Adrian,
Rancilio Silvia. The only coffee machine worth buying at that price. Makes great coffee and will last forever if treated right…

Adieu

Nonetheless, the ratio of crap to fantastic seems very high to me..

90% of everything always was crap. The problem is knowing which 90%. My wife likes watching what I regard as crap but who am I to say. Go into any news agent and there are hundreds of magazines for any taste. I think most (99%) are crap but I like computer, electronic and model railway mags which I am sure most (99%) others would find a complete waste of time as well. Same with movies - even within our our family there are huge differences in taste.

So I am with Mao-Con @ 72. Only doubled.

(1) If you have received a baby bonus & bought a BIG TV w/it you’re probably irresponsible. Unless you’re rich or financially comfortable & can fulfil all your child’s needs whilst using the bonus to keep companies rolling in the doe…then you’re lucky. Thank goodness for means-testing. And TARGETED ASSISTANCE.

I might add, I’ve been a critic of the baby bonus, or at least the lump sum aspect, for quite some time. Yes, I warned on numerous occasions over the years, as a few other did, that the Libs were using wily tactics to enslave the Aussie population for corporations & their mates.

This included: Howard promoting the idea that leaving school after year 10 might be a good idea; working alongside a MEDIA CAMPAIGN/TSUNAMI to ensure Peter Costello/The Nation’s kids kept coming; permitting, by slack regulation & other devious measures, credit card companies in cooperation w/ big retailers to act like SIRENS & draw new families into the shipwreck of debt; working in tandem w/ certain State polies/property developers, the mainstream media (ads, house/flat auction & restoration shows etc.), providing targeted tax cuts to assist certain investors & real estate companies, allowing banks/finance companies to irresponsibly suck in vulnerable home owners to take out further massive loans in order to be fooled by well-connected and unscrupulous financial advisors to purchase investment homes they really couldn’t afford, & adjustments to the First Home Owner’s Grant…all to drive up the cost of a HOME & in turn lead to a furthering of the DEBT BURDEN…a Manitou that will sit & feed on the back of many Australian thruout their miserable lives & will lead, as I warned, to an addiction to cheap crappy fast food, toxic goods/toys & marriage breakdowns, child abuse/neglect & heaps of STANKIN’ PROFIT for the perpetrators of this CON. I’ve seen it all before.

(2) We didn’t fall into that TRAP. We can’t have kids anyway. And we were content to stay in our modest, wee HOME in Logan City…regardless of the dopey, ignorant, somewhat racist & discriminatory “Why on that side of the tracks/highway?” comments we had to put up w/ from those now DEEPLY IN-DEBTED – because the rates are lower, the area is nice, we don’t listen to HYPE & my wife’s work is close hence less petrol use).

My wife teaches younguns & tries to help the families & students who are now feeling the PAIN, somewhat thanks to the deceitful campaigns of the Libs & the Corporate media…hopefully some corporate-based bloggers/journos – those who sit awkwardly under the limelight of ABC TV exposure & mumble like someone possessed and obsessed w/ the need to speak ancient languages such as CRAPOLA & in turn bring chuckles from confused/embarrassed audience members by the use of inane, stating the bleeding obvious asides - will take the time to REFLECT on their support for the ways of King John…& as collaborators might consider the SUFFERING that is HAPPENING to many families & worse to come…& attempt to redeem themselves by not taking a

“I’m smarter than the average Arthur or Martha & they deserve what they get, greedy bast*rds”

approach, as they so often do in their moments of GRANDIOSE justification & moral certitude…but rather realising how INTENSE & UNRELENTING the “HAVE KIDS & BUY BUY BUY” campaign was & in turn, attempt to right some wrongs.

(3) Consequently, we could JUST afford the plasma TV. But we decided not to go to the movies or rent out DVDs on a regular basis or go on a trip overseas in order to pay it off…& considering how we have just paid off a new bed that doesn’t feel like it has rocks underneath (which lasted 11 years)…& some Christmas gifts we bought for our friends & family…whilst still paying down our rather minor mortgage (minor amount owing compared to those who were fooled into selling their compact, not as perfectly located, but still filled w/ love & plenty of effort HOME in order to buy a McMansion)…and have barely paid a pretty penny in interest on our plastic card…& still manage to give to charities & such on a regular basis & keep our animal mates fed & in good health…and keep Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Packer & Telstra happy enuff by subscribing to Foxtel (which fails & collapses far too much for my likings)…I think we can safely say that purchasing said PLASMA/HD TV after our last one went green & no matter how many companies I rang not a soul could be bothered coming out to repair it (as is so often the way in the LAND OF SOD THE OLD BUY NEW NEW NEW from Asia thnx to the luv of & wisdom of King John & Associates) we decided after mucho research to purchase a new one. And we’re happy w/ it.

