Not the Iron Mark sort of rooster: “A runaway rooster has been
waking a disgruntled Andrew Humpherson daily at dawn in the Oxford
Falls area since last Wednesday,” The Manly Dailyreports
today. “Mr Humpherson, the State Liberal MP for Davidson, said if the
feathered fugitive was an orphan then it required a name,” the article
continues. “I think we should call him Carl, after Carl Scully,”
Humpherson says. The MP believes the bird is lost and may have come
from the valley near Oxford Falls. Anyone who encounters the homesick
bird should phone the Animal Welfare League on 9999 5233,” the Daily adds, with community spirit.

Career opportunities – so soon? Cyberactivists GetUp! are advertising for an executive director.
Responsibilities include managing the operations of GetUp, raising
funds to support GetUp’s continuing operations and paid media
activities and developing and implementing GetUp’s national campaigns.
There’s nothing about dealing with Eric Abetz.

How about some firmer rules on government advertising: A worthwhile thought from the recently tabled
Annual Report of the South Australian Auditor General: “At the time of
preparation of this Report, the Full High Court, following the granting
of special leave, has reserved its judgment regarding the legality of
the Commonwealth Government’s proposed spending on advertising to
promote planned workplace changes. The judgment of the High Court in
this matter may give rise to the need for governments to develop strict
policy guidelines covering government expenditure on advertising.” Now
that the judgement’s down, how about some decent codification of
principals – at all levels of government – to prevent abuses like the $15 million WorkChoices overkill.

Straight, no Chaser? Not quite. “Young people increasingly rely on comedy as their main source of news,” according to the New York Times. More here.