Archive for February, 2008

Policy ditchings

Published
by
Robert Merkel
2 years ago
in Climate change, Developing world, Energy, Environment, Howardia, International, Nuclear and Politics
. 16 Comments

Tim Dunlop notes that the Coalition has quietly ditched its support for nuclear power in Australia – sort of.

The new policy does not explicitly oppose nuclear-generated electricity, but goes close. The Coalition will no longer advocate nuclear power, recognising that its introduction would only be possible with bipartisan political support and widespread community support.

Tim’s a little bit disappointed they didn’t stick to their guns. Guy Beres (formerly of Polemica is quite contemptuous of the politics of the ditching:

The message from the Coalition seems to be that they are interested in investigating the possibility of nuclear energy, but no, of course they would never actually pursue the development of a nuclear power industry in this country. No, sir. They are just interested in investigating it. Unless of course, the Rudd Government decides to embrace nuclear power, in which case they would be happy to hop on board for the ride

Continue reading ‘Policy ditchings’

Nominate

Published
by
suz
2 years ago
in Government
. 12 Comments

You can nominate yourself or nominate others for the Summit. Let’s see the blogosphere (especially the women) represented! You’ve got till 5pm today.

What would Obama mean to Oz?

Published
by
Robert Merkel
2 years ago
in International, Levity and USA
. 51 Comments

In amongst the truly flabbergasting stupidity that is a Greg Sheridan column, (the one Mercurius mentioned earlier) there is one vaguely interesting observation: Obama’s allegedly left-wing advisers mean that Obama will be bad for Australia, because they have

…led Obama into protectionism, he campaigns against Clinton because her husband passed the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Continue reading ‘What would Obama mean to Oz?’

If you have to say it…

Published
by
Mercurius
2 years ago
in Foreign policy and Media
. 16 Comments

…then it probably isn’t true, right?

I don’t know what else could explain this monograph which appears alongside Greg Sheridan’s columns at The Oz:

Greg Sheridan is the most influential foreign affairs commentator in Australia.

Technically this is true. I suppose the marketing people jazzed it up from the first draft – ‘Greg Sheridan is the only foreign affairs commentator in Australia.’

But that shouldn’t deter us from pondering Mr Sheridan’s influence behind Australia’s signing of Kyoto, the dismantling of the Pacific Solution, the impending Iraq withdrawal and our recognition of Kosovo.

Perhaps Mr Sheridan’s influence can best be seen at work in the timing and venue of the former foreign minister’s luncheon appointments.

Nevertheless, the future looks bleak for Mr Sheridan’s influence. As I depart for San Francisco in two days’ time, he stands to lose fully 20% of his readership.

In the months to come, I hope to bring LP readers some up-close views of US education policies. So, until my next missive from across the Pacific, may I bid you farewell from the nicest, gentlest, most sweet-tempered education commentator in the Southern Hemisphere.

Kev’s gabfest: No women allowed (unless you’re a Hollywood star)

Published
by
Darlene
2 years ago
in Feminism, Government and Levity
. 46 Comments

stonecutters_song_1.jpg

Picture: Kev’s gabfest

So Kev’s gabfest aka “Let’s have a barbie and discuss important stuff, mate” is going to be mostly led by blokes. Of course, it should be mentioned that Aussie “everywoman” Cate Blanchett is also going to be one of the leaders, and she’ll probably ensure the event makes it into the pages of Woman’s Day (“Shock! Cate cheats on husband with bunch of blokes”). Anyway, Kev might’ve had the following quotes in mind when it was decided who’d be the “2020″ leaders:

Now, I know you’re a feminist, and I think that’s adorable, but this is grown-up time and I’m the man. – Peter Griffin (Family Guy)

Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn’t, it’s that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such and such. – Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)

“Steve, this comes from years of experience: Women are never right.” – Stan Smith (American Dad)

Help us fix the blog

Published
by
Mark
2 years ago
in Culture and Notices
. 59 Comments

As part of some changes in the near future for LP, we’ll be getting some professional web techies to give the architecture of the site a good going over. Hopefully that should fix some slow loading times we’re intermittently suffering from. But also I think there are still a lot of bugs in the system related to functionality and appearance. This is your chance to help us iron them out – so if there’s anything awry that you’ve noticed, please leave a comment here. It’s really helpful if you can also add what operating system and browser you’re using.

