Cricket Isn’t The 100m Sprint

Posted August 16, 2009 by Sam Ward
Categories: Sport

I couldn’t agree more with this article panning the Anti-Doping commission intruding in cricket.

So much for the disease. What about the cure? WADA developed stringent and zealous procedures in the context of athletics, and rightly so. But one size does not fit all. To apply rules designed for athletics and apply them to cricket is disproportionate and potentially destructive.

Empire Of Cricket

Posted August 9, 2009 by Sam Ward
Categories: Linkage

Great cricket doco from the BBC available on Youtube: Empire Of Cricket

Blog Logins Are The Worst Idea Ever

Posted August 9, 2009 by Sam Ward
Categories: Blogging

I’m back.

Since pretty much every blog in Australia nowadays requires you to log in to post comments – or has me on permanent moderation – my discussions will now take place here. Much as I understand the desire to stop spam in comments, I can’t remember 100 different username/password combinations and have therefore given up trying to comment at blogs like Catallaxy that require it.

So what’s been happening in Blog Land while I was away?

Poker Site Reviews?

Posted March 17, 2009 by Sam Ward
Categories: Blogging

I’ve recently begun checking out other poker sites than Party. The sitngos there lately have been infested with German regulars who have their own strategy site feeding skillful players into the low-limit sitngos. I’ve tried Full Tilt and Stars but I really didn’t like the structure there. Pokersites.com lists Titan Poker as their #1 site but I’ve never tried it. Does anyone have an opinion on Titan or any of the other sites that might be good for a sitngo player?

Secrets Of Bush Success

Posted January 15, 2009 by Sam Ward
Categories: Blogging

This little titbit is about to fall off the internet because the site has gone down. So I thought I would repost here to preserve it. The following passage is an excerpt from the book “Beyond The Big Sticks“, published in 2003.

IN 1988, players from Kukerin in the West Australian Wheatbelt acted with unprecedented goodwill when they organised a merger with Dumbleyung, a neighbouring club that had folded. Kukerin was a titan in the West and a peer of the best country footy clubs in Australia. Many Kukerin supporters failed to see why their club, with its storied history, should take on the undistinguished mob down the road. The players’ view was that all footballers need a home.
Read the rest of this post »

Drover’s Dog Wins

Posted November 6, 2008 by Sam Ward
Categories: Blogging

Not George W. Bush

obama_smoking2

Intimidation

Posted October 31, 2008 by Sam Ward
Categories: Entertainment, Politics

Avert Your Eyes

Posted October 30, 2008 by Sam Ward
Categories: Blogging

Chinese MC Hammer

Posted March 31, 2008 by Sam Ward
Categories: Entertainment, Multimedia

His mum might not be impressed, but I sure am.

Drugs Cheaper Than Beer In UK

Posted March 18, 2008 by Sam Ward
Categories: Nanny-Statism

The drug war has failed so abysmally in England that not only are drugs freely available, they are cheaper than the legal alternative.

A line of cocaine is now as cheap as a pint of beer after the latest alcohol tax rises took effect.

An average pint in Britain has topped £3 following a 4p rise in the budget – making it the same price as a line of cocaine, according to official government figures.

In London the average price of a pint – at £4.06 – is dearer than a hit of heroin.

A line of speed or the cannabis resin for a spliff now costs the same as just two cigarettes, according to separate figures released by the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit, which provides street prices for evidence in courts.

The average price of an ecstasy pill is now £2.91, with some costing as little as £1, while an average hit of heroin is just £3.50.

The charity Drugscope, which has seen a sharp rise in cocaine use, warned it was now cheaper to spend an evening bingeing on cocaine than to spend a night in the pub.

At least “Harm Minimisation” seems to be working. Getting high on Cocaine or Ecstasy is certainly less dangerous than getting a skinful in a UK pub. So if that was the intention, then the UK government should all give themselves a big pat on the back.