The final stages of my honours thesis

I started my honours thesis in June of this year and it's now almost complete. My desk remains a mess while I tidy up loose ends, making sure that chapters and paragraphs connect to one another in a way that makes sense.

My supervisor has been a great help showing me where my work needs improvement and also where it's strong and purposeful. I often waffle, which leads to a lack of clarity. I now have just one paragraph to write in the body and then I'll work on the introduction and conclusion.

Financial crisis shows why a change of government is helpful

Alan Greenspan's admission that he was "partially" wrong to resist calls for more regulation that may have averted the financial crisis in the US shows why it's important to change governments on a regular basis. Without the closet cleaning that goes on during the transition problems become exacerbated by being ignored. In the case of the US mess there were plenty of signs pointing to a problem but the system of government and governance ignored them.

Is the future geothermal?

On the back of the news that "Geothermal energy developer Geodynamics is preparing to put its technology to the test and power up the South Australian town of Innamincka", I question if there's a serious future for this technology. To me it makes much more sense than being held to ransom by OPEC who, despite the world's financial problems, are planning to cut production. Surely it makes more sense to put some serious efforts into this form of technology rather than developing nuclear power stations. If there is a future for geothermal lets put some effort into developing it now.

Using Facebook to promote your business

Here's an article about the use of Facebook to promote businesses. It particularly cites the example of a real estate agent who uses targeted Facebook advertising to generate new leads.

Business calls on Rudd government to come clean

Concerned industry leaders believe that an information vacuum is creating unnecessary worry and the Rudd government should now reveal the information that informed their decision to announce a $10.4 billion economic stimulus package.

The failure of the government to release this information invites skepticism and suspicion about the real motives behind the package.

Interest rates key to a real estate rebound

Headlines that ANZ economists expect the official cash rate to fall to 4.5% by the middle of next year should be welcome news to home owners.

With many real estate markets suffering from a glut of stock sharp reductions in interest rates together with a temporary doubling of grants available to first home buyers could be the stimulus for increased demand, lower stock levels, and higher prices.

I believe the next 3-6 months will present prime opportunities for people looking to make profits from the real estate market in the near term.

I'm against airport body scanners

I'm dead against the proposed new airport body scanners that can see through clothes.

It's not that I'm a prude. If someone is desperate enough to want to see me in the nick then go for it. Take a free shot - but be prepared to be disappointed. But it's the imposition of the authoritative gaze of the government into yet another part of our lives that grates me. The same goes for gratuitous body searches. I'll put up with my luggage being x-rayed, I'll even put up with the bullshit of not being allowed to take a nail file or nail clippers on board (how absurd: Eeek, stop the plane, he's got a pair of - gasp - nail clippers. Good god!) but to have some dude running their hands up my inner thigh pretending to look for drugs - enough is enough.

Sure, if the government has a reason to suspect a person of posing a security threat go ahead and frisk and x-ray. But don't target the average person going about their daily business. Airport authorities should need to show just cause why a personal search is warranted and not have it be one of the costs of travelling on an aeroplane.

Rant over.

Gartner: Top 10 technologies to watch over the next three years | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Gartner: Top 10 technologies to watch over the next three years | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "They say: Your organization is an entity in the broad Social Web. Get to know Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn and other social sites and applications. Listen to the language of social media, before starting to speak.

I say: Beyond just looking to send out marketing messages via social networks, companies need to look at the ways social networking can allow them to better listen to customers and to empower employees to become better connected in their industry and specialty. But beware, social networking can become a time-sink and a productivity killer when not used in a disciplined way."

Is Rudd serious or just bank bashing?

Kevin Rudd is at his populist best in tarring Australian banking executives with the same brush as their free-wheeling US counterparts.

There are no indications to this point that any of the Australian banks are at risk of failure despite international problems with liquidity; and yet that hasn't stopped Rudd calling for a cap on executive payouts. Of course Rudd's posturing panders to the always left wing Greens and the unions; but then again bank bashing always scores political points.

If Rudd is arguing for an international agreement on the remuneration of bank executives then the Australian banking industry has nothing to fear; and Rudd will be on the right track by taking steps to urge tighter controls in countries where banking regulations are more relaxed. But, as appears to be the case, Rudd is maneuvering for change specifically for the Australian banking system; and that makes no sense considering the way our banks have held up under extraordinary pressure.

Of course Rudd's populist rhetoric will probably end up being little more than hot air. If it isn't then we may see a brain drain from the banking industry as executives seek better remuneration in industries where the government doesn't restrict their legitimate rights to earn a market-based salary.

Even in the midst of a national security crisis it pays to create someone or something as "the enemy". Its easier to sell the message that greedy bankers are at fault then attempt to explain the intricacies of the credit crisis in a 1o second sound bite.