(4) We watch The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, World Movies, Scrubs, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Inspector Frost & other murder mysteries, Farscape (which failed to record by way of IQ last time…grrr), Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, various shows on Animal Planet, certain CNN & BBC World News shows, UKTV including re-runs of The Office, Ab Fab, The IT Crowd & episodes of Doc Martin, Dr. Who & other shows that we missed on the ABC…the list goes on.

There are heaps of good shows on. And many are also shown on the ABC, SBS. But try watching Lost, Battlestar Galactica, the finale of Fraser, the American version of ‘The Office’ & plenty of other shows on ad-ridden free-to-air TV & tell me the constant time-shifting, sudden dropping of shows, sitting thru IN YER FACE ads, addition of interrupting banners, logos & Lotto numbers doesn’t drive you to distraction & put yer blood pressure thru the roof.

I’m not a fan of Murdoch world in general, as some on here know, but I reckon he & his lot were on top of the PAY-TV thing. But now the movie/TV show DOWNLOADS are coming…& soon, hopefully, a more efficient internet system (thanx for nuthin’ Libs) and access to tech systems that can be added to your TV to play the HD/digital downloads, I’m passing on any more CHANGES/PURCHASES/SUBSCRIPTIONS until I know EXACTLY what’s going to be available.

Hint Hint Mr. Communication’s Minister. What’s the future…what’s clean & green enuff?

Mind you, I’d love a coffee machine. What sort have you got?

Well one of the delights of Western culture is that self-righteous twats like you have whole new forums in which to behave like self-righteous twats.

It’s difficult to briefly dismantle how much crappitude was packed into your previous comments. However here’s one quick observation.

“Wouldn’t it be better to make some stuff worth watching first?”

There’s shitloads of great stuff out there worth watching. Why can’t you find it? Too dumb to work out how Google, Amazon, Powells, Limewire, etc, etc works? Or even too dumb to go into a retail outlet and hand them cash for the sale or rental of a DVD?

Anyone sitting in front of their TV complaining that broadcast TV is shit, obviously hasn’t grasped that you get what you pay for with free to air these days.

So what do I love…
I love a beautiful, warm house, lovely fabrics, bamboo, my espresso machine (hard to use without power, but that’s what I’d use my carbon budget for, though I might have to beg for the beans), my bike, etc. etc.

I guess I’ve been shaping my desires to fit in with a low carbon future for so long, I’ve forgotten how to be a good capitalist and just SPEND dammit! I still have the reflex action, but it is atrophying fast.

Happy everyone? Anyone?

They’re only silly if you haven’t paid yer other bills off & haven’t budgeted appropriately. Over-use of plastic is just DUMB. Plasma TVs work if you do the research & have spent many years watching mini TVs & suddenly realise after nigh on 50 years that it would be nice to relax at home & play some of the DVDS available for rental…& the foreign, sci-fi & animal shows ya luv…and be able to see the three lovely lasses in parliament behind Anthony Albanese in widescreen. Sweet.

Yaz, the films worth watching have been made. It’s getting access to them that is the thing.

I can think of a good use for flush toilets. To clean up catty spew.

I like the click click noises that some bush people make. Remember the cyberpunk series ‘Otherland’? If only we had wings like wee monkeys? Do we have a Felix Jongleur & The Other? Mebbe if they disappeared we’d all turn GREEN & CLEAN.

Yaz, despite favouring the rich etc our Western justice systems aren’t too bad, the education and health systems are fairly admirable in their coverage …. come on, I’m sure you can think of a few things you like … variety, if nothing else.

But the noble savage thing? Don’t bushpeople of the Kalahari work four hours a day to survive compared to our 10 or so. Maybe not so smart…

Yaz, you might claim to be an optimist, but that’s a very pessimistic way of viewing ‘western culture’!

