NivCorp Blog

Change of direction for the University of Sydney?

2009-09-07T08:38:00.002+10:00

Saw this article in today's Herald - where the Vice Chancellor of the Uni of Sydney, has suggested reducing the student intake and refocussing resources to help make USYD a leading research institute.

I think this is a fantastic, and long overdue revue - USYD has seemed to lose it way over the last few years, becoming more of a degree factory (and in my opinion, with far too many international students).

The other universities seem to have long lost their role of places of new thought, and rather - turned to churning out 1000's of grads with no real passion for their area of study and no real commitment to their work. And its mightily frustrating doing coursework/groupwork with people who are just going through the motions.

Great news that the Vice Chancellor wants to define USYD's purpose in Australia's education sphere:

''Australia needs an institution which has a critical thinker as a cultural hero,'' Dr Spence said. ''For a long time we [the university] have tried to do all things for all people by providing all manner of courses. We have grown without a particularly coherent mission. There needs to be a return to our traditional mission. We now need to take control.''

Fiji ejected from the Commonwealth

2009-09-02T09:23:00.002+10:00

After refusing to hold elections until 2014, the Fijian military leadership pushed the UN to suspend Fiji from the Commonwealth. This comes as quite a blow for the population, I believe - but hopefully continued dialogue (and maybe a return to common sense by Bainimarama) might make this a short period in the 'wilderness'.

I think one of the things that will really hurt is not being able to participate in the Commonwealth games, which is held this year in India. With its large ethnic Indian population, I suspect many would have been looking forward to Fiji competing in India.

Public Enemies

2009-08-10T08:22:00.002+10:00

Saw the new Johnny Depp movie - Public Enemies on the weekend. Not a bad movie, but not as good as I'd hoped.

Depp played his role in a very subdued manner - i'd have expected more panache for his character in this movie (he plays notorious bank-robber, John Dillinger). Christian Bale plays the Chicago head of J. Edgar Hoover's Federal unit. I used to think Bale was quite a good actor, but i'm now seeing him as one dimensional. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between his role in this, and his role in Terminator.

It was a nice long movie, and had a good story... but it just seemed like it jumped too quickly from event to event, without taking the opportunity to build suspense. For example, we see him charge in a rob a bank, but with next to no treatment of the planning or lead up to it.

3 Tommy guns out of 5.

2Day Debacle

2009-07-30T08:21:00.002+10:00

A 12 year old girl was forced to admin to being raped on live radio yesterday, in what I can only describe as a shocking and sad indictment of what passes as entertainment these days.

Kyle and Jackie 0 maintain a consistent stream of trash - but putting a minor on radio and asking them highly personal questions is just terrible. And describing the whole incident as 'weird' as in the above article, just shows how callous these guys are.

Having said that - the mother in question provides a strong argument for some people not being allowed to have children. What kind of MORON, knowing full well that their daughter was raped, puts them live on radio, strapped to a lie detector, and asks them questions like this.

Unfortunately, I was listening to some professor of childhood ethics or somesuch from Monash - and she studiously avoided criticing the mother. I don't get it - its not the radio station that should cop the brunt of this - but the mother.

Obviously after her two minutes of fame, she put her daughter in a terribe position, and, as far as I'm concerned, deserves public humiliation. I'd say she should be charged with child abuse.

Armadillo's in the wet

2009-07-23T13:46:00.002+10:00

Well, it poured yesterday, and I'm happy to report that the Armadillo tires performed magnificently. At no point did they seem to be squirm or slide, even going through fairly deep puddles.

Still highly recommendended!

Liberal Rule

2009-07-22T08:38:00.002+10:00

Thanks to Gerard Henderson's article, I was alerted to a 3-part series documenting the Liberal's years under Howard. He had a good old whinge that the series was strongly biased against Howard and conservatism in general.

I agree that it did not necessarily paint a flattering picture of the Howard era - but then, one could say they were calling it like they saw it. They managed to get access to Peter Costello, Downer, Arthur Sinodinos and a host of other Liberal commentators. But I think the most telling comments were made by Ross Gittens who essential made the point that Howard encouraged rampant consumerism, and made no effort to grow the public good. Debt was essentially privatised by Costello, by running down Government debt, but fuelling private debt. And that we are paying for it now.

To be fair, they did select excerpts that showed the Liberals in a less than ideal light, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Parts 2 and 3 are probably worth a watch too -22/7 and 23/7.

Something's brewing....

2009-07-14T11:35:00.003+10:00

I saw John Brodgen this morning on the way into work, and Tony Abbott when going between buildings.

I wonder if there is some Liberal conference on at the moment? Although, i remember Broggers quitting Politics (whether he quit the Liberal party... not so sure). People Skills might be in town for his new book launch - "Battlelines" - which argues forcefully for a return to conservative (like, really conservative) roots in the Party. Apparently, he also calls for a return to pre-1980 legal reasons for divorce (insanity, drunkeness, etc). It was interesting watching Julie Bishop on Insiders this weekend, give a less-than-ringing endorsement of Abbott's ideas. She was relatively emphatic that he was 'entitled to his own opinion'.

Some commentators have noted combination of Malcolm Turnbull's misfortune, Tony Abbott's book - and his endorsement of Turnbull: "He has my full support". Could People Skills be lined up for a tilt at the leadership?

Personally, i think this would be disasterous for the Liberal Party. Tony represents the hard core centre of conservative support - a constituency that never has and never will, vote Labor. I suspect he turns off most moderates - the swinging voters who actually decide the election.

Armadillos

2009-07-13T11:15:00.002+10:00

Just bought a pair of Specialized Armadillo tires for my bicycle and took them for their first long ride today. These are supposed to be the ultimate in puncture protection (except the Schwalbe Marathon Plus's which have a 5mm rubber pad built into them, but weight a tonne). This is due to a kevlar layer that not only covers the contact tread, but goes from bead-to-bead (in theory, protecting against sidewall damage).

The Armadillos are actually quite light, and i've found quite a performance increase over the stock semi-slicks I had. I've heard reviews of them being quite unresponsive due their stiffness, but I guess i'm not racing, so its not really an issue. Should be interesting to see how they perform in the wet though.

So far, i'm pretty happy!

Costello in the Herald / Ute Backfires

2009-06-24T08:57:00.003+10:00

Costello's take on what it means to serve as a politician.

I thought it was well written, if a little self-serving and revisionist. I have to say, he seems to be finally bowing out gracefully - though he has spent the last two years being exceedingly graceless.

On the other hand - Malcolm Turnbull has single-handedly what should have been a good week for the Opposition, into an disaster. After a week of getting the Costello monkey off his back, and a rise in the opinion polls - he got a bit carried away. Its not like this was a brain-snap either - as its become apparent he was spreading rumours about the false email to any news outlet who would listen. Shame also on News Limited for shonky reporting - cooking up a 'replica' of the email to splash across their front page. News Ltd seem to have no journalistic ethics at all - I mean, one comes to expect shoddy work from the Telegraph, but the Australian has also become a disgrace.

Swan needs to be careful how he deals with this - because I suspect he did give a little better treatment to John Grant. However, it wasn't to the level of corruptness - I think its fair to assume if you know someone, you give them a little more time than a complete stranger. Its only human nature.

I fear, though, that there will still be some reputational damage for Labor. When all is said and done, what will stick in the mind of average Joe? "Oh - wasn't the PM caught helping out that bloke who gave him a ute ....?"

Prince Charles on the Environment

2009-05-29T08:23:00.001+10:00

Prince Charles' edited speech was published in the SMH today - and I thought it makes quite a good ready. Apart from the content, its nice to read some very polished English once in a while.

Angels and Demons

2009-05-25T08:40:00.003+10:00

I saw Angels and Demons on Sunday... and thought i'd write a quick review.

The good:
+ Slick storyline
+ Beautiful shots of Vatican City and its buildings (I vaguely remember reading a story about the Catholic Church not letting them film onsite, so it may have all been lavish sets).
+ Excellent action sequences and camerawork. Not afraid to show some gore where appropriate.
+ Ewan McGregor's acting
+ Tom Hank's expressions lending him a professorial demeanor.

The bad:
- Fairly significant changes from the novel
- Significant compressed 'clue hunting' plot. At times it felt like Prof. Langton would jump through so many logical conclusions so quickly, you didn't have time to absorb what was going on. He'd look at something and say "ooh... a obelisk ... therefore, we have to go to (insert church/milestone here) ... and before you know it, he was in a car, cutting through traffic.
- A little bit 'kumbaya' at the end ("Religion and Science can be best friends! No lets all hold hands...)
- Tom Hank's expressions lending hime a constipated demeanor.

All in all, though - pretty good fun. Worth watching at the Cinema's for the spectacle of Vatican city.

Nice work, Miranda

2009-05-21T08:40:00.002+10:00

Its not often I agree with Miranda Devine, but this article in today's SMH, is spot on. Good on you - its about time someone called it like it was. Whilst feminism has acheived many great things over the last few decades, its about time they faced up to some of the, what I would describe as socially destructive, side effects.

NRL Good guys

2009-05-20T08:57:00.002+10:00

Labor's Chris Bowen has become a regular contributor to the SMH, and I find his articles quite intelligent and well though out. Today, he has written an excellent one about NRL's good-guys. Its about time that the nice guys of the sport (and not just the 'superstars' get noticed. El-Masri, in particular, deserves a lot of credit. He's magic on the field and with the boot, but also puts a lot back into the community.

It can't be easy as a practising Muslim, rising through the ranks of a ... lets face it, stereotypically bogan ... sport. And he's maintained his religious practices (including fasting) whist still keeping up with his training regime. He's gone out into the Islamic community to talk to boys about respect and becoming good citizens.

Hats of to El-Masri and to Bowen for this positive article.

Weekend wrap up

2009-05-18T08:25:00.002+10:00

Budgetary matters...
This morning, Treasury modelling shows the increase in the tax on tobacco will no completely cover the cost of reducing the Private Health insurance rebate changes... to the tune of $3Bil. Oops... Better look at that one again, Malcolm. Actually, it seems to me that the Government could adopt the tobacco tax AND push ahead with its changes to health insurance. Surely a couple of billion would help things out (I'm a subscriber to the theory that every little bit counts - particularly when talking about long-term debt).

The Government also needs to more strongly prosecute their case for health insurance changes. Perhaps this is the line to take: We believe in individuals choice, but why should everyone subsidise the wealthy to acquire a service they can already afford. As it stands, its only partially-private health insurance. New figures today also show that the last changes in reducing the rebate cut-off, mooted by the Liberals as focing millions out of private care, have actually seen an increase of people taking up Private Health insurance. I don't believe that people earning of $150,000 are going to change their minds on private care, over $7 a week. Thats 2 coffees a week. Come on!

