Le Flâneur Politique

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NBN Reaction: ZDNet Video

09 April 2009

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Check out this video from ZDNet: Sydneysiders' reactions to the NBN.

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Dr Michael de Percy FCILT: Dr Michael de Percy FCILT is Senior Lecturer in Political Science in the Canberra School of Politics, Economics, and Society at the University of Canberra. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Philosophy (Hons) from the University of Canberra, and a Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he received the Royal Australian Artillery prize. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and he is an editor of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy. His research focuses on comparative politics, historical institutionalism, government-business relations, transport and telecommunications policy, and leadership. His recent publications include Politics, Policy and Public Administration in Theory and Practice: Essays in honour of Professor John Wanna, ANU Press, 2021 (with Podger, A. and Vincent, S.); Populism and a New World Order (in Jakupec, J. et al Rethinking Multilateralism in Foreign Aid, Routledge 2020); and Road Pricing and Provision: Changed Traffic Conditions Ahead, ANU Press 2018 (with Wanna, J.).

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Hesiod's Misogyny (err... Theogony) and his Unhelpful Contribution to Internet Bulletin Boards (Works and Days)

Dance of the Muses on Mount Helicon, 1807 by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844) [CC0 1.0] via Wikimedia. Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days are interesting in the context of other classic works and provide an interesting understanding of the genealogy of the ancient Greek gods and the agrarian life of the time. This is a work of poetry translated into prose and there are some issues. The first thing that struck me was the misogyny of Theogony . Women (pp. 20-21) were sent down by Zeus as a curse to men: No fit partners for accursed Poverty, but only for Plenty... a bane for mortal men has high-thundering Zeus created women, conspirators in causing difficulty. The misogyny doesn't stop there. In Works and Days , the mythological Pandora (echoing Eve in Genesis ), releases evil upon the world (p. 39). Not by opening a "box" as Erasmus mistakenly conveyed, but by opening a clay storage jar (p. xiv). La Rochefoucauld's maxims often talk about love a

Essay Notes: "Clouds, Clocks, and the Study of Politics" by Gabriel Almond and Stephen Genco

Summer Tablelands Storm by Margarita Georgiadis Almond, G. A. & Genco, S. J. (1977). Clouds, Clocks, and the Study of Politics. World Politics , 29 (4) , 489–522. Written in 1977, this article considers the scientific turn in political science. Traditionally, political science focused on descriptions of political systems, laws, and history. I have discussed Charles Merriam , founder of the "Chicago School" of political science, in an earlier "journal note". Along with Harold Lasswell , Merriam encouraged greater scientific rigour in political science research. Almond was notably a product of the " Chicago School " of political science, earning his PhD in 1938, the year Harold Lasswell left and two years before Merriam retired. The adoption of the scientific method of the hard (or natural) sciences, which had influenced psychology and economics, and, by this time, was influencing political science, is the subject of this article. Almond and Ge

On Naturalism: Guy de Maupassant and literary cloning of humans

Christ Walking on the Water (circa 1880) by Julius Sergius Von Klever. Public Domain via Wikimedia. In Bel Ami (1885), a similar painting by the fictitious Hungarian painter, Karl Markovitch, plays an important metaphor. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant My rating: 5 of 5 stars In his review of the 2012 movie version of this novel, New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden refers to Georges Duroy as: ...the coldblooded social climber who seduces his way to the top of Gallic society in Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel, Bel Ami , is one of the nastiest pieces of work in French literature. Sure, Holden says this so he can point out how lame Robert Pattinson (of Twilight fame, apparently - I wouldn't know, I can't stand teeny-bopper nonsense. Besides, Georges had a moustache, maybe Pattinson was too young to grown one) plays the part of this cold-blooded social climber. Yet Georges reminds me of almost everyone I work with, and everyone around me, including myself. Or at

Logocentrism and Deconstruction: What's the Différance?

Jacques Derrida, painted portrait. Photo: thierry ehrmann [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr. Introducing Derrida by Jeff Collins My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have a copy of Jacques Derrida's Writing and Difference sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to get to it. I also had this introductory text laying around. I am glad I went for the easy option first, as this text saved me from learning the hard way. I am not ready for Derrida - I have to start with Hegel and work my way through to Heidegger first. I am not averse to reading introductory texts, but this one is a little different, in that it is more like a comic book. Or, indeed, it is very similar to the style Alain de Botton has adopted for The School of Life (but this book predates the YouTube series). But the book is not too basic. Even after reading this introductory text, I am little the wiser. I see Derrida's idea of " deconstructio n" as an attempt to critique logo-centrism , where Western

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