The US yields ground on climate change – but has it?

Published
by
Brian
2 years ago
in Climate change
. 32 Comments

The Financial Times has reported that the US has given ground on emissions targets:

The US appeared to take a step forward on the talks for a successor to the Kyoto protocol on climate change on Monday by saying it would agree to binding targets for reducing emissions.

This is more than a little curious. While the US had long pushed the line that countries should make up their own targets, at Bali they accepted that targets should be specified, but not until the round of negotiations had been completed. That is, in Copenhagen in December 2009. To do so at the outset, as the EU wanted, would predetermine the outcomes of the discussions, they said.

Continue reading ‘The US yields ground on climate change – but has it?’

Australia 1919

Published
by
Mark
2 years ago
in Culture, Ethics, Government, Health, Policy, Politics and Sociology
. 104 Comments

I write this with chardonnay in hand.

Is the 2020 summit going to be a chance for every participant to push their own agenda? Will the suggestions that rise to the top, like bubbles in beer, be those which are the basest populism? Will they be the ones that make the front page of the metropolitan tabloids? Consider (as Paul Kelly might say), this intervention from The Reverend Tim Costello (which was duly splashed on the Courier-Mail’s front page today):

Mr Rudd indicated he was willing to consider Mr Costello’s comments that bars were too numerous and opening hours should be reduced.

Summit supremo (and PM) Kevin Rudd also says:

“I don’t have a whole lot of science to back it up.

“But let me tell you as I roll around the country, mums and dads are raising this with me in the supermarkets of the nation on a regular basis.

“What I see happening around the streets myself is a problem.”

Presumably our Kev isn’t rolling out the barrels. So much for “evidence-based policy”. As Richard Farmer pointed out in Crikey this week, “There has been virtually no increase in per capita alcohol income over the last decade”. But, as Bernard Keane remarked, “everyone loves a moral panic”. Continue reading ‘Australia 1919′

Non-denial denials from Nick Minchin

Published
by
Robert Merkel
2 years ago
in Howardia, Policy and War
. 39 Comments

While the comparative merits of various war toys are great fun for wannabe Biggles types, the most substantive allegation of mismanagement against the Howard government’s decision to purchase the $6.6 billion squadron of Super Hornets was that no proper purchasing procedure was followed – something Labor mentioned repeatedly during the election campaign.

Now that he’s in government and presumably has access to the bureaucrats who supported that decision – if not the Cabinet proceedings where the decision was taken – Minister of Defence Joel Fitzgibbon repeated that allegation on Lateline two nights ago:
Continue reading ‘Non-denial denials from Nick Minchin’

The Right’s ragged retreat

Published
by
Paul Norton
2 years ago
in Federal Elections, Howardia, Media and Politics
. 149 Comments

“A defeated army learns quickly,” so the saying goes, “but only if it realises that it has been defeated.”

The evidence of today’s morning broadsheets suggests that some battalions of Australia’s intellectual Right are learning faster than others.

In the Opposition Organ, Tony Abbott’s sock puppet, in the course of a snarky column on Robert Manne’s edited collection Dear Mr Rudd, repeats the tired line that last year’s Federal election represented some kind of Culture War victory for the Right. The OO editorial is virtually identical in substance and style.

Writing in The Age, John Roskam of the Institute for Public Affairs takes quite a different view. According to Roskam, the Liberal defeat of 24 November has become a rout:
Continue reading ‘The Right’s ragged retreat’

Non-violence

Published
by
Kim
2 years ago
in Books, Writers & Writing and Sociology
. 50 Comments

There’s a fascinating interview with prominent American sociologist Randall Collins online at the Chronicle of Higher Ed – about his new book, Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory. Collins argues that we have a predisposition against violence:

To make his case that we have no talent for violence, Collins adduces evidence ranging from the low casualty rates in most Greek and Roman battles to photographs documenting how few people in “violent” crowds on the West Bank are actually wreaking havoc. (Modern photojournalism has opened doors for this subfield of sociology, he argues.) He also includes his own voyeuristic accounts of confrontations on the streets of Philadelphia and other American cities, which tend to confirm that most showdowns peter out at the bluster stage.