India's Elections
India's National Congress Party (Gandhi and Nehru heritage) has resoundingly won the elections. This is great news for the country. The main other party is the BJP Ultra-nationalist party... this is a party of insularity, and 'self-reliance' - the same party that shut out international trade during the cold war, and effectively aligned themselves with Russia against the West. It is also worryingly nationalistic and I believe, has inflamed religious tensions in the some states. The Congress party now has more of a mandate to pursue trade liberalisation and economic modernisation - as well as re-engagement in the region. This will better position India to be a second economic powerhouse in Asia and can shape regional politics for the better. Acting as a democratic offset to China, it will definitely be advantageous to the West's engagement with the region.

We was robbed!
What's wrong with the video referee? In Friday night's top-of-the-table clash between the Doggies and St. George, the Dogs ran in a fantastic match winning try with only a few minutes left on the clock. The referee disallowed it due to an alleged obstruction just before Jamal Idris' inspired run. The commentators were calling it a try, the crowds new it was a try... but the eye-in-the-sky disallowed it. I mean, what is a play er supposed to do? 100-odd kilo's of inertia... and they are supposed to what? Disappear into the ground?

What was heartening was that when Doggies fans started throwing bottles onto the ground, Kimmorley marshed a few players and got them to calm down the crowd. Kimmorley is showing himself to be a great leader on the field, and seems to be bringing some much needed discipline and grace to the Doggies.

NRL Scandals

2009-05-14T13:32:00.002+10:00

I'm not going to touch this topic much... except to say:

1) The guys in NRL need to realise that this is not normal or acceptable behaviour.
2) Women also need to take some responsibility for the situations they put themselves in.

Not nearly enough

2009-05-13T11:50:00.002+10:00

Not good enough Wayne. Not good enough. The GFC was an opportunity to unwind a lot of unnecessary welfare, and you've (to use your word) squibbed it.

... And yet the Tele runs a front page article "Rudd's Razor" - listing in the worst possible terms what people will lose.

Harden up Australia.

Budget Tonight

2009-05-12T08:48:00.002+10:00

Yep - the big one... probably the toughest budget an Australian Treasurer has had to put together for quite a while.

Lots of talk about cutting back on middle-class welfare, and good on them I say. Its almost sickening to see the entitlement attitude in middle Australia. People expect handouts for everything. And the apparently conservative Howard Government was king and splashing cash around. The baby bonus - not means tested - was ridiculous. It achieved not social equity outcomes, and I don't believe anyone would swing their decision to have a child over 5 grand - so arguably, no population outcomes either.

The Government needs to cut and cut hard into middle class welfare schemes - and means testing as far as I can see, is the most fair and equitable way. A lot of journalists have written about how difficult the sell will be on this budget, given that they want to stimulate the economy, but at the same time are cutting back on other schemes.

I think the best approach for Wayne Swan is to try and clearly delineate in people's minds, what are temporary stimulation measures, and what are ongoing costs. Thus, he can argue that temporary stimulii (woohoo... I got to use the word stimulii!!!) are about seeing Australia through this economic downturn - but the cutbacks to ongoing schemes are about returning the budget to surplus as soon as possible.

The Howard Government have a lot to answer for in terms of building in ongoing costs into the fiscal cycle - everything based on the assumption that the good times would go on forever (and short-term political gain). Conservatives often criticise welfare because it creates dependance on the government. Maybe its time to look at 'middle' Australia and their outstretched hands for government 'assistance'. Its time to wean Australia off its entitlement attitude - this will server us well both fiscally and socially.

ETS - everyone looks bad

2009-05-06T08:31:00.003+10:00

What a muddle. Rudd has put off the once unputoffable ETS by 1 year. To appease Green groups, he's increased the 'maximum' 2020 target to 25% of 1990 levels (up from 15%). Turnbull has shown himself to be more and more irrelevant, once again attacking the Government simultaneously for putting it off, and for trying to introduce it in the first place. The Rudd government has pandered once again to business groups, who are so stuck in short term thinking about this issue. Its really a bad look. I suggest that now, with bad economic times anyway, any short term impact of adjustments to a lower carbon economy would be somewhat masked. And it would position Australia very well to take advantage of the upside once the world economy begins to normalise.

Turnbull, on the other hand, is balancing a resurgent hard-right in his party (Lead by Nick Minchin) - who don't believe in climate change anyway, against the antics of the mercurial Barnaby Joyce - leading the nationals in an 'over my dead body' approach to emissions trading. Turnbull himself, I think, wants and ETS and knows that it would be better sooner, rather than later. But to quell an uprising against him by his party, he must move further and further into the camp of the sceptics.

I'm also surprised that some of the environmental groups (the Greens Party excepted) have come out backing this scheme. They seem pretty pleased about the increase to 25% reductions in emissions. However, this is conditional on a 'strong' international consensus emerging from the Copenhagen conference at the end of this year. Depending on how you define 'strong international consensus' (plenty of wiggle room there), its unlikely this will eventuate. At best, there will probably be an 'in principle' agreement. Also, for the first year, carbon credits will be limitlessly issued, at a pathetically cheap $10 per tonne. So we've put off the decision by a year, watered down its implementation at that point, and increased our 'maybe if the stars align' target. Its pretty sad to see green groups line up to support that.

Ross Gittins wrote an interesting article in todays SMH I agree - no one has come out of this looking very good.

Just coming back to Turnbull briefly... Labor strategists are keen on painting Turnbull as the 'no-man'. He has consistently opposed everything the Government has done. And I think this is begining to stick in the media. More and more reports are focussing on Turnbull's 'no' response to everything, and this will do him serious damage. He needs to take a stand on something. Business groups are getting jack of it too - writing a letter to Turnbull to clean out the masses of deadwood in the Liberal party, or risk losing campaign funding. If they are to stand any chance in the next election, they would do well to heed that call. At this stage, they stand for nothing, having leapt to a more progressive position, then being slowly dragged back to the staid right by the likes of Minchin, Bishop, Andrews, etc. Its time to decide, are they the party of Howard, or have they moved on?

In defense of .... torture?

2009-04-28T12:08:00.002+10:00

Article in the SMH which appears to be a defense of torture techniques used by the CIA. He seems to be tiptoeing around explicitly defending it, but makes his point by attacking those who have done an about face, after giving support to the program under the old administration. Interesting reading.

RPM's by Pinky and the Brain

2009-04-20T15:33:00.003+10:00

Pinky: So do you want to do tonight Brain?
The Brain: The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to build RPM's.
Pinky: Narf. But I though we tried to take over the world?
The Brain: That was before our show was canceled. Now pay attention.

Ever wanted to learn how to make Linux RPM's, but man pages keep putting you into a coma? Well... its Pinky and the Brain to the rescue!!

Part 1
Part 2

From the specs file....
%description
Zonk. You can let the computer make the butterscotch pudding for you and leave
you to just put your head right in it.

Here we go again

2009-04-17T08:41:00.002+10:00

Ok, so we've had another people-smuggling boat turn up in Australian waters again. A big fire onboard has meant a many were badly injured, and are being taken to Darwin and Perth hospitals for treatment.

The Opposition has wasted no time in claiming that the Government caused this tragedy. Apparently, relaxing the Temporary Protection Visa's has "given the green light" to people smugglers. Turnbull, was interviewed on the ABC AM this morning, and claims that TPV's were an effective deterrent to people smugglers (whom he characterised as evil, greedy, businesspeople). Now, not withstanding the documented rise in population displacement due to oversea's conflicts (in this case, Afghanistan), causing increases in refugee numbers all over the world - if people smugglers were really greedy businesspeople who had no regard for peoples lives -do you really think that they are particularly concerned what happens to their human cargo when they reach land? They've already received their fees, so I highly doubt they are concerned about how and under which Visa scheme, their cargo is processed. And, although right-wingers like to dehumanize refugees as "illegal immigrants" who are possibly terrorists - the fact is, in nearly ever case, they have a genuine claim under the UN refugee convention. Its no easy thing staking your life on a leaky vessel to try and escape, so why would you risk life and limb unless you were really really desperate. Hardliners liners seem to think these people would what... blow themselves up to force Australia to take them in? Yeah, makes perfect sense.

Bob Debus (Home Affairs Minster) was also interviewed this morning, and I was really, really impressed. He point blank refused to make any comments or give any opinions on this, until an investigation had completed. Repeatedly, he stated that he would not politicise this proccess and not only did not raise any xenophobic opinions, but resisted the temptation also, to attack the opposition.

When asked if he was being particularly careful due to past experiences with the Tampa issue, his response was: "Absolutely."

Good on him.

Fijian sense of humour

2009-04-16T13:13:00.001+10:00

When they censor you... you make your own "news"

Newsflash: Man gets on a Bus!!

Soccer World Cup

2009-04-16T08:19:00.002+10:00

Well... not quite;

The Kshatriya Society of NSW is hosting a bi-annual tournament, where community members from Fiji, New Zealand, Brisbane and Melbourne will come together in Sydney for a four-day soccer tournament.

Details here:
Official Website

Gen Y ... contributors the GFC ?

2009-04-16T08:17:00.003+10:00

This is an interesting pot-shot at Gen Y I think this is a glib characterisation, perhaps? But maybe he has a point. Crudely made, but maybe this is what the "Me" generation really needs?

"Irritating and Dark stories"

2009-04-16T08:11:00.002+10:00

Commodore Bainimarama has claimed that the massive media suppression he has enacted in the last few days is to stop the media publishing stories which are "stories which are irritating and dark about our service".

Bit too late for that now, mate.

But what can you expect from someone's who's rank was named after a rustbucket hunk of junk ?

Climate Change Scepticism

2009-04-14T09:18:00.002+10:00

This article, from a columnist I generally respect... is a fairly articulate argument for the 'climate change skeptics' camp. It does challenge some of the general 'truths' I find myself automatically accepting, coming from a left-leaning perspective.

There is probably something to be said for taking a longer term view of climate events - and that the Earth is constantly evolving and changing. Throughout its history, many different species have come and gone, each changing the composition of the atmosphere and indirectly, likely to have changed the climate.

Actually, I don't believe human activity can destroy the earth (unless you count some major Nuclear disaster that changes to mass of the earth, thus destabilising its orbit). Nor will we wipe out life. Life will evolve. Humans have probably stopped evolving - and therein lies the problem. We want to preserve the environment as we know and perceive it. If our actions hasten the change to our environment, then we owe it to ourselves to try and reduce our impact. Perhaps 'dramatic' climate change, as we perceive it through our relatively insignificant timescale, is inevitable. But if we want to enjoy life as we know it, we need to look after our own environment.

I think the skeptics camp is advancing an argument that is analogous to "My house will eventually crumble and fall down. Therefore, I shouldn't worry about keeping it clean". Its a matter of making our surrounds as pleasant as possible for as long as possible.

