Public broadcasting

Lest we be in doubt about the value of public broadcasting, some programs of the last few days should help us to remember what a privilege it is to have a quality public broadcaster.

• Classic FM's 100 Symphonies last week had the country in a twitter. What huge fun it was to listen to 100 extraordinary symphonies and hear certain presenter illuminate us about them. I just thought it was hilarious the way people kept ringing in...I can't do any work, I have to have 5 radios on...and amazing works you just never hear...The final concert was amazing, and it would never have happened on commercial radio!!
• Landline Although I admit I come back from the Kirk on Sunday morning and just want to veg for an hour. This program is a great way to do it. Highly informative, entertaining and interesting. Real quality stuff. And not an ad in sight
• Australian Story last night about Major Mike Stone in Timor was powerful stuff. If you ever wanted to think we do good through our care for this little fledgling democracy, and through the military, and even through police chaplaincy...then try to watch this if you haven't already.
• But last night I was impressed by Peter Thompson's fine interview on Talking Heads with Guy Cooper the retirng CEO if the Taronga Park zoo. I didn't know of Cooper, but I am always impressed by how Thompson in his low key way draws people out and gets a very incisive story

And all this for 8 cents a day!

Skip the light fandango

News that various celebrities are once again kicking up a fuss about kangaroo culling will come as no surprise (here).
I think this is a battle that can never be rational. Most of us are unaware for example that there are more kangaroos in this fair continent than there are people. In fact figures going back as far as 1998 show that then there were probably about 30 million.
Most of us don't begin to appreciate that if they were intelligent, they would be running the country and we would be bouncing around in the bush.
Very few of us city dwellers can begin to imagine the hordes of our national symbol, or the damage that they can do.
In reality the opposition of celebrities would seem to be mainly based on warm fuzzies rather than realities. Why should the culling of kangaroos be viewed any differently from the slaughter of cows or sheep?
I guess the vegetarians of this world oppose that too. The real question is (as was being raised on ABC TV in the last week) why are we not taking seriously the need to farm kangaroos for their very fine, tender, low fat meat (here)