This is fascinating...

Incessant pen-clicking by hospital workers could be a Geiger-counter for stress and should be investigated

I notice this article in the Oz. Promoting the prominence of blogging to the uninitiated news paper reader. Nice, but as one might expect, it's a promo for Murdoch News Limited outlets. Not to be unexpected, right at the top of the best Aussie Blogs we find...

HOME PAGES: The Australian Online at theaustralian.news.com.au/opinion/blogs has a swag of bloggers covering everything from social statistics (George Megalogenis’ Meganomics) to literature (Stephen Romei’s A Pair of Ragged Claws) to House Rules, the new political blog straight from Parliament House in Canberra. There are also blogs from writers, correspondents and columnists – Janet Albrechtsen, Geoff Elliott, Amanda Meade and Caroline Overington, Jack the Insider – and a new economics blog called Current Account.

Seriously.....George Megalogenis' blog is the only one worth spending time on. There's an awful lot of blogspot offerings, most of which I doubt still survive, and then we get to Politics and Policy.

POLITICS & POLICY: If conservative provocateurs turn you on, Tim Blair (blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair) has long rated strongly among Oz blogs. Those more likely to be appalled by his views can have theirs affirmed at blairboltwatch.wordpress.com or head to johnquiggin.com to catch one of the elder statesmen of the Oz blogosphere. Another option is larvatusprodeo.net. Crikey (blogs.crikey.com.au) is home to a strong stable, including Poll Bludger, Pure Poison, Plane Talking and LiteraryMinded.

Naturally, Timmy Blair has to lead off because we are reading the Oz and being a Murdoch rag, it's important to promote Murdoch employees. Interestingly is the tacit admission by the Oz that Blair is an offensive arsehole, and they do have links to more rational providers. One blithering 'rightard' on eight 'leftards'. Either Timmy's being shafted by his bosses, or the Oz is going soft in the editorial department.

Political spin aside, I think it's a refreshing change to see a government embracing technology as a tool to keep the populace informed, especially in these difficult economic times. There's little in the first issue of 'Treasurer's Note' which one can't pick up from Business Spectator, but it's still a giant step forward from the previous regime which did it's utmost to keep the electorate in the dark on the big picture stuff.

Twice in a week, the supposed flagship news media outlet in this country, The Australian, has published articles by journalist Greg Roberts purporting to represent the Climate Change sceptic argument in the most disingenuous manner this blogger has yet seen.