Fiji - the saga continues

2009-04-14T08:29:00.003+10:00

For the last 20 years, it seems, Fiji has been on a gradually increasing spiral of political instability, with several coups. Fortunately, in Fiji, being the laid-back place that it is, these have been largely bloodless. In fact, I would suggest that outside Suva, most people would not have noticed anything going on.

However, this weekend, the aging figurehead President Iloilo fronted the cameras do dismiss the entire judiciary and suspend the constitution. This was apparently in response to the legal system declaring the last coupe of Commodore Frank Bainimarama to be illegal. Iloilo could barely read the words he spoke - making it embarrassingly clear that the speech had been written by him.

Steven Smith (Foreign Minister) has been quick to come out and label this a military dictatorship. DFAT has announced travel warnings for the country. And they is talk of political and economic sanctions being enacted shortly.

Whilst I do not agree with the actions of Bainimarama - particularly in dismissing the judiciary - there is one fact that is often forgotten in this mess. Bainimarama overthrew the government which was installed after the George Speight coup several years ago. This Government was a Fiji Nationalistic government, corrupt to the core and stacked with tribal interests. That Government actively persecuted Indo-Fijians, resulting in many farmers who had been on the land for generations - being forcibly evicted and losing their livelihood. Again, I'm not saying the new coup is necessarily just, but Australia and New Zealand would do better to look beyond the immediate scope of this crisis, and not view this as a power grab in isolation.

Fiji is in a bad state politically. And it saddens me that this country with such great natural riches, could be laid waste as such. Fiji has some of the most fertile land on earth... it already exports its water (which is regularly replenished due to its high rainfall). Mahogany, pine, sugar and root crops also have great export potential. And of course, the tourist industry, which caters for budget travellers right through to ultra-exclusive islands has great potential. With the right government in place, this country could be hugely successful.

Unfortunately, at this time, that government is nowhere to be seen.

RNSH Chapel - de-deified?

2009-04-09T08:21:00.002+10:00

A NSW Health Department public servant has decided that the Chapel at Royal North Shore Hospital, should be stripped of any Christian iconography to avoid offending people of different religions. Whilst this is (and always has been) a multi-faith room of prayer, it has always been 'decorated' as per a Christian church.

Now, I'm not Christian, and personally get a little uncomfortable in churches. But this is a bit much. This building was obviously built as a Christian chapel originally, when Australia was a predominantly Christian nation. There is heritage here, i'm sure and its just political correctness taken too far, to modify it.

Although Western religions don't seem to practice this, mature religions should be able to accept and work with other religions - and NOT be 'offended' by iconography. A mature religion believes in an all accepting God - and would not seek conflicts between different beliefs in this way.

Let the chapel be.

You've been voted off...

2009-04-08T17:58:00.001+10:00

Reality show hands staff fire power

All class. But seriously - this isn't a social experiment. This is a popularity contest.

Back from the dead + broadband

2009-04-08T09:30:00.004+10:00

Well, two and bit years on, i've decided to resurrect this blog. Not sure why... or how often I'll update... but sometimes you just need a place to unload.

So, since Jan 07 we've had a change of government, new US president... and a whole host of stuff.

Yesterday, the Government announced a fibre-to-the-premises broadband rollout. Fantastic I say. For too long, governments have not taken the big long term decisions, and the economy is paying for it. Naturally, the opposition opposed it, but these are the same people who would have opposed telephone infrastructure being rolled out.

We're already behind the rest of the world in terms of capacity, and this will help bring us up to speed. Literally. I still can't believe the short-sightedness of people who say we don't need this huge speed increase. Thats the same mentality of those who said you'd never need more than 8MB of RAM. With technology moving so fast, we can't even imaging the possibilities that will arise. And i'm not talking about the obvious streaming media transition. Cloud computing, hi-def video, etc... and other stuff we can't even comprehend yet. Remember, this isn't infrastructure for the next 10 years. It will be there for possibly 100's of years. 100 years ago - did people comprehend the computer?

There is potentially an argument for wireless being a cheaper alternative. However, a couple of issues; inherent medium limitations and instability is one major concern. I also suggest that there will come a point when all these signals and waves flying around will be proven to have health and/or other environmental impacts we haven't yet seen.

Well, its good to back. If anyone is out there .... :)

Long time no speak

2007-01-11T08:26:00.000+11:00

Its been a while since my last post, partly due to holidays, but mainly because i've been lazy. Just a coupla things I'd like to comment on.

On Triple M, Sydney will no longer get "The Cage" in the mornings, to be replaced with "The Shebang" instead. I liked The Cage, mainly because of Peter Berner and by contrast, the Shebang can be quite silly most of the time (i never laugh out loud at the Shebang). Bugger. On the up-side, Will Anderson steps into the afternoon "drive" slot, so that should be pretty good. Filling for him until he starts in April, is the other side of ABC's comedic royalty - Chas and Dom from the Chaser.

Today Bush will broadcast his national address to outline his new strategy in Iraq. Hrmm... I wonder if he can spell "strategy" let alone develop one. Anyways, by all accounts its likely to be a "troop surge" with another 20,000 odd troops being deployed. I'm not entirely sure how sending more people in to do exactly the same thing qualifies as a "new" strategy, but I'm sure they know what they're doing (although a coupla thousand dead U.S. servicepeople would probably disagree).

In local politics, nothing much happening at the moment, which is unfortunate. Oh, apparently the mining and nuclear industries say that nuclear power is a good idea in Australia (really!?!). Kevin Rudd seems to be doing quite well at the moment, I love the way Bill Leak draws him as Tin-Tin in his cartoons. Kinda free publicity, I think. Oh - and prepare for the end of the world - the 5th sign of the apocalypse has arrived. The 7.30 Report did a show on Shonky Builders. I was mortified. I nearly smashed my TV.

Seen a coupla oldish movies I was trying to catch up on. Believe it or not, but I'd never seen the Rocky movies. Damn, they are actually quite good! Kudos to Stallone for the writing. Not sure about Rocky V because I've heard bad things, so I might give it a miss. Also, I really, really enjoyed "The Crow". I had expected it to be darker, but it was well acted and well scripted. Still can't pick out the scene where Brandon Lee gets shot (for real), but they may not have put it in the final cut (??).

Anyways people, I'm off to land of the long white cloud for a few weeks, so I'll post again when i'm back.

Casino Royale

2006-12-20T08:15:00.000+11:00

I saw Casino Royale yesterday, and I can say it was easily the best Bond Film I've seen (to be fair, I haven't seen all of the old ones). I would best describe this film as a big "reset" button on the whole Bond franchise - wiping the slate clean and allowing Bond to be reconstructed and taken in a totally new direction.

As I'm sure many people have read in the reviews, there are no fancy gadgets, fewer cheesy throwaway lines and Bond is a much more vulnerable character. In fact, there is a new maturity to this movie, where the dialogue is much more believable and engaging. Also, the film reduces the amount of product placement, although its still quite obvious.

The car chase scene lasts for all of about 30 seconds before the more horrific and gruesome part of the movie - the new Aston Martin being totalled a spectacular but heart-rendering crash.

Much of the movie is based around a high-stakes game of poker, which was done relatively well, although they could have done more to ramp up the tensions. Having said that, this may have sacrificed some of the natural style of the film. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me was Eva Green. I found her acting very wooden and her faux-aristocratic accent was quite contrived. And once the luvvey-duvvey stuff starts dragging on, i found myself disengaging and simply waiting for the inevitable twist.

Musically, it was interesting that there was very little use of traditional Bond theme, until the very end - where Bond is forged into the cold killer we know him as.

All in all, a corker of a film: 006/007

Keep an eye out for Richard Branson's cameo, as a passenger being frisked at the airport
Quote of the movie:
Bond: "Get me a Vodka Martini"
Barman: "Shaken or Stirred, sir?"
Bond: "Does it look like I give a damn!?"

Trial-by-Media

2006-12-15T15:30:00.000+11:00

This morning, Ms. Hage-Ali, the Young Australian of the Year and member of Howard's "Muslim Reference Group" was intervied by Virginia Trioli on 702. She had recently been taken in for questioning by Police in regards to a cocaine racket, but released without charge. The Telegraph jumped all over this, running full page pictures and headlines, painting her as some sort of Drug kingpin. Only the fine print stated that she had been released without charge.

In todays interview, Hage-Ali strugged (and often failed) to hold back tears, as she was unable to defend herself. Apparently, she has been advised that any comments she makes may place her in contempt of court. Her frustration at the situation was very clear, and I felt very, very sorry for her.

Maybe its an elaborate act, but I doubt very much the emotion in her voice was enacted. What are today's headlines about that interview? Todays SMH: Hage-Ali silent on Drugs claims. Its bad enough that the media is jumping all over this, looking for a Muslim to string up, but that Morris Iemma suggested that her government job was in jeopardy, was inexcusable for a supposed statesman. This reflects, I believe, the sordid trial-by-media and political over-reactions being fostered by the Liberal Right in NSW, and Iemma, unfortunately, is playing their game.

In an unrelated piece of information I learnt today - Janet Albrechtsen is the only woman on the ABC board. Janet Albrechtsen!?! As far as I'm concerned, she makes Howard look like Gandhi! She's one of those crazy right-wing women (the other notable one being Miranda Devine) who have begun polluting the Australian Media with their vitriolic conservatism. Somehow, her presense taints the ABC in my mind.

But it IS art!!!

2006-12-12T13:43:00.000+11:00

Hallelujah

2006-12-11T22:29:00.000+11:00

I have discovered what I now consider to be one of the most awesome songs ever (big call, I know). Originally written by Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley has masterful reworked the song, in an almost unique situation where the cover version seems to have more passion, depth and meaning than the original.
See the live performance by Jeff Buckley on youTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=N05xfF6MxIM

Rudd on Radio / Media news

2006-12-11T22:20:00.000+11:00

Well, I heard Rudd on the Radio this afternoon, and he sounded quite good. Now that Beazly has been cleanly deposed, I guess i'll have to put my misgivings about his loss to one side. Rudd seems to be able to bridge the Unionist, "Aspirational" and Intellecutal support base that Labor needs for success. Already, the similarities (in appearance) between him and Howard are being emphasised - I just hope he can sufficiently differentiate himself to gain the votes. Also, Garrett has been put on the front bench where I hoped he would - in the Environment portfolio. The Power and the Passion is now where it needs to be. Looking forward to next parliamentary year - should be thrilling.

As an aside, the ABC has lost one of its shining stars - Maxine McKewn - from the 7.30 Report and Lateline. She was a very effective interviewer who did not require the confrontational approach of O'Brien or the abrasiveness of Jones to keep her interviewee's on the straight an narrow. She will be sorely missed, and I'm beginning to worry about where the next generation of ABC journalists will come from.

