What's wrong with Australia?

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

- R.E.M., an annoying song from a very fine band

Had a good day today. Ate a kebab for €2.50, and a pizza for €3. Ate an apple that was crisp, juicy and sweet. Got some time on the internet to check the news. It's amazing how little it takes to make a day great.

Something I've noticed just now - newspapers on the internet read differently to newspapers in print. It's not that the articles have changed, it's that title font and article placement have a great effect on how one judges the relative worth of an article. In print, the editor can give you an idea of important stuff with the layout. On the internet, every article is given equal weight, and as a result, it's a bit confusing.

Take The Age.

I've just read a series of disturbing reports about how the global economy's going into meltdown, how Rudd's taking incredibly drastic measure to shore up financial confidence, how we're sinking gradually into something too horrible to contemplate...

And I'm sure it's not THAT bad, but because there are six or seven reports about that, and only a couple each on the other issues of the day, it gives it more weight than it deserves. I hope so, anyway. I'd got most of my money tied up in banks, in one way or another, and it'll be nice to have something left over when I get back.I don't want to come back to Australia in four months time and find we're back to trading in sea-shells.

Actually, it's the first time I've logged onto The Age for a while, and it's all quite disturbing. People are more xenophobic. Housing prices are falling. There's drought and nightclub violence and fleeing doctors and crumbling infrastructure....

What the fuck is wrong with the country? Am I just hyperventilating, or won't there be anything left by the time I get back?

At least Cameron White made the Test team. That's brilliant. We haven't had a Victorian in the Test side since Warnie. You need at least one - should be in the ACB charter, or something.