I'm starting to smell a rescue package rat

What is the government hiding. If they can spend $10.4 billion to rescue the country why can't they level with us now and outline, at least in broad terms, how they came to the decisions and what impacts they see the package having on the economy.

I'm smelling obfuscation, deception, and incompetence. I hope I'm wrong.

Govt accuses Coalition of division over spending plan - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "Treasurer Wayne Swan said no details will be released until the Government's mid-year economic outlook update is released next month.

'That's the reasonable thing to do, that's the sensible thing to do,' he said.

'We will put it out there in plenty of time for there to be plenty of scrutiny because we do believe in transparency."

Why aren't the Yanks paying for our stimulus package?

Rudd slams 'obscene failures' in banking system - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Yesterday the Government also announced a $10.5 billion stimulus package to help Australia cope with the meltdown.

Mr Rudd says the package has come at the right time.

"As Prime Minister I will not sit idly by and watch Australian households suffer the worst effects of a global crisis we did not create," he said.

One wonders why, given the economic crisis is not of our making, why the US is government is not being asked to pay the $10.5 billion the Australian government is being forced to spend on a stimulus package.

Our blind fawning to all things American is now paying its expected dividend of fear and anxiety.

Turnbull, Costello want release of Treasury advice

Turnbull, Costello want release of Treasury advice - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and former treasurer Peter Costello have urged the Government to release the advice which led to the decision to spend nearly half the surplus on a $10.4 billion economic stimulus package."

I'm with Turnbull on this issue. What is served by the government not disclosing that which has informed a major shift in the economic management of the country? Is it a way of hiding from the Australian people the dire truth of our circumstances? Or is it the government taking reckless action and avoiding accountability? I suspect that Wayne Swan has discussed the matter with his G20 counter-parts and they've agreed that the problems in the economy are less a matter of fundamentals and more a crisis of confidence. To restore confidence sudden and massive action is needed so the government can be seen to be doing something which, in turn, gives the person on the street the impression that the government has things under control and it's ok to keep spending. But I believe this strategy is not wise. The Australian people are not easily taken for fools and any questions about how the government went about making these decisions will quickly undermine any short term consumer confidence.

Rudd sells out environment to save economy

A second after finding out Australia is in economic hot water Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is taking steps to ensure the fires of industry are stoked under the Chinese economy. His goal? To make sure that China continues to buy Australian exports. Rather than looking for sustainable strategies for the creation of jobs in Australia Rudd was quick to get on the blower to his Chinese counterpart to make sure of their commitment to consumption. Guess they probably didn't talk a lot about Kyoto.

It appears Mr Rudd and  Labor has learned - it's the economy stupid. The Great Barrier Reef will just have to wait.

Political and personal parrhesia

Foucault draws a distinction between political and personal parrhesia. In noting the different styles of parrhesia evident in Euripides Ion, Foucault states that personal parrhesia "takes the form of a truthful accusation against another more powerful [individual], and as a confession of the truth about herself (p. 56).

It is this form of parrhesia I contend is displayed on dooce where Armstrong not only critiques the behaviour of some of her co-workers but also levels a critique of herself: "I hate the way I can't agree to do anything." It's not overtly political. By her own admission her posts offers criticism without any real attempt to make a change: "since I lump myself in with all the other miserable corporate wankers who honest-to-God think they cause no pain in the workplace, I get to complain about the whole thing without offering any sort of valuable feedback." However, the act of making these criticisms public through her blog turns her otherwise innocent musings into parrhesia that tested out the limits of the existing parrhesiastic contracts within her work place.

Foucault, M. (2001). Parrhesia in Euripides. In J. Pearson (Ed.), Fearless Speech. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e).

The parrhesiastic contract: part 2

I'm working on the concept of blogging as parrhesia.

In my last post I examined the parrhesiastic contract. It suggests that there's an important place for the powerful to give to the subject permission to speak freely. Without that permission the ruler does not get to hear all that is on the mind of the speaker and, therefore, could have their power threatened.

In the case of blogging, and particularly that of Heather Armstrong, the parrhesiastic contract existed - or at least we can assume it did - within her real life work. It may well have existed post her blog being discovered by her boss. But at some point her blog posts were thought to be subversive of the power of her employer and the lines of the parrhesiastic contract were redrawn leading to her dismissal. Power worked productively to encourage Armstrong to speak her mind on the blog. It also worked productively to then create her blog as an enemy of the state and have her fired.