As a further aside, Triple M are widely rumoured to be dropping "The Cage" from the morning Breakfast slot in Sydney (it will still be the morning show in Melbourne). Now, I'm a self-professed fan of the Cage, particularly with Peter Berner. I will sorely miss them. Marty and Fifi will be moved from Melbourne/Sydney afternoons to Sydney Breakfast radio. Ok, whilst I wouldn't change the channel when the come on, they done have the same sparkle that the Cage does. They tend to get bogged down in silliness and absurdities, unlike the sharper wit of Peter and Parko. I hate changes on radio - i like things they way they are. On the up-side, it looks like Will Anderson will grab the Triple M Afternoon slot. Hrmm... sold out, perhaps - he should go to 702 like the rest of the Triple J crew do as they age!

Avoca Holiday

2006-12-09T17:43:00.000+11:00

Got back today from the most awesome holiday ever - beach house right on Avoca Beach. It was so good to meet up with friends - who I certainly haven't spent enough time with. Weather was good (not too hot) and we made pretty good use of the beach. The pooled cooking resources meant we ate like kings every day with each person taking a turn to create their own delicacy.

For me, pschologically and emotionally, this holiday has made me feel alive once more.

To all of the people who where there, thank you so much for everything. I love you guys!

Beazley and Rudd

2006-12-03T16:24:00.000+11:00

So, its on for young and old. Rudd and Gillard have teamed up to try and capitalise on the internal schisms of the Labor party and gain the leadership. This is the last thing the party needs and will set them back several months.

On one hand, its true that Beazley has been unable to capitalise on what should have been a terrible few months for the Government. I believe Beazley is a really decent bloke, and an effective campaigner. However, his leadership is seen as "recycled" from two losses, and to be honest, the electorate as simply switched off.

On the other hand, Rudd is a relatively unknown quantity. He is a self-made man, having rising from real poverty (but unlike Latham, does not wear it on his sleeve). He is an intellectual and argues very cogently and effectively. These qualities, however, may be a turn-off in mainstream Australia. He probably only appeals (at a personality level) to devoted Liberal voters. A fresh face may pique the interest of the Australian public, and this may result in gains for Labor. Yet, the lack of experience may be a significant problem for Rudd.

I think one thing that many Labor dissenters are missing, is that whilst the Australian public is currently switched off to Beazley (due, in part, to his familiarity), they may think differently when actually placing their vote. Time and again, the Australian electorate has shown its preference for experience - whilst Rudd may be initially successful, like Mark Latham, he may fall flat at the actual ballot box. I think its possible that Beazley's current low impact may actually aid him closer to the election. Rather than trying to suss-out what the alternative is like, voters may focus rather on policy and substance, which could be a winner for the Labor party.

As such, I am hoping that Beazley win's tommorrows Caucus ballot. Unfortunately, many commentators suggest that unless Beazley wins by a large, convincing margin, the destabilisation will continue. And, many sources claiming inside knowledge, are suggesting the Rudd has the numbers to get across.

If Beazley wins, the first thing he should do (which he should have done on the first day when he returned as Opposition leader) is to reshuffle the front bench. Garrett needs to be brought in - some have suggested as Arts and Reconcilliation, but I would suggest that he would have a much greater impact in the Environment portfolio. They need to drop the deadwood, and ensure people are in positions that best match their skills and pbulic appeal. And finally, sort out the mess of portfolio (which range from the very specific to the extremely broad) - and match them 1:1 with Howard ministers.

Howard is the strength of the Liberal party - without him, they are nothing. Apart from Costello, Abbott and Hockey, the rest of the front bench are very weak - particularly Downer and Vaile. If the ministers can be destroyed in the public eye, this will help weaken the Lib's stranglehold on power.

Bat out of Hell III

2006-12-01T21:13:00.000+11:00

This is not a bad album, but I question its worthiness of a "Bat out of Hell" title.

Firstly, the good: An excellent rendition of "Its all coming back to me now" - which is performed very powerfully. The Steinman songs on Bat III are not too bad either, with Meat Loaf finally doing "Bad for Good" - originally written for him in 1981. Brian May from Queen provides the guitar genius behind this one. "Seize the Night" is an unmistakeable Steinman set piece - and Meat does it justice. This song dramatically weaves in various themes from other Bat Albums, and is a very worthy 9:46 .

Unfortunately, most of the non-Steinman tracks are disappointing, starting with the title track: "The Monster is Loose". This song is heavy on guitar but light on soul and depth - it lacks the narrative and melodrama that we have come to expect. Other songs written by Motley Crue's Nikki Stixx, are also lightweight. Although a Steinman song, written for the Batman Musical, I found "In the land of the Pigs, the Butcher is King" to be particularly uninspiring, both lyrically and melodically.

So all in all, I'm a little disappointed with the Album - I think Bat out of Hell albums really should be purely Steinman's work. The sanctity of the holy Meat-Steinman pair should not be tainted.

See the Wikipedia Article here: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_out_of_Hell_III:_The_Monster_Is_Loose

Music Massacre

2006-11-26T20:26:00.000+11:00

I was at the Gym today and subjected to Channel V. In one of their countdowns, they played a song that ripped off the Phil Collin's "Another Day in Paradise" melody - I think it was called "too fast" or something like that. Now, this sort of thing really makes me mad. They managed to take a meaningful song with social commentary and reduce it to yet another carbon-copy black dude blathering on whilst surrounded by wailing ho's. I mean - seriously, thats what most pop music seems to be today. As far as I'm concerned , the R&B Genre is pathetic. Most female artists can be cut-and-pasted between songs, with no change to it. The male artists are little better. And the music & lyrics are so shallow: the subject is money/ho's/how much of a player I am/how much of an ice queen I am.

Give me some sweet, sweet Live any time time.

Victorian Election

2006-11-25T23:57:00.000+11:00

In the election of the Bland vs. the Blander, Bracks has claimed a historic 3rd term victory tonight. Both major parties suffered a swing against them, with Family First picking up most of the proceeds.

Most "pundits" where expecting such a result, so no real surprises. However, I believe that the NSW election will be much more tight, given the many of scandals Iemma has faced. In comparison, Steve Bracks has (at least from this distance) seem to have run on a relatively even keel.

From a federal perspective, I think that this result re-enforces just how powerful encumbency is in the modern Australian Electoral system.

Good Quote

2006-11-24T10:36:00.000+11:00

As the death toll in Iraq escalates....

Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.

Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?

Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?

Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.

Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chalk full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

Can Beazly hang on?

2006-11-23T12:43:00.000+11:00

The knives are sliding out of their sheaths for Beazly again. Mind you, much of this is stirred up by New Ltd. journalists, who seem to take perverse delight in exacerbating Labor's pains. After last weeks gaffe, sending condolences to Karl Rove instead of Rove McManus, the papers would have you believe that there is a groundswell against Beazly, with Rudd the likely replacement. Personally, I don't think the party or the public really wants a change there. Its a long time until the next election, and once people begin to look at wider issues (as they focus closer to the election), I still think Labor is in with a fighting chance. I hope. Because the current Government has no plans to build the future of this country (education and infrastructure), and would rather see current company profits protected, than protecting the air for future generation.

Broken Laptop

2006-11-18T09:17:00.000+11:00

Sorry for the absense, but my Laptop has slightly died, and is in for repairs with Acer. Fortunately, it died 5 days before the warranty expired, and it looks like its getting a brank spanking new Inte 915PM motherboard.

By the way, if you have he chance, Bono was interviewed on Lateline (www.abc.net.au/lateline). He is so very well spoken, and across all local issues when he speaks - he is actually both a rockstar and a fully fledged politician.

In the mean time, Beazly has fouled up again, giving condolences to Karl Rove instead of Rove McManus (although condolences to Karl Rove may be in order, as his Neo-Con fantasy shatters around him). Beazly really needs to sort himself out, otherwise he may throw away the next election.

Howard/Costello still have no believable or tenably position on Climate change, arguing on the one hand that India and China are undergoing industrialisation and therefore need to be cut some slack in terms of emissions (in the same way that Europes industrialisation was powered by dirty technology). However, they arguing even more strongly that no climate agreement will work without them being onboard - indeed, Australia will be unfairly disadvantaged if they are excluded (hence why we don't sign Kyoto). Sounds to me like a bob each way, with the aim to do nothing.

The times they are a changin'

2006-11-10T09:24:00.000+11:00

So - its done and dusted. The Democrats have both houses of Congress. I was listening to a U.S. Political analyst this morning, who made some interesting points about the current Washington landscape. In the U.S. (unlike Australia), political parties are more loosely aligned, and do not have the lock-step discipline associated with our political system. However, over the last 6 years, Karl Rove (advisor to Bush) has taken the Republicans from a centre-right alliance to a disciplined right-wing party. Concurrently, the Democrats have retained the traditional center-left alliance (admitted, "left" in the US is very different from what we would consider to be "left"). What this means is that whilst the Republicans could present a stronger, more organised and united front (which probably helped them in the last two elections), they have also narrowed their constituency. When things go bad, and people begin to look for alternatives, the Democrats have better been able to tailor their messages for individual electorates and can thus appeal to a wider group. For example, they fielded religious conservatives in the South and Mid-West, whilst keeping liberals in the northern and eastern states.

The upshot of this, however, is that they have no strong coherent policy on Iraq. This may yet undo their winnings, as with control of both houses, there will be much more responsibility for decisions put upon them. This election was more a backlash against the Republicans, not just on Iraq, but scandals and corruption may have also kept some supporters at home (voting, of course, is not compulsory). It remains to be seen if this win will significant change the outcome of Iraq. I don't believe it will, because they really have no wriggle-room in the foreign policy mess created by Bush and his brains.

What will also be interesting, is if this Democratic win has used up all the anti-Bush/anti-Republican sentiment, thus actually making it more difficult to win the next Presidential election. Having said that, if the scuttlebut is to be believed, its shaping up to be a contest between Sen. Caine (Republican) and Sen. Clinton (Democrat). Whistl I think a Clinton win would be better, and have a sense of poetry (Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton), I have much respect for Caine, as he argued strongly against the execution of the war, and the use of torture. Either way, I think the U.S and the world will be in much better hands.

An interesting article

2006-11-09T09:18:00.000+11:00

Found this article on the SMH written by Kevin Rudd. It looks at the relationship between faith (specifically, Christianity) and how it translates to the curernt political paradigm.

Also - back to the US: Montana has been taken by the Democrats giving them 50% of the Senate. Virginia is all that stands between them and a house majority, and the Democrats are apparently a hairs-breadth in front. Prepare for a legion of Lawyers to decend shortly, to pick through the rich spoils of this particular battle.