…

He also has few kind words for the reigning evolutionary-psychological interpretation of violence, which sees it as a holdover from a long prehistory in which men competed ruthlessly for status and mates. Collins does not reject biology but cites a different Darwinian drive: the human desire to form social bonds. A visceral aversion to throwing a punch, even if the recipient richly deserves it, he writes, “is the evolutionary price we pay for civilization.”

It’s unfair!… says small business

Published
by
Mark
2 years ago
in Howardia, Industrial Relations, Law and Politics
. 46 Comments

Predictably, perhaps, the government’s move to reinstate unfair dismissal protections for employees in organisations with less than 100 staff is copping flak from small business reps (and lawyers who might reasonably be thought to be engaged in special pleading, since the intent of the changes is to make the process less legalistic).

Never mind the fact that there will be a twelve month probation period before the provisions apply, and that they won’t apply where there are less then fifteen employees. “Red tape!”, “uncertainty!”, “inflexibility!” are the cries. Julia Gillard and Craig Emerson are actually trying to make things easier for bosses – by removing lawyers from the process (as in the Queensland jurisdiction) to cut down costs and facilitate access, and by proposing a code for employers’ guidance. But the sticking point is apparently the suggestion that employees should be warned and given explicit details of what is lacking in their performance.

There’s something more going on here than meets the eye. Continue reading ‘It’s unfair!… says small business’

He’s no Seven of Nine

Published
by
Mark
2 years ago
in Film, TV, Video etc, Media, Politics and Queensland
. 24 Comments

I’ve got a feeling I’m actually responsible for dubbing Queensland Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg “The Borg”. Interesting that he’s run with it – showing off t-shirts last week at UQ O-Week emblazoned “The Borg is Back in 09″. If that’s the image he wants to present, I have a feeling he hasn’t actually watched a lot of Star Trek. Unless the Queensland Nats stand for relentless assimilation of all that exists to a hivemind. On the other hand…

I’m not the first, though, to remark that he’s running a Kevin07 style campaign, though I’d disagree with Courier-Mail columnist Margaret Lawson that style without substance is politically effective. After all, Lawrence did the ironing in a towel stunt last time around, and had the fridge magnets, but of course was dumped by his own party in effect after losing a second successive election.

Lawrence Springborg represents a new generation of Queensland leaders with youth, energy and fresh ideas on his side.

And what are these fresh ideas? Continue reading ‘He’s no Seven of Nine’

Hatassery in Brisbane

Published
by
Paul Norton
2 years ago
in Authoritarianism, Levity, Queensland, Religion, Security and Transport
. 17 Comments

In July 2006 I struck a small blow for freedom at Brisbane Airport.

At the security gate, after depositing the contents of my pockets on the conveyor belt, I was asked to remove my beret for a security check. This was the first time such a request had been made, and no such procedure had been in place on the previous occasions post 9-11 when I had flown from or to Brisbane.

I stood my ground and refused. The security staff eventually allowed me through and one of them applied the metal detector wand to the beret, even as it remained securely on my head. I then proceeded to the departure lounge, boarded the plane to Melbourne and completed the remainder of the journey without incident.

This episode satisfied me that it is not necessary for Brisbane Airport security to require all passengers to remove hats or headwear, because the wand can be used. Nonetheless, the company responsible for Brisbane Airport security continues to obsess about passengers’ headwear. According to the Courier-Mail:
Continue reading ‘Hatassery in Brisbane’

Nightclubs, capsicum spray, and statistics

Published
by
Robert Merkel
2 years ago
in Crime, Law and Melbourne
. 45 Comments

Wonder no longer whether the Victorian police are using more capsicum spray (as speculated on earlier). According to an Age report on violence in Melbourne’s CBD, its use has become increasingly routine:

Police Association assistant secretary Inspector Bruce McKenzie said the force was under siege and increasingly forced to use capsicum spray to quell brawls in the city.

“As far as capsicum spray goes, I don’t know what our members ever did without it, because we use gallons of the stuff,” Mr McKenzie said.

Continue reading ‘Nightclubs, capsicum spray, and statistics’