27 September 2023

Acronymly speaking

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Starting half way round the world this week with an international initiative in the Middle Eastern at an organisation that’s shimmering its shining lights by rewarding education organisations around the world making the survival of education easier for today’s kids than it was for them.

Hosted in the quietly quiescent Qatar, the six awards in question have been awarded to education organisations in India, Turkey, Pakistan and Spain, with two multi-country organisations Onebillion and Taleemabad also recognised.

While the award winners were accepted for their world-wide worthy achievements, the attraction to PS-sssst! was more pedantic than perceptive, adjudicated as they all were under an acute acronym sure to be appreciated by PS-sssst! and its picky patrons.

And so it is the Qatar quest is acknowledged for awarding its awards under the aptly appropriate acronym: ‘The World Innovation Summit for Education,’ emerges as WISE by name and wise by nature.

Flag in a flap

A special call now to HG of Services Australia for responding to last week’s report in the national PS News, that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) had drawn attention to the first flying of the Australian National Flag in September 1901 by reminding us that a special Centenary Flag had also been created in September 2001 to mark the dear old flag’s 100th anniversary.

Commenting on the new flag, PM&C was quoted as saying “The Centenary Flag design is the same as that of the Australian National Flag except for a white band (headband) running along the short side and a red stripe within that band.”

HG’s response was simple.

“Why describe the Centenary Flag when you can just put an image up?” he asked.

“Can’t tell from the article if the white band on the short side is on the lead or tail of the flag, or indeed both sides. Plus it’s called a headband.”

“A simple picture would have improved the article.”

HG’s wish is PS-sssst!’s command so we asked PM&C for a picture and what you see here and now is what the Department delivered.

At least no-one will steal it!

A PS-sssst! pack of goodies on its way to Haris for his contribution.

Head of the headlines

To Victoria now where the Environment Protection Authority has set a new standard in the creative art of headline hatching, attracting attention to one of the most creative, clever, cool and cunning compositions for commentary on conventional communication.

Reporting that a bottling company had fallen foul of the State’s waste water rules, EPA conceived a heading that had the heads of news hacks pressing for more.

The headline: ‘Ballarat bottler booked over wandering waste water’.

They don’t come any better than that!

Victory triumphant

Staying in Victoria, another ingenious acronym has appeared, that of the State’s Information Commissioner.

Reporting recently that the Commissioner was urging Departments and Agencies to speed up their processing of Freedom of Information requests, the information guru’s real abbreviated jumped off PS-sssst!’s page, achieving what it has concluded to be the most appropriate, suitable and realistic name any Victorian organisation, or indeed person, can ever expect to wear.

The Victorian Information Commissioner minimises to VIC!

Leading to leadership

Another week, another round of happy readers hopping along to Rama’s giveaway jackpot in the hope of adding books or DVDs to their collections just by answering a quietly quizzical quiz question.

The giveaway gift this week is the career-changing wise-person’s book, Impact10 Ways to Level Up Your Leadership by Rebecca Houghton and we win it simply by letting Rama know how many ways Ms Houghton says there are to level up our leadership for greater impact.

The answer is ‘By following 10 key tools´ and the first two flying entrants to fly out of the judges’ Barrel of Booty were Christine C from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and Kate D from the Federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

Congratulations to Christine and Kate and a big thankyou to everyone who took part. The prize books will be on their way to their new owners very shortly.

For another chance to enlist in Rama’s Army and become a worthy winner simply try your hand at winning her giveaway Book Armchair Explorer at this PS News link and/or put your good luck to work on her other giveaway question this DVD Kill Chain at this link.

It’s free to join in but you have to be in it to win it.

Good luck to everyone who does!

‘Til next week……

Something to share?

Send to PSsssst@psnews.com.au

(And, yes, it can be anonymous!)

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