America begins to wake up to itself

2006-11-08T22:17:00.000+11:00

In what can only be described as a landslide victory, the U.S. Democrats have regained control of Congress after 12 years. In Republican strongholds across that country, voters turned out to give George a good solid kick in the pants, and vote in a Democrat. Their Senate (on which Republicans have a much stronger grip), is hanging on a knifes edge - with two seats to decided the outcome.

This will not only make it very difficult for Republicans to win the next Presidential election, but Bush's next two years have been widely described as going to be that of a "lame duck". All of a sudden, accountability returns to the system, as Democrats can subpoena documents and reveal the truth about this regime's activities.

I see the Democrat's victories as a win for America. Firstly, it will force a change in their approach to Iraq (and foreign policy). Secondly, it gives me hope that the next president will be capable of stringing together a sentance (unassisted), and have an IQ greater than that of a bowl of mashed potato.

Interestingly, if the next president is a Democrat, and (god forbid) Howard wins the next election - this will certainly leave him out in the cold! The long arm of the American Republican party will be removed from his derriere, and all of a sudden, he might actually have to develop some foreign policy for Australia. Now, wouldn't that be a novelty!

Happy Birthday

2006-11-05T20:37:00.000+11:00

50 years of ABC TV! May God bless (and keep the politician's grubby mits off) them!

Climate Change

2006-11-01T08:27:00.000+11:00

Up until this week, the Government's official position has been that they are "sceptics" of the link between greenhouse gasses and climate change. (As with Iraq), they ignored the real evidence given by experts, and decided they would do nothing. Suddenly, the Stern report comes out, putting climate change in the the context of the economy - calling it the biggest Market failure ever - and all of a sudden, the message seems to have finally gotten through. THe Coalition still have no concrete policy, but are doing their level best to throw something together, in what has become possible the most rapid U-turn in Australian politics. Still, it makes me angry to think that they can sit there and pretend nothing is wrong, becaue they don't want to deal with it. Put it in terms of dollars, and suddenly, they are interested.

Their argument for not signing Kyoto is hollow - "we won't do it unless everyone else does it". This is a classic example of Howard relegating Australia from being an International leader (as it was under Hawke and Keating), to an International (read U.S) follower. Its a denigration of the standing of this nation.

To John Howard, and his other pasty-white ministers - I hope you all die from skin cancer.

School Chaplains

2006-10-30T17:03:00.000+11:00

I'm back :)

The Howard Government has announced it will spend $90million on a school chaplaincy program, where schools (private or public) can have a taxpayer funded chaplain, provided they are Ok'ed by the Education Minister.

This is absolutely disgraceful. What an abhorrent waste of money! Schools struggle to get basic teaching services, but can have a "spirtual guidance" councellor. As far as I'm concerned, if you want religion as part of schooling, send your kid to a private school. And guess who just saved some more money? Rich private schools who already have two or three chaplains, now get these positioned tax-payer subsidised.

THe very idea that the Government should fund a program forcing Christianity into public schools is an attack on the seperation of Church and state. Oh, but they claim that the Chaplain's do not have to be Christian. Are they really going to appoint a Swami or a Mufti to that position? I think not. I find Christianity to be quite confronting, not least because of its in-your-face attitude to other religions. This young upstart of a religion goes around telling people of other religious beliefs that they are wrong, when their religion is relatively young (compared to Eastern religions). Believe what you like - thats fine - but to push a particular value system in PUBLIC schools is dead wrong. Besides, people who "need" spiritual guidance, will not be voluntarily turning to Chaplains. The only people to use such a service already have their beliefs. Why spend $90million to service a particular group, when school councellors can help anyone and everyone.

Thoughts?

A bit of a break

2006-10-12T22:08:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately, NivCorp Blog will be a little quite for the next 3 weeks or so. Apparently I've got a thesis to hand in shortly... so I probably should be starting soonish :p

Wookiepedia

2006-10-12T22:06:00.000+10:00

For everthing you wanted to know about Star Wars... and a whole lot more...

WOOKIEPEDIA!

National Curriculum Debate

2006-10-06T19:01:00.000+10:00

Today, the Federal Education Minister, Julie Bishop, put forth a proposition that the Education system be federalised and standardised.

To me, this makes a lot of sense. Why not go for a standard leaving certificate at the end of school. Standardise the entry age for primary school. Remove departmental duplication across each state, and ensure that study is universally tranferrable.

I do, however, object to the subtext in the Minister's argument. She claims that the curriculum has been hijacked by ideologues (presumably, those left-wing intellectuals?), and that some of the teaching comes straight for Chairman Mao. The reference to Mao was dropped from her actual speech, but was present in the media release.

Bishop seems to be running two lines on this - one about efficiency, and one about changing the sylabus to what she describes as a "back to basics" approach - removing the supposed left-wing, contextualised bias. She cites Universities having to run remedial english courses for undergrads. These criticism are primarily in reference to History and English.

It seems like the Government wants to take the education system back to a rote learning system - read this, tell me what its about. In the case of English they say that Shakespeare, for example, should not be reinterpreted witha feminist reading, or a Marxist reading, etc. Rather, they should focus on exactly what the text says. Similarly, History should be a chronological narrative, not a series of thematic occurences in human experience. This sounds to me like a dumbing-down of the syllabus - tailoring to the lowest common denominator.

Even though it was quite challenging at the time, I really think the new English Syllabus was quite good, in that it forced a very critical approach to texts. The "comprehension" (which I believe is really what "back to basics" means), was assumed, and we were encouraged the think about texts (both past a present), in terms of how they relate to a variety of contexts. This sort of critical thinking (and I don't mean to sound elitist) may be beyond some, and potentially, this can result in some people attaining a lower standard of literacy at completion. However, there is much to be said for contextualisation and critical thinking. Personally, I found it made me think a lot more about messages being passed in the modern media. I subconciously begain to critically analyse movies as I watched them, rather than treating them as pure entertainment. These are more important life skills than the ability to recite the definition of "past participles", "pronouns" and "adjectives". If there are people struggling and indeed not meeting basic literacy standards, this should be factored into the already-tiered system of English (at least in NSW). Perhaps offering Standard English at an "easier" level is the way to go.

Today, people face a flood of information from a wide divergence of sources, and many of them not "official". The ability to read the subtext and determine the contextual meaning of messages is more important than ever. The same applies to history. Rather than recite events (which tend to protect the bias of the historical "victor"), the ability to judge world events in terms of context and a variety of perspectives helps in making better decisions for the future.

The cynic in me might say the the Governments stance on this is about further reducing accountability. They want to move to a more "Americanised" model, where the general population is largely uncritical and intellectually disengaged. This has always helped conservative governments. Howard has always been uncomfortable with intellectualism, since reduces the power of the encumbent. The era of "basic standard" education seems very Thatcher-esque at this point in time.

So - standardisation of curriculum, subjects, grades and starting years - absolutely. Changing the syllabus to a "basic skills" approach? Absolutely not. Particularly, since this government is intent on putting its conservative badge on everything it touches.

Thoughts? Over to you! And please drop a comment if you do read this!

The Debate

2006-10-05T21:37:00.000+10:00

Joe Jockey and Bill Shorten faced off today in a debate about WorkChoices, at Manning Bar. It was indeed, a very entertaining debate. Firstly, Joe Hockey was very well spoken. In fact, if the Government want to sell their IR laws, they need Hockey to be the front face - not Kevin Andrews who looks like a pasty white example of 17th Century British ruling class - someone who has never done a minute of manual labor in his life. Anyway, I digress; Joe's openin speech was well planned and quite well executed. He got a respectful round of applause from a largely hostile audience. He spoke of this being the 3rd era of the trading world (nation-to-nation trading, company to company trading and now, person to person trading). He advanced the case that reform was necessary to keep Australia competetive, and this was what the Government was doing - getting on with ensuring the country was ready to meet current and future challenges.

Unfortunately for Joe, no matter how good his speech was, Bill Shorten totally blitzed him. He spoke rapidly, but clearly, providing effective examples of the problems with the WorkChoices legislation - logically tearing apart the opposition's argument, but with a quick witted sense of humour. THe Young Liberals crashed the party, and heckled Shorten - although Hockey faced many a dark rumbling and snide comment from the Audience. Whilst Hockey ploughed on, Shorten made short shrift of the heckles, with such things as "Don't worry you Young Libs down there - you'll get your NSW precelection soon enough - so long as you are right wing enough." He also fed off the audience support, making his speech more of an oration than a debate.

In the end, I felt sorry for Joe Hockey, and grateful that he made himself available for the debate. He was in a very hostile environment (this was a part-union organised event), and faced a tough-sell to Uni students. He was also up against a fantastic speaker and quick-witted opponent in Bill Shorten. I really, really hope Shorten has a fast rise through the Labor party - he is intelligent, articulate, appealing across a broad spectrum, and media savvy. And he could well bring back that Hawke/Keating-esque liveliness to Australian Politics, that it so badly needs.

Shorten Vs. Hockey

2006-10-04T17:37:00.000+10:00

Tommorrow at 1pm, the Work and Organisational Studies Society has organised a debate between Bill Shorten (National Secretary of AWU and future Member for Marybydong), and Joe Hockey (Minister for Human Services and backup Minister for Workplace Relations). THis will indeed be a corker. Will let you know how it went.

Great Journalism

2006-10-04T17:34:00.000+10:00

I just saw the grabs for the Channel 7 news. On the day the North Korea explicitly declared that it was going to carry out a nuclear test, interest rates have been put on hold, and the Government refused to mandate ethanol in petrol after an alternative fules energy summit, this is what they lead with:

Luxury car crashes into backyard swimming pool

Flag burners asked to appologise

Model falls over on catwalk

Fantastic work, guys.

Telstra Sale + Surplus

2006-09-29T20:25:00.000+10:00

Its confirmed - 8 odd billion dollars worth of Telstra shares will be released at the end of October. The government is spending $20mil in advertising to promote the sale. Its a bitter irony. Since most of the targets of the advertising will be the so-called "Mum and Dad investors", the Government is using their money (tax dollars) to get them to buy a dud investment, that they already own.

Oh, and Smiking Costello has just announced that the 05/06 budget was in surplus $16mil dollars. I'm sorry, but with household debt now at $1tril, and cutbacks in education funding, we selling this countries future productive capacity. It takes no national leadership to cut services and save money. It takes a real leadership to put in place and see through to completion projects to improve education, training and infrastructure. The productivity seen today is the result of investments made 30 years ago. But with the pork-barrelling attitude of the government (and the hip-pocket reactions of the general electorate), there is no long term planning - everything runs on a 3 year "how to get re-elected" cycle. And the our generation will pick up the tab.

Why I want to be a manager

2006-09-29T12:13:00.000+10:00

... the mathematical proof:

Postulate 1: Knowledge is power.

Postulate 2: Time is money.