I’m not going to argue that “heart disease, obesity etc” aren’t nasty by-products of a pro-development, free-market, consumer society. But frankly, focussing on the negatives whilst ignoring all the positives is a pessimistic mindset. The positives in ‘western culture’ absolutely swamp the negatives. To paraphrase Churchill - western culture is the worst form of society apart from all the others.

Yes - there is something romantic about the ‘noble savage’ paradigm - washing our clothes in the river and all that. But the reality of subsistance living is a long way from the ideal.

Cheer up and enjoy what you’ve got - there are billions of people on this planet who envy our way of life.

Where’s the supply coming from? You know, like actual projects, with numbers and things.

I’ll leave you with an economist joke:

Two economists find themselves locked in a basement. They’re not sure what time it is, because it’s dark and they can’t read their watches. They think it’s nearly dinner time, cause they’re starting to feel hungry. But they’re not worried; they are not starting to panic - because they know that their demand will create sandwiches for them!

I’ve looked at the estimates for all the oil and gas meagprojects currently in the pipeline…

goto 42

It could also be saying increase supply.

Sure, its screaming !CONSERVE OIL!, !INCREASE SUPPLY! and !SUBSTITUTE OIL! all at the same time. I would contend that only one of those things is possible in the short term (conservation) and two in the medium to long term (conservation and substitution).

Now I know its heresy to suggest that supply won’t increase with prices so high (after all the roosters should stay laying soon) but I cannot see how. I’ve looked at the estimates for all the oil and gas meagprojects currently in the pipeline, the production forecasts for tar sands, CTL, shale and biofuels, and I don’t see how we’re going to increase production fast enough to offset declines in the big mature fields.

the oil market is screaming !SUBSTITUTE OIL!

It could also be saying increase supply. Part of the problem is that when oil was $10 there was little incentive to look for more and build the required refining infrastructure. There has also been a lot of opposition to building new refining capacity and looking for oil (eg ANWAR and US coast) over the last 20 years and this is now starting to bite us in the arse (and as a result will soon change). Very similar to our current water problems and the refusal to build new dams etc. Engineers have been warning us for years that this will eventually cause probs but it looks like we need a bit of hardship every now and then to remind us.
Just the other day I read that excess electricity capacity in the US is now close to the point where brownouts and blackouts will become increasingly common. Exactly the same problem - NIMBYism and the green movement have meant that all these problems have been put into the too hard basket by governments for decades now ( a good resaon for *not* relying on gov’t for much at all ) and will bite us all hard. However there are pretty obvious signs that this is changing - nuclear very much back on the agenda for instance.

I’m so glad that Ansett collapsed and with it the government duopoly and annual Christmas strike by their cosseted employees. Absolutely no sympathy there.

I really don’t see why we can’t decarbonize our electricity first with a mix of nuclear, wind and solar (emphasis on nuclear) and gradually introduce electric cars etc.

But there’s the catch. Its transportation that’s utterly dependent on an increasingly expensive resource. The price signal from the oil market is screaming !SUBSTITUTE OIL! but we ain’t got one, especially for aviation. For electricity generation there is no pressing (economic) need to substitute our current source of energy (coal) apart from climate change, which will require government intervention.

So yes, from a climate change perspective, it makes a lot of sense to decarbonize electricity generation first, and transportation later. But unfortunately, peak oil has reared its ugly head, and is giving us a very strong price signal that we need decarbonize transportation first.

So in the end, we have no option but to conserve oil, and we will conserve by the market making it very, very expensive.

The problem with this is that - at least as I see it (eg Monbiot) - it assumes that all sectors of the carbon producing economy must reduce their footprint more or less equally. This can’t and won’t happen. It is quite likely that air transportation will be one of the last to decarbonize. To insist that all sectors must do their share - by force if necessary - will lead directly to the situation where we will in fact all (at least the few who survive) be washing our clothes down by the river.

I really don’t see why we can’t decarbonize our electricity first with a mix of nuclear, wind and solar (emphasis on nuclear) and gradually introduce electric cars etc.

My main worry with all this is the mass hysteria that is being whipped up. This will always lead to bad outcomes. We are already being ‘warned’ that democracy itself may have to be put on hold, the remaining private oil companies need to be nationalized or their ‘excess profits’ expropriated (never mind that their investment decisions may have been made based on these exact circumstances) or their CEOs locked up for spreading false information. This isn’t healthy.