The parrhesiastic contract

Foucault speaks about the parrhesiastic contract in which there is an implied approval to speak freely. The subject is permitted by the powerful to speak what is on the mind. Of course, such an approval would be unneccesary were the topic of speech not, in some way, dangerous. The powerful gives permission for the subject to deliver bad news or a critique of their leadership and, by so doing, provides themselves with the resources needed to change strategy and adapt to a potential danger. Without the parrhesiastic contract the relationship would be of despot and slave and parrhesia would not exist through the non-existence of the parrhesiastic contract.

In performing parrhesia the parrhesiastes is aware of their already constituted relationship of subjection to their audience. I'm reminded here of Foucualt's words from the Eye of Power in reference to the internalisation of subjection through the awareness of the authoritative gaze:

An inspecting gaze, a gaze which each individual under its weight will end by interiorisation to the point that he is his own overseer, each individual thus exercizing this surveillance over, and against, himself. A superb formula: power exercised continuously and for what turns out to be minimal cost.

Parhessia necessarily involves the subjectifying creation of the other in a position of power; and it is this move that potentially makes blogging parrhesiastic.  Even an imagined audience containing an other of power invokes or creates a level of danger in the writing. The appearance of the other simply confirms or realigns the boundaries of the parrhesiastic contract.

Can blogging be called parrhesia?

I'm interested here in the idea of blogging as parrhesia.

Foucault believed that parrhesia necessarily involved the telling of truth to an interlocutor; and this telling of truth necessarily involved danger. For the parrhesiastes truth is told, not out of compulsion, but out of a sense of duty.  If we told the truth to a friend - you have bad breath for example - we might risk losing their friendship or suffering a brief period of ostracism but feel compelled to support them through our comments.

Can we think of personal blogging as parrhesia? If the blogger's audience was known, and the blog post was a criticism of members of the audience, then the blog post could be labelled as parrhesia. But what if the audience was unknown? Or what if the audience was known in potentia, that is, I suspected that my audience, through the public nature of my blog, may exist? The mere possibility that the person who is the object of the criticism might one day read the criticism creates, in the mind of the parrhesiastes, the sense that their speech is dangerous.

Blogging as parrhesia to an unknown but imagined audience is akin to writing a damning letter and then leaving it laying around so that it can be found by the person who is its object.

I think to answer this question we would need to consider Foucault's broader project of an analysis of the interplay between power and subjectivity. Danger is sensed through the internalisation of the gaze of power and therefore, even a potential audience, brings about the creation of a subject position.

I argue then that blogging can be called parrhesia so long as it is a speaking of truth that involves a level of known or unknown danger.

An example of parrhesia

A post on dooce entitled I Have Something to Say is a useful example of parrhesia. Here we find Armstrong speaking truth in the form of a criticism - of both herself and others - which involves a level of risk to the speaker. It's not a risk of life and death so much as the possibility, in her case, of being discovered by her manager and therefore being fired. Of course it's a matter of record that this in fact occurred.

I'm planning to analyse this example as part of my thesis.

My fellow prisonoers: McCain gaffe

Maybe John McCain still thinks he's back in Nam. Maybe he sees no way out of the mess the country is in. Who knows. But would you want this guy running the country?

Not sure you want to use Facebook for business?

If you're not so sure about the wisdom of letting your staff loose on Facebook during work hours, but see benefits in your business getting on the social networking train, then Ning or Kwiqq might be your thing. You can create your own social network that's specifically focused on your needs and your group of associates. It may be worth exploring.

FreeRice

FreeRice

Information for Real Estate Professionals

If I was in real estate this is something I'd be doing with every listing. It would be even better if I belonged to an organisation that took care of it on my behalf.

Information for Real Estate Professionals

Submit Your Content

DIY SEO

Submit your site to Google to improve your search result.

Submit Your Content

ActiveRain Real Estate Network

ActiveRain Real Estate Network

ActiveRain is a "free online community for real estate professionals designed to help them promote and grow their business" with a claimed 113 05o members. Its coming up on many of my Google Trend Alerts at the moment.

100 Resource Sites for Green Living - Top Web Resources

100 Resource Sites for Green Living - Top Web Resources

Offering easy dialogue, Facebook gets rush of users over 35 | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

My belief is that businesses who don't let their staff onto Facebook and other social platforms, are missing out. It's not just for the young folks.

Offering easy dialogue, Facebook gets rush of users over 35 | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press: "The older demographic might initially have logged onto Facebook to check on their kids, but they stay on because of the easy dialogue it offers. Nearly half of Facebook users -- 46 % -- are 35 and older."

The 7 best ways to build your business now: Put social media in your mix | poweredByProfit | Canadian Business Online

The 7 best ways to build your business now: Put social media in your mix | poweredByProfit | Canadian Business Online: "No matter what your industry, don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to social media. Businesses “really can’t ignore this stuff,” says Fox. Besides its effectiveness, she says, “It’s extremely cost effective to participate in this space.”"