Now, as every Engineer knows,

Work
-------- = Power
Time

Since Knowledge = Power, and Time = Money, we have

Work
-------- = Knowledge
Money

Solving for Money, we get:

Work
------------ = Money
Knowledge

Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of work done.

Conclusion: The less you know, the more you make.

They've done it again

2006-09-27T21:47:00.000+10:00

From the makers of the "Big Ad", comes the next installment. A must see for any child of the 80's. www.flashbeer.com.au.

With Carlton churning out such great ads, it really makes a mockery of Tooheys' Moose ads. Having said that, the Carlton MID (Male Intelligence Division) ads with the footy blokes and the robots, is really dumb.

Spare a penny, guv?

2006-09-27T21:45:00.000+10:00

Full Throttle

2006-09-25T20:24:00.000+10:00

This has got to be one of LucasArt's best games. And thats a big call, since it came out circa 1996. Full Throttle is a fantastic little RPG, based on the then-revolutionary, Rebel Assault engine.

Full Throttle is the story of a Biker dude (Ben) - the leader of the Polecat's bikey gang - and his quest to save his gang after they were framed for murder. It has awesome dialogue, great playability and awesome graphics (ok - pretend its 1996).

I managed to find a working copy of it, and have been playing it through again. Unfortunately, it is quite short, but fun while it lasts. The characters are funny, and there are plenty of "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" gags. Also, nice little cross references to Star Wars (it is, afterall, a LucasArts game). These include Rebel and Imperial signs being used as tatoos on incidental characters, a guy who looks suspiciously like George Lucas, and the immortal words spoken to the hero: "Help me Ben, you're my only hope".

Bat out Of Hell III: The Trailer

2006-09-23T18:29:00.000+10:00

Trailer:

Also, see videos for the title track
The Monster is Loose
... and the for the first single: a song that was originally written for Meat Loaf:
Its all coming back to me now

International Talk like a Pirate Day

2006-09-19T18:27:00.000+10:00

Avast me hearties! Today be international talk like a Pirate day - so shiver yer timebers, cast overboard yer scurvy landlubbers and have and swill ye down an bottle 'o' grog or two.

Geek humour

2006-09-16T10:15:00.000+10:00

Thanks to Glen for this excellent site

Those elusive Australia values

2006-09-14T12:17:00.000+10:00

I've been very disappointed with Beazley's dog-whistling call for a signup to Australian values. Things like mateship, respect for women, agreement with democracy, etc. This is all very well, but these are general fluffy concepts, that I wouldn't like to legally put my signature. Its like signing a form promising to be good. What does it mean? How is it enforced? And whats the point? Another item that was mentioned was "hard work". THis is interesting, because I think you would find that on average, "ethnics" or "migrants" work harder than Aussies of several anglo generations.

A spin doctor who was interviewed on the radio this morning, though, made a good point - it seems that the only way to progress in Australian politics is to play the race card. This seems to be an unfortunate reality of modern Australian politics.

Amanda Vanstone wrote an article yesterday in the Australia, attacking Beazley for playing the race card in terms of Industrial relations - the ability to import workers to fill positions. The ALP's complaint is that they are paid much less than local workers, thus driving down market wages. She said that leaders (ie, Beazley) should not stir up the lynch mob for immigrants.

!!!!!!!!!??

This is coming from the same government that said we don't want to let the boat people in, because they were the sort of undesirables who threw their children overboard. This, clearly, never happend. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

I guess she is a bit miffed that Beazley is encroaching on her terroritory - and obviously, that town is not big enough for the both of them. Metaphorically AND physically.

Public Holiday

2006-09-11T18:48:00.000+10:00

Next year in September, the APEC meeting is coming to Sydney. THere will be a huge number of world leaders, including the Presidents of the US, China and Russia. The CBD will be in nearly total lockdown due to the security against terrorism. The state government (I believe, sensibly) have declared a public holiday on the 8th of September, to address some of the logistical problems in the CBD.

The Australian Industry Group and the Chamber of Commerce are all up in arms. Why should NSW businesses have to cop another public holiday?! This is an outrage?!?

Again, we see money-grubbing coming in the way of plain common sense. Workers and small business-people would appreciate the day off. The CBD will be practically inaccessible. In fact, the big-wigs who are supported by the Chamber of Commerce and AIG - if its too hard to get to work, they just won't show up. But wage workers? Oh no, they should have to come to work regardless of the circumstances.

I've never quite understood these groups. They are lobby groups for companies. Companies consist of people. But the AIG and CC push the interests of large inanimate and intangible entities (the corporations), often at the expense of the humans who are the constituents of the Corporation. If an objective external observer was watching our commercial society, it would indeed look strange. Its almost a Communist ideal, where the interest of the Commune are always more important that the interest of the individuals. And people are sacrificed to the glory (or in this case, profit) of the greater entity. Ironic, isn't it?

Inconvenient Truth

2006-09-11T18:27:00.000+10:00

Al Gore (the guy who won the US presidency in 2000), is in town to promote his new film about Global Warming. In it, he urges western governments to take the threat seriously and begin concrete steps to addressing it. While here, he urged the Australian Government to lobby the 'States to do more.

Our government's reaction was appalling. Howard said that "he doesn't make policy based on entertainment". Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, said the Gore was here just to sell seats to his movie.

Australia has a history of leading conservation and environmental protection initiatives. However, under this government, we are degraded in the international community by playing lapdog to the extreme right US administration. We must be a backwater laughing stock in Europe, where countries such as Sweden are movie to an oil-free industrial economy by 2020. And to have this kind of dismisal of such an important issue is such an embarrasment coming from our supposed leaders.

In the 90's, the world moved quickly to address the problems associated with CFC's (ie, the depletion of the ozone layer). Now obviously, this is a much less complex problem, but world moved to address it - and recent reports show the hole actually shrinking now. And there was no grand collapse of economies.

Humans are an innovative lot - we have an amazing ability to solve problems. However, chained to big business interests, all thinking from leaders is in terms of short term profits. I hope we have a renaissance in the public conciousness that breaks the me-mine-now mentality and sees us refocusing on humanity as a whole.

Beattie Wins again

2006-09-10T15:39:00.000+10:00

Weathering a maelstrome of water and health crises, Peter Beattie has been resoundingly returned as the Premier of QLD, with nearly 70% of the vote. Many people though there would be a protest vote - which never arose. Surveys prior the the election were indicating that people didn't think Beattie deserved to win, but the Coalition just deserved it less - although this may be the normal "we don't trust Pollie's" sentiments being expressed.

Actually, I saw the defeat speech of Bruce Flegg - the Liberal opposition leader. No wonder they lost. He was not confident speaking on his feet, he was unengaging to listen to, and didn't really seem to be speaking from the heart. Admittedly, I haven't seen Lawrence Springborg's speech (Springborg was the Nationals leader), although he left the campaign trail part way through, when his father-in-law passed away. But Flegg must have really damaged the coalitions chances. He bumbled his way through the campaign, stuffing up answers to questions like who would be premier if they won (him or Springborg)... etc. EVen last night, he thanked this three kids. He had to be reminded that he actually had 4.

So, it should be interesting to see how other state elections pan out. Is it a case of encumbancy being an insurmountable advantage? Is it just that there is no talent in the state Liberal parties? And what (if any) implications does this have for the Federal election?

Lamb, anyone?

2006-09-08T21:17:00.000+10:00

10/10 for effort. 1/10 for feasibility study.
SMH Article here

The King is Dead

2006-09-08T21:11:00.000+10:00

The King of the Mountain, Peter Brock, died today. Unfortunately, he was a Holden driver, but nonetheless, a champion Aussie. At least he went out with a true race-drivers death (if thats any consolation). At age 61, thats a pretty good way to go - still racing at a relatively elite level. It seems that the accident was a case of not seeing the sudden curve 'till its way to late! And then he was dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun. Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning... car?

...And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell....

Work Choices penalties

2006-09-07T21:21:00.000+10:00

A group of workers at an Electrical company have been docked 1 weeks pay for refusing to work overtime for a certain period. As part of a Union-backed campaign to excert pressure on the company, all members stopped working overtime shifts. The company used what they claim were the provisions (actually, the requirements) in the WorkChoices act, to penalise the involved workers.

The government has referred the case to the Office of Workplace Services (their "watchdog"). But the Lawyers are gearing up for a big test-case in the courts, to see exactly what the extent of the legislation is.

This is another potential PR problem for the Government, and i'm hoping there will be good traction. If only the Tabloids weren't so biased, they would be all over this like a rash. Anyways, it should make for interesting politicking.

Bat III article in the Australian

2006-09-07T21:19:00.000+10:00

The Australian today had this article on Meat Loaf's upcoming Bat Out of Hell III.

Time for a Payrise

2006-09-06T19:59:00.000+10:00

...But only for politicians. Last night, the federal houses quietly voted themselves a 7% payrise. Naturally, there were no dissenting voices.

Ah well, someone has to do the tough jobs.

Snakes on a Plane

2006-09-03T18:40:00.000+10:00

The naming of the movie suits its perfectly. I don't mean the literal sense - obviously, its a movie about snakes on a plane. But as with the title, the movie doesn't mess around, and gets straight into a no-nonsense action flick.

It was nothing special. Fun brain candy. Its fun, but you have to block out any sense of logic. Clearly, the best way to take down a person on a plane is to pack a bunch of snakes into a box, with a small timed explosive that blows open the container, releasing snakes into the cargo hold. Oh, and don't forget to spray the flower garland things with pheremones that make the snakes randy as... well... rattlesnakes - and equally agro. It would have been a very short movie if the killers had smuggled on a couple of kilo's of C4 instead of snakes, and let the timed explosive do its work.

But apart from the glaring plot holes, it was a reasonably well executed, if formulaic action movie, with Samuel L. Jackson going doing his stuff (although at times, he seemed to be just going through the motions). CGI was pretty good, and I think they were intermixed with shots of real snakes.

Maybe i'm getting old, but i'm not sure that movie would have got an M rating 5 years ago (probably MA15+ - a fair bit of swearing, gore and nudity). Anyways, worth seeing to vege out on.

2.5/5

More WMD lies

2006-08-31T20:39:00.000+10:00

It was revealed by Dr. John Gee (a former Weapons Inspector with the Iraq Survey Group), that Downer deliberately supressed the circulation of a letter he wrote, stating that there were no WMD's in Iraq.

Dr. Gee resigned from the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) after what he believed was a flawed process that was "intellectually dishonest". He says that rather than going into Iraq to find if there were WMD's, the ISG was being pressured to substantiate the false claims of an imminent threat, upon which the invasion was based. He said the ISG was being run by the CIA, to protect the CIA. Upon resignation, Dr. Gee submitted a letter to Downer (as well as various foreign affairs and defence officials), outlining his concerns about the process. He also met Downer face-to-face to spell out what he saw wrong. He claims Downer supressed this, and cites information passed to him by several respected people involved.

