Sydney's Monorail and the Simpsons

Jack Dikian

March 2012

Today we learned that the Sydney Monorail will be torn down. That in itself is no big news given the relatively small number of passengers who use it. What is interesting tho is like in so many examples how reality follows fiction.

For those who are fans of the Simpsons will remember the "Marge vs. the Monorail" episode back in 1993. After being caught dumping nuclear waste in the city park by the EPA, Burns is fined $3 million. A town meeting is immediately held so that the citizens can decide what to spend the money on and Marge suggests that the city use the money to fix up Main Street, which is in poor condition. The town shows enthusiasm for this idea and is about to vote for it when suddenly a sleazy, silver-tongued, fast-talking Lyle Lanley suggests that the town construct a city monorail. He leads them in a song, which convinces the town to buy the monorail.

The Sydney monorail was a controversial project that was first mentioned as a part of the state's $200 million dollar plan to redevelop Darling Harbour. The “elevated people mover” was hailed as Sydney's gateway to the new entertainment precinct and more broadly into the 21st century.

In the four years before it opened, the $60 million project attracted many critics and provoked a string of protests. More than 7000 people took to the streets of Sydney on July 20, 1986 in a protest organised by the Sydney Citizens Against Proposed Monorail group.

U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s doodles

Jack Dikian

March 2012

Some glean meaning from doodles. Those circles, squares, and spirals we pen absent-mindedly when attending conferences, meetings, or when waiting at the end of a call center. These may be an expression of concern with a current situation or experience or a reflection of our personality, an emotional state or conflict.

Some doodles have a cultural meaning that has fallen out of use or belongs to a certain realm of knowledge; types of crosses for example, scientific symbols, astrological symbols and who hasn’t drawn a heart at least once in their lives.

What are we to make of the doodles of the once most powerful man in the world - U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

These doodles were made by then U.S. president Ronald Reagan at the Group of Seven summit in Ottawa in 1981. Then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher took the page of doodles Reagan left behind, and released them a few days ago along with a collection of her private papers dating from 1981.

Among the doodles, see attached image, there appears to be a self-caricature, a caricature of another man in profile sporting a trilby and smoking a pipe, three more heads of men in portrait style, an eye, and a chiseled torso.

The faces may be a motif from earlier days, idealized self-portraits, a dislike for those portrayed. Eyes may suggest a frustrated artistic talent, a feeling of being watched by a staring eye, or his privacy being invaded.

Harvard, Final Clubs, Facebook and first again

Jack Dikian

March 2012

Just the other night I watched The Social Network and reacquainted myself with the final clubs – remember Zuckerberg’s fascination with Final Clubs - his best friend Eduardo getting punched by the Phoenix. And, how about a Final Club fraternity awaiting a bus load of girls from another college to arrive for a party.

But of course we know Harvard is much much more than that. This year, Harvard University again topped a list of universities in terms of global prestige according to the World Reputation Rankings, published by the London-based Times Higher Education magazine.

Among the findings was the widening gap between the top six "global super elite" and all the others. The top 6 are listed below.

1. Harvard University U.S.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology U.S.

3. University of Cambridge U.K.

4. Stanford University U.S.

5. University of California, Berkeley U.S.

6. University of Oxford U.K.

Some Australian University rankings

43. University of Melbourne

44. Australian National University

50. The University of Sydney

The Kony 2012 Video

Jack Dikian

March 2012

The video Kony 2012 (follow link below) posted by advocacy non-profit group Invisible Children to raise awareness about the pernicious evil of Joseph Kony. Kony is the head of Lord's Resistance Army, a small but infamous militia that has terrorized northern Uganda for years with killings, torture and the kidnappings. The campaign, calls for the arrest of Joseph Kony, has now been viewed almost 70 million times since its release.

While Invisible Children’s aim is noble it has also being harshly criticized for misleading the public. For example, Joseph Kony is not in Uganda and hasn't been in Uganda for almost six years. Secondly, the Lord's Resistance Army now numbers at most in the hundreds.

It would be a huge shame if the debate this campaign has spurred because of out-dated information shifts the focus away from what is treacherous, albeit complicated situation in Uganda.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/07/viral-video-puts-spotlight-on-ugandan-warlord/