Thinking about risk and swine flu
The misallocation of attention and resources on rare but spectacular risks, to the detriment of dealing with mundane but far more lethal ones, is something I’ve personally commented on more than once; our skewed psychology of risk is still not [...]
Why swine flu and why now?
Is it a sign of the apocalypse? Or even a new phenomenon? Mike Davis thinks not: But what matters more (especially given the continued threat of H5N1) is the larger configuration: the WHO’s failed pandemic strategy, the further decline of [...]
Loy Yang Power buys carbon offsets
Here’s an interesting sign of things to come. Loy Yang Power has bought 100 000 Certified Emissions Reductions in a pre-emptive strike on regulation of the electricity market under the CPRS. Two points worth making: this is a drop in [...]
The Monthly, Robert Manne and Sally Warhaft
There’s some very good coverage in Crikey today of the dispute which led to the resignation of Sally Warhaft as editor of The Monthly. Jonathan Green traces the ins and outs of the argument – which came to a crux, [...]
Richard Pratt and the great and the good
Richard Pratt has passed away. As we saw with Kerry Packer, an enormous media effort has gone into memorialising him. Typically, billionnaires, tycoons and magnates are lauded for their contributions as philanthropists. There seems to be a slight reluctance to [...]
Rudd sides with the bigots
Crossposted from No Right Turn Whenever I look at Australian politics, I’m constantly reminded that the Australian Labor Party is neither as progressive or liberal as its New Zealand equivalent. I’ve had another such reminder today, with Kevin Rudd categorically [...]
Sick seas 1: acidifying oceans
Please note the title says acidifying oceans not acid oceans as the oceans are still alkaline, not acid. They are acidifying in the same sense that boiling water cools but is still hot. Since pre-industrial times the oceans have acidified [...]
BrisCulture: Creative Brisbane
A lot of my academic and consultancy work at the moment is focused on online urbanism, distributed knowledge and urban creativity. I’m loath to use the term ‘action research’ loosely, but this form of public sociology is really impossible to [...]
A good news story about public hospitals and public healthcare
Last week I had surgery as a public patient in a public hospital in NSW. I’ve lived to tell the tale.
Energy. It's NOT JUST what you dig out of the ground?
LP Reports, Policy makers listen! By way of a follow up to this post, I attended an ‘Energy White Paper Consultation’ workshop and can report that the Dept of RET facilitator stated that “the composition of the High Level Consultative [...]
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