It was interesting to see Lord Downer today in his usual paltry arrogant way, denying any knowledge of the communication... but when pressed, yes he remembers the meeting, but Dr. Gee raised some concerns about the 'process', which is now academic, since no WMD's were found. He denies stopping the circulation of the document to other departments, but was less than convincing.

This is classic Howard Government politics: supress what doesn't support your case, and deny it until the storm blows over. They have taken Ministerial responsibility to a new low, and apparently have no moral qualms about bare-faced lying at all.

Stem Cells

2006-08-31T20:32:00.000+10:00

After lauding Howard for allowing a conscience vote on Stem Cell research, he has today released another government commissioned study stating that there should be no further liberalisation of Stem Cell research. It would appear that he has been "shopping around" for a suitable report to further his case, thus attempting to influence an open and honest debate.

To quote one of his own, Liberal MP Mal Washer said (paraphrased)
"Whilst this isn't Cash for Comments, it certainly smacks of something like it"
This is Howard, the two-faced master manipulator at his best.

Jihad Jack

2006-08-31T20:21:00.000+10:00

Well, apparently after being acquitted from terrorism charges, Jack Thomas has now been the first person to be served a Control Order - a new instrument available to Federal Police created at the last round of "anti-terror" law changes.

He was recalled from holidays early, and must observe, amongst other things, a nightime curfew. He also has a list of people he can't contact, including several dead people, several people in Guantanamo Bay, and wait for it... Osama Bin Laden.

This would be funny except the Feds are serious about it. I would have thought they should encourage him to call Osama, since it might help capture him? The Magistrate who handed down the control order has criticised the federal police for bringing him back from the holiday, and for this farcical list of people he can't contact.

It seems the control order really achieves nothing that surveillance couldn't, and ensures that *if* this man is a terrorist, the police would not be able to leverage any contacts he tries to make.

A cartoon worth 1000 essays

2006-08-29T11:56:00.000+10:00

Wilcox has done a beauty with this one: sums up so many situations so succinctly.
Image here

Stem Cell Debate

2006-08-25T09:58:00.000+10:00

Full credit to Howard for allowing a conscience vote, athough I suspect it was more political pragmatism than any believe that there should be an open debate about the issue.

One thing that is clear is that Abbott is both a Zealot and a moron. Human/Animal Hybrids? Clones taking over the world? He should be ashamed using his dogmatic beliefs to bring ridiculous claims to what should be a sober and serious debate. The facts are: we are a talking about 100 cells of unfertlised embryo. 100 Cells. You brush more of that off your arm when you take as shower. There is NO potential for that 100 cells to become a human life.

Second point: the embryo's that will be used are going to be thrown out any way. Apparently, the Catholic/Conservative position is that these embryo's should die in with dignity, not be destroyed. Dignity? These are lumps of 100 cells, not a human being!?! And even if you consider them life, how is dying in a dustbin dignified? The arguments put by the "against" position don't seem to stack up logically.

The slippery-slope argument perhaps has some merit - that once we begin playing around with embryo's and the like, there is a potential for the science to grow into cloning humans, or at least certain characteristics. However, if I applied the same logic to many things... say, guns - humans should never be allowed to used guns since there is a "slippery slope" to murder. We shouldn't use chemicals for anything, since thats justa "slippery slope" to poisons. We shouldn't have a beer, because thats a "slippery slope" to alcoholism. All technology is potentially a "slippery slope" to bad things. Our whole society is build around extracting value from what we have, whilst using societal expectations and laws to control the negative potential of technology. This argument just doesn't stack up.

I saw this article by Jillian Abbott (a relation, perhaps?). As far as I can tell, her argument is purely syntactic. Does it matter if its called cloning? Does it matter if it IS cloning? The point is, we are NOT cloning human beings. We talking about cloning cells. Cells clone continously - thats how they grow.

It comes down to a position i've put forward frequenty. If your beliefs prevent you from using the technology, don't use it. Don't individuals theological convictions onto the whole population. Jillian Abbott makes reference to "fanatical pro-abortionists". There is no fanatical "pro" position, since the pro position allows, but doesn't force a particular option. Nobody says you HAVE to donate your embryos, or HAVE to use the technology. The only if there is fantacism in the debate it comes from the "anti-" camp, since they prohibit the option. "Pro-" allows people to choose what they believe to be the best decision according to their circumstances an beliefs. "Anti-" proscribes one set of values and beliefs on everyone. Which is the more fanatical approach?

I would love to hear any thoughts on the matter, especially if someone can present a logical and considered "Against-" position. Click on "comments"

2005 MTV Awards

2006-08-23T20:51:00.000+10:00

...had this little skit. No Jack Black, unfortunately, but anything that references Star Wars is good by me!

Police Sign

2006-08-22T20:57:00.001+10:00

The police tell it straight. Note, it's an Ford XR8.

Weird

2006-08-22T18:11:00.000+10:00

I found this on the Triple M Website. Hmmm... very weird.

2006 Engo Review

2006-08-19T13:53:00.000+10:00

V is for Vic Bitter
Well... what can I say: it was the Engo Revue. And unfortunately, it seems to get less funny each year. Don't get me wrong, there were highlights, such as "80's guys" version of "American Pie" - a tribute to all things 80's. The band was pretty good (but the sound mixing was waaaay off). First time i've seen actual female nudity (although I suspect it was a slip-up, and the girl just grinned and bared it. Heckling was of not bad (but not great).

Actually, the highlight for me was the new venue - at Manning. It was more cozy and more fitting for an Engo Revue. Seriously, the Seymour is just too highbrow - and when they start ejecting hecklers - that just ruins the show.

Anyways, i've done my service to the arts, attending all 5 Engo revues while I was at uni. I can graduate a happy man.

We still love you, Seloni!

The Chaser at it again

2006-08-18T14:23:00.000+10:00

Awesome work from the Chaser: They've booked flights under the names Mr. Al Kyder and Mr. Terry Wrist. The best part was when they didn't show up for boarding, and Virgin Blue paged passengers Al-Qaeda and Terrorist to board! SMH Article here. It seems they make the news every week now!

States initiative on Greenhouse Gasses

2006-08-16T16:48:00.000+10:00

The state governments are preparing a discussion paper with the aim to introduce a national scheme of Greenhouse Gas capping and trading.

Under the scheme, businesses will have an allocated quota of Greenhouse emmissions. Hefty fines will apply if companies exceed their quota. Spare credits, for underpoluting companies can be traded on the free market.

I think this makes sense - it used the free economy to control greenhouse emissions. It makes greenhouse pollution a "scare resource" and lets the market take care of the rest.

The Federal Government has come out saying that it will cripple the economy and costs jobs. This is based on some recommendations from an organisation that looks at the economics of the greenhouse problem. They quote statistics such as if we try and 1/2 greenhouse emissions by 2050, we will send electricity bills 6x their current rate.

Unfortunately, this organisation (the name eludes me, but it is an acronym), allows companies to "donate" their way onto the board. Primary board members include Texaco, MobileExxon, Rio Tinto and Australian Coal. Hrm... i wonder if these results might just be a little tainted.

Nonetheless, the Government doesn't want to do anything to tackle the Greenhouse problem. They are willing to let future generations pay the health and lifestyle cost so that they can continue their massive budget surplusses. The "conservative" side of Government is incapable of showing real leadership (I mean long term planning, not simply hard-headedness). This attitude keeps Australia from investing properly in its future, because future investment doesn't reap rewards today. And therefore, not at the ballot box.

Well said

2006-08-16T07:58:00.000+10:00

Chuck 'em all out, I say.

Week in politics

2006-08-11T20:13:00.000+10:00

REVOLT!!!

For the first time in the 10year history of the Howard Government, there have been 3 members crossing the floor and voting with Labor against the government's bill to excise the whole of Australia from the migration zone. This proves that there is still some heart left in this government, although its fading.

Now, if Sen. Judith Troeth crosses the floor in the Senate, the Government will need the vote of Sen. Fielding (Family First) to push it through. Fielding has had a meeting with Howard, the Indonesian Ambassador AND one of the West Papuan Asylum seekers. I admire Bruce Baird (one of the "dissident" liberal) in his statement if that "Family First" means anything, they cannot vote for a bill that splits up families and/or places them in indefinite detention in an overseas country where we have no say over the conditions and laws that govern their existence. Indeed this is a great fob-off of responsbility. The other "wildcard" is Barnaby Joyce, who has also resevered his decision. I like that guy, if only that he brings a bit of unpredictability and brinksmanship to the Senate.

Just to restate my point: People don't jump onto leaky boats and take a dangerous trip to Australia because they want to make life difficult for Australians. Nobody puts themselves and their families at such personal risk, unless they are very, very desperate.

In other exciting news, there was a fantastic stouch betweeen "Bomber" Beazly and "Ironbar" Wilson Tuckey. The upshot was the Beazly describe the legislation as "Weak and Worthless", then told Tuckey to take his "Weak and Worthless self" back into the building. Tuckey came within millimetres of calling Beazly a Son of a Bitch, but pulled back, calling him a "Fat so-and-so". Great theatrics.

Great bumper sticker

2006-08-11T10:36:00.000+10:00

On my 11.5km walk to Uni yesterday, I saw a car with the bumper sticker:
Is that the truth, or did you read that in the Telegraph .

I thought that was quite good.

Just on that, here is my list of journalists who regularly make claims that are so obviously biased that they don't even make any sense.

1. Miranda Devine (Fairfax)
2. Janet Albrechtsen (Newscorp)
3. Piers Ackerman
4. Andrew Bolt

Miranda Devine takes top place, for attacking any claims that humans are rapidly and drastically changing the environment. According to her, its all a big myth perpetrated by green-facists.

The War on Everything

2006-08-07T09:22:00.000+10:00

Remember that Highschool dude who hugged the PM last week, whilst holding a screwdriver? The Chaser decided to test the PM's security and what they'd let get away. Oversized novelty Axe: that was ok. Running chainsaw.... hrm... not so good.

Those people who play the violin in restaurants and serenade couples...? Well, why just a violin? The Chaser team decided to field test different musical instruments... starting with a Kazoo, and ending with a full 4 piece bagpiper ensemble complete with drummer.

Also, see the surprise spruiker get thrown out of Sexpo, as well as the regular segment "What we learnt from Current Affairs shows this week", all about the ethics of ethnics.

See the highlights, or download the video podcast!

www.abc.net.au/chaser

New Holden Commodore

2006-08-02T17:06:00.000+10:00

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but the SMH has been running nearly blanket coverage on the new Holden Commodore - with articles nearly every day. In fact, in the general media, the Commodore has been getting excellent press - free advertising. A few weeks ago, even the 7.30 report ran an article on it!!

