Archive for July, 2010

Date: July 27th, 2010
Cate: Energy, Politics

Credit where credit is due

It’s important to criticise governments and keep them accountable. It is also important to recognise when they have done good.

The Victorian Government’s Climate Change White Paper is one of these cases.

Victoria now leads Australia in terms of Climate Change policy and action. Whilst it could always go further, the massive increase in renewable energy investment and the decommissioning of Hazelwood are both long over due.

