The obvious solution
Recently-arrested Megaupload king Kim Dotcom and the various copyright holders claiming losses of half a billion dollars have more in common than they realise. And they should meet in the middle to solve the internet war. Dotcom’s assets are valued at $175 000 000, according to news stories describing the luxury cars, the sprawling mansion, [...]
The dark side of the road
Sydney cabbie Adrian Neylan’s Cablog is always worth reading. Sometimes his experiences parallel my own, sometimes he just makes me extraglad I’m driving in Canberra, rather than Sydney. But he’s always readable. He talks about cyclists ignoring the road rules and he struck a chord with me. After kangaroos, cyclists are what I fear most [...]
Killing your own
What a pinup boy this fellow is. The elite special forces hunter. The kind of guy you want your government to have on hand to deal with the terrorists. The recruiter’s wet dream. And yet. This fellow slaughtered a hundred of his own people, sending a peaceful nation into shock and millions around the world [...]
Eternity waiting
Ok, we’ve all laughed at or felt sorry for Harold Camping, who predicted 200 million select Christian souls would be raptured up to heaven and the rest of humanity would have to endure earthquakes until our planet was finally destroyed later on in the year. He even predicted a precise time for the event. Timezone [...]
Make it bad
Australia is to have a carbon tax, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced yesterday, dumping an election promise to seek community input in favour of a committee made up of MPs holding the balance of power she needs to keep her minority government afloat. Julia Gillard is not the person to push through any scheme aimed [...]
Black is white
One of the reasons I got out of politics was that I couldn’t stand the lies. It was all fake and spin and dishonesty. Yeah, I know that’s how the game is played, but it wasn’t my style. I don’t support any particular party nowadays. So far as I’m concerned, few politicians are fit to [...]
Global warning
Here’s a hint. If the solution involves massive social control mechanisms in a liberal democracy, then it isn’t going to work. Some might dream of an elite Emissions Gestapo smiting the people they hate with fines and prison terms for using a Hummer to pick up the kiddies from school, but those daydreams are best kept for private consumption. Those sick fantasies are the way to produce a world that isn’t worth saving.
Changing the Constitution
I have no problems with our government using public resources on the neediest. Doctors for the sick, houses for the homeless, teachers for the children, jobs for the unemployed. That’s fine, that’s the way it should be. But allocating resources on the basis of ancestry – or the colour of your skin – is not something that sits well with me.
The ramming of the shears
Of course, my vote will have minimal effect. Through some shonky dealings over the years, the 350 000 residents of Canberra elect just four MPs, compared to Tasmania, where 325 000 voters return seventeen representatives. My vote will count for 0.001% of the total. It’s more a matter of making me feel that I’ve done my tiny best.
Rudd rage
And now we find that someone high up in the Rudd government – headed by a man notorious for making enemies and holding grudges over the decades, described as being “fuelled by rage” – has been leaking damaging information on the new Prime Minister during a crucial election campaign.