Why doesn't the Ford Falcon get such favourite treatment?

My gripe of the day.

Meat Loaf, Steinman and Bat III

2006-08-02T07:39:00.000+10:00

Meat Loaf has made up with Steinman about the rights to the "Bat out of Hell" Copyright, and has publically acknowledged Steinman's contribution to his success. (SMH Article here). This clears the air for the third and final "Bat" album, due out in October. Steinman has written several songs on the album, so I'm defininetly looking forward to it.

Howard Stays put

2006-07-31T16:59:00.000+10:00

We all knew it was coming - there was NO way that Howard was going to stand down after the events of the last few weeks. I actually feel very sorry for Costello - the entire nation was against him rising to the Primeministership.

No really - the Opposition called for Howard to stay (publically, at least - privately they would have preferred Costello), the Labor Premiers all had a love-in for Howard, all but about 30 people in the Liberal party wanted Howard, the Greens wanted Howard (don't know why?!)... and the general population seem to want him to stay.

Even the young people seem to want to hug him (albeit with a screwdriver in hand). Just on that, though - i'm beginning to suspect that the hand of the insidious Young Liberals were in on the youth love-in for Howard during his week in Sydney and his birthday. It was invaluable footage to have 15 and 16 yr olds hugging the PM on the national nightly news.

Oh well, Beazely and Howard again. This probably won't be as colourful an election as last time, but if Labor can get the buts into gear, the have the IR legislation in their favour and economic conditions have neutralised the "low interest" campaign of the government. The "better economic managers" campaign is not yet neutralised, but with some cleve tactics, Labor could conceivably leverage the advantage here too. In the mean time, Beazely needs to pray that no terrorist organisation attacks Australia (or any nearby country).

Tim Blair - conservative blogger

2006-07-26T21:59:00.000+10:00

http://timblair.net/ is the blog of Tim Blair, a "conservative". I disagree with him, but respect his opinion. However, reading the comments he attracts including "lets rid Bankstown and Lakemba of terrorists"... and other racist and bigoted commentary is a worry - particularly considering that most older conservatives probably wouldn't be familiar with blogging, meaning that this is the younger generation talking like this.

Related to this, I heard today an interview on "Conversations with Richard Fidler" (702AM ABC Sydney, 11am), with Mr. Hyde-Parkes - a former Liberal self described "party hack", who exposed the kind of antagonism and bigotry that exists within the party's right. He says that often the extreme bigoted statements start off as a bit of childish "look at me, I can draw attention by saying stupid things"... but due to the insular world of political parties, and the types of agenda driven loners it often attracts... these extreme childish statements work their way into a personal truth for these people.

Tommorrow, Tim Blair will be on "Conversations, with Richard Fidler", although I'm not sure I'll have a chance to listen.

I respect that people have a different view. The problem I have is with those who have a very simiplistic world view, who frown on intellectual and rational discussion and who do not think through consequences beyond their convictions. An example is the belief of many "conservatives" that Australia is a "white country" and arabs are the cause of crime. Lets not forget that the vast bulk of criminals are "white" in Australia.

Israel digging its own hole

2006-07-24T20:31:00.000+10:00

400 Lebanese people have been killed in acts of Israeli war. Mostly civilians. I heard a commentator make an interesting poing: Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself in the way it has... but has it stopped to think if it should?

Hezbollah is organising hundreds of shelters for those lebanese who have had their homes flattened in indiscriminate bombing - it seems Israel knocks out a whole neighbourhood if they think one building might be housing one "enemy". If thats not terrorism, I don't know what is. Further, they have killed and maimed whole families drivin between villages, by bombing their car. Hezbollah have positioned themselves to offer humanitarian aid to the lebanese. They have set up mass shelters in schools. And the people now feel a debt to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah will rise to a new strength though Israels actions - they now have hundreds of willing supporters and sympathisers who would have otherwise stayed away from such terrorist groups. I saw a 10 year old sitting next to his wounded cousin - who was 12... and saying that 1000's of Israeli's must die. That Hezbollah would save them. What look like middle-class women are fronting the camera saying Hezbollah has and will protect them.

When with Israel (and the US - who gave them a blank cheque and continue to arm them) realise that they have succeeded in breeding a new generation of people who will believe that Israel has no right to exist. Israel creates enemies, then wonders why it is attacked. The American (and to a less extend, Australian) press use sanitised military terms when describing Israel's actions such as "campaign" and "operation" and "enemy targets" to mask to indiscriminate killing they are wreaking - yet when the Terrorists kill indiscriminately, it is an attack on out "way of life".

ANother good point raised by a commentator (i can't remember who) - was that in falling in lockstep with everything Bush has doesn, Australia has devalued our standing in the international community. Rather than being able to negotiate on our own terms, and put forward our own views (eg, to Israel about their conduct), we are now treated as insignificant, since our position is invariably the same as America's. Howard has suceeded in destroying this countries voice and respect in the global community, by failing to uphold and enhance our own identity: rather providing a faint echo to the moronic tones of Dubya.

A big shout out...

2006-07-22T22:29:00.000+10:00

to Mr. N.T! Interested in selling fast-moving-consumer-goods? Kanjas is the way!

Lord Vader: Dayshift manager

2006-07-22T18:50:00.000+10:00

Thought your boss was tough? ... gold from YouTube.

No more purchased degrees

2006-07-21T08:59:00.000+10:00

The ALP has announced that it will abolish full fee University places.

I think this is a great idea: the Australian education system is designed to give opportunity and support to the best and brightest - it is a critical instrument in maintaining our egalitarian society. We should be proud of a system where it is your ability that decides what you are able to do - not the size of your daddy's wallet.

The full-fee places was implemented by the Howard Government in 1996, and essentially allows people to buy their way in over other students: students who have higher teriary entry scores. This, I believe, fundamentally opposes what our education system should be about. Its great to see Labor taking a stand for true Australian values, and they have announced they will boost funding and drive down HECS fees for in-demand professions. This is the true long term way of dealing with a skills crisis - something that the Libs can't get their heads around.

In a related matter, it has been reported on 4 Corners, that the Young Liberals are being stacked with extreme right-wing idiots. They apparently went to the NUS conference and chanted over speakers, with racists, sexist and homophobic messages. They say they are racists, homophobic and sexists, and proud of it - they also believe they will "always rule over everything". People: these are the next batch of Liberal politicians. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

40 zones near schools

2006-07-13T21:35:00.000+10:00

I have a gripe with the 40 zones around schools. I reckon its a stupid rule, that nobody follows anyway. Yes, I can see where it may be practical in small streets around schools that aren't close to major arterials, but where they plonk a 40 zone on a major street - its really gets my goat.

I cite one example: Sunnyholt Road in Blacktown. Sunnyholt road is a major dual-carriageway, and is normally zoned at 70. THere is a 40 zone outside Blacktown Public. NOBODY slows down to 40, and people start honking if you do.

As far as I'm concerned, a car is bigger than me, its heavier than me, and its faster than me. So I look out for the car, and stay out of its way. Not the other way around. And the sooner school children learn this, the better. THere is plenty of signage and there are traffic lights. So as far as I'm concerned, if you are run over, most of the time, its your own damn fault.

We stress the importance of careful driving so much, but what about people taking responsiblity as pedestrians. CHECK the road, before crossing, if you have a green walk sign. Don't assume the driver has seen you. Simple things like that.

People say kids are not as road aware, and this is true; but we should not be sheltering people (including parents) from their responsibilities. I think there is too little responsbility on the individual today - its always someone else's fault. And this is just another manifestation.

Besides, even if there are a few accidents, we'd just be improving the gene pool :p

Israel

2006-07-13T21:11:00.000+10:00

I'm going to throw a bomb into the room (hrm, perhaps poorly worded), but I think Israels behaviour is tantamount to terrorism, and they can claim no higher moral ground than Al-Qaeda.

Earlier this week, a soldier was kidnapped. There response was swift and deadly. Indeed, they succeeded in killing many insurgents, but they also targeted and destroyed the major Power Station in Gaza - effectively cutting off electricity for the whole area. Lets be very clear about this: this is a deliberate attack on civilian infrastructure.

Yesterday, several Israeli soldiers were killed at a checkpoint, and two more kidnapped, ostentatiously (i've no idea what that means, but it sounds cool) by Hezbollah, who are based in Lebanon and backed by Syria. Today, Israel destroyed the Beirut airport. Again, a deliberate civilian target. IN fact, there is a group of 16-18 year olds from an Australian dance company who are stuck there, because both major runways have been destroyed.

My point is this: Israels actions fuel the popular support of the terrorist movement - moderates who may have previously been opposed to terrorism are pushed further and further to extremes with such attacks. I cite an example of when a few months ago, Israels attacked a beach in Gaza, killing a 9 year old girl on a family picnic. Do you think the parents are going to denounce an attack on the people who killed their little girl? Israel has also taken to flying supersonic jets above cities, to create sonic booms. These are designed purely to terrorise the population (although they claim its a more humane way of carrying out war). THere was reports of a flood of pregnant women miscarrying because of the sonic booms.

Also, getting back to the issue of Lebanon - the first thing that the Lebanese government did was to deny any involvement in the acts. THey said it was done purely by Hezbollah (a terrorist organisation). Now, apparently the Lebanese government doesn't have much power over such radical groups - particurly since it was only a few years ago that the Syrian occupation left. Nonethless, Israel say that it was an attack by Lebanon (as a country) and therefore has declared war on Lebanon. Thus, they strike with impunity at civilian targets. As far as I can see, this is a little like whe Germany declared war on Poland - any excuse will do.

I by no means believe that what Hezbollah or Al Qaeda or Hamas do is acceptable. But Israel retaliates in exactly the same manner - they behave like terrorists, only with better weaponry. I would expect that Israel, as a developed country, to be able to take more mature stance. THeir behaviour simply makes the terrorist's cause more appealing to people, as they suffer greater and greater personal tradegies at the hands of what would seem to them to be a ruthless agressor.

I don't know the solution to the problems of the Middle East - but i know that what Israel is doing isn't it. Whilst Israel continues to behave like a mass terrorist organisation, they will only make it more and more difficult for themselves.

This post was supposed to be provocative: I look forward to comments, outraged or otherwise

The great man turns 90

2006-07-11T20:13:00.000+10:00

...Happy Birthday Gough!

A truly towering figure in Australian politics, this man paved the way for the equitable and egalitarian society we have enjoyed - this man have a vision for a fair Australia, where education was a right for all - and your sucess depended on your ability and effort - not on your Daddy's bank account.

Modern conservatism has torn down much of the equalising institutions of Australia, but one day, a Whitlam Mk II will arrive and deliver us.

Happy birthday, sir. And Thank You.