logo it is paid for from their campaign budget. So the idea is to get as much out to us poor sods as possible before the election is called.

Kirribilli House:

Robert Molyneux writes: Could we not simply allow Janette to remain in Kirribilli House with a suitable long term lease at market rates? Then John could accept the inevitable and call the election ASAP. Just a thought.

Hear hear Irfan:

David Lenihan writes: Hear hear Irfan Yusuf, well bloody said (yesterday, comments). I find it interesting Neil James installs upon himself “Spokesperson for families and friends of fallen diggers”. Well since when, Mr James, since when? Have an opinion by all means, but spare us the claptrap. I wonder what other self imposed grand titles are waiting in the wings.

Telstra’s Next G network:

Peter Wachtel writes: Re. “Telstra’s Next G network” (yesterday, comments). I have both a NextG phone and a CDMA phone. I travel from Cairns to Cooktown to Karumba to Townsville. I’ve done the side by side tests over a 3 month period now. CDMA coverage wins as comfortably as Geelong did. As we are all aware soon it will not, because it is going to be turned off.

Peter Titcumb writes: I can understand there may be problems for mobile coverage in the NT – however, you do not have to live in the NT to have problems with Telstra. This week at Everton, North East Victoria, we had the pleasure of a caravan parked in front of the local pub – the caravan was from Telstra to promote the switch from CDMA to 3G and showing off the advantages of BigPond Broadband. Be it CDMA or 3G – at Everton mobile coverage varies from reasonable to non-existent – yet we are only 25K from Wangaratta and the Hume Freeway. One of the Telstra reps visited our home to discover he had good coverage for his mobile while it was connected to a metre high hand held aerial – the mobile without a supplementary aerial would only work outside, pointed in a particular direction. Personally, I do not need a mobile that requires a one metre aerial.

Proportionally issued fines, and hiding the Mercedes:

Paul Cowan writes: Andrew W Scott asked (yesterday, comments) if there are any countries which issue fines proportionally to the wealth of the guilty party. Finland has (or at least, had) such a system, whereby people get fined a number of days’ income based on their last tax return. Back in 2002, a senior Nokia executive, coming off a bumper year of cashing in stock, was fined 14 days’ income for doing 75 in a 50 zone. This resulted in a mightily impressive 116,000 Euro fine, later reduced on appeal. Even this was beaten when a sausage magnate got a $170,000 Euro fine in 2004. There’s a good write-up here.

Cameron Sharrock writes: Hey Andy, “Could the lawyers out there tell me if there is any reason this couldn’t work?” Well yeah, for a start if I was rich and you were going to nail me based on what I had I would slam it all into family trusts directed by my “divorced” wife and a list of hundreds of “presently entitled beneficiaries” including my dog and the neighbour – eh lads? You know what I mean. Don’t pretend that Mercedes is in your own name… And then there’s the equity/ethics considerations about punishing two people differently for the same offence – but you’re on a similar track to the existing tax penalty system for incorrect deductions: You repay dollar for dollar the benefit you received that you shouldn’t have, plus a given percentage on top as a deterrent, and interest backdated to the date of the offence.

Gimli gliding:

Wayne Robinson writes: Re. “Qantas flight almost runs out of fuel, pilot fatigue a factor” (yesterday, item 5). Yes, I know the plane still had plenty of fuel, but I wonder if a 737 has the same gliding ability as a 767? (See “Gimli Glider” in the Wikipedia for an amusing account of an occasion when an Air Canada flight ran out of fuel at 41000 feet on a flight from Montreal to Edmonton). 

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