Laura - I agree with you wrt to buying “stuff”, but travel, especially overseas travel for those of us fairly geographically isloated in Australia is an important part of a broad education.

I agree wholeheartedly. I really, really, REALLY don’t want to give up overseas travel, but unfortunately flying is monumentally damaging to the environment. I can emit more carbon in 24 hours of flying, than I can in a year of driving. That’s the inconvenient (and extremely depressing) truth.

Air travel is also uniquely exposed to the price of oil. There are alternatives to car travel (rail, bus etc), but there’s no alternative to jet fuel that’s remotely feasible for the foreseeable future (cue hydrogen plane and bio-jetfuel links from the “optimists”). Flying has to become very, very expensive, and we will all be flying less, and possibly flying slower, in more efficient turboprops.

I agree Chris…as I do w/ much that Laura says…but it’s easier to stay at home & write poetry/novels, paint, garden, reduce your carbon footprint if you have planned it out w/ your partner…&/or have inherited wealth.

Hermits are good at it.

I’m one of the fortunate ones, upon retirement from the education sector, I see myself as working for my wife & our future. Doing the accounts/bills, cleaning(use your imagination, it’s endless), feeding the animals, recycling, gardening/watering/planting/trimming/mowing, making shopping/recipe lists, cleaning/maintaining the computers, researching & gathering/downloading entertainment/educational tools, washing clothes/putting them away, some cooking & preparation, herbal tea for when she gets home, making essential phone calls, emailing family & friends, participating in paid surveys, contributing to blogs, helping out w/ people in need if the situation arises…the list goes on & on…

and in the process she can participate intensely in the career she loves…and in turn, feel she has a secure, well run home to come home to. Consequently, we use less petrol. And don’t need to hire a gardener (tho we do have a collection company for waste, Greencycle), nor hire a cook, or eat out heaps…tho i guess some might say that means we create less jobs. I see it as moderation. It works for us. A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

There’s no requirement for every human to follow the same path. Some decide not to have kids, or may have no choice, but rather spend a great deal of time educating children. Or looking after animal needs. Or assisting others w/ mobility challenges. Or helping farmers deliver the fruit & veges required for children to grow healthy, well-rounded & wise. Or all of the above. Some decide to remain alone…& write children’s books…or invent toys…or safety gadgets. Everyone can contribute to the growth of children, regardless of whether they have kids or not. The same can be said for reducing your carbon footprint. Different reduction strategies for different folks.

Here’s a controversial thought in this STRAIGHT era, war on everything days…perhaps medical marijuana can be handy…if approved seeds are given to grow a coupla plants at home & the doctor recommends it. Why should ill people feel the need to travel & use petrol if they could grow a couple of plants that help them w/ pain reduction? Seems bloody wasteful to me. It’s not my scene due to asthma & neurons that fire up in weird ways sometimes…but I’ve seen people who benefit from it during my trip around the world. We have to start thinking wider. Not be blocked by foolish religious fanatics, oil barons, doctors & researchers working for Big Pharma & all those media & politicians who benefit from MORAL PANIC & FEAR/DISTORTION campaigns. Who often chuff themselves in secret…or have.
Certainly dope has its problems & negative side effects. But so do Big Pharma drugs. And they can end up using more water & energy to produce.

Would be nice to travel again in the future…shame there are so many earthquakes and such in the Indonesian region…a Chunnel woulda been handy. I hope people don’t get put off ferries ’cause of the tragic Philippine incident. The ferries that run from the UK to Europe and so on are very handy.

I’d luv to take a low carbon trip to China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia & many other places, take photos, make a doco, write poems, or keep a journal…perhaps they’ll be maglev trains, and mega-sail boats & zeppelins & heaps of bike tracks, solar vehicles and other marvellous energy-saving transportation devices available oneday so we can make that trip from Australia? And a bridge or such that crosses from Australia to our closest neighbour.

Who knows?

After a lengthy period in the home, you feel the need to spread your wings…meet & share stories with the other humans who share our DNA…& see for real the homes & lives of those other species we share this planet with. The armchair imperialist escapes the couch & computer seat & travels to distant lands. Sounds great. Maybe some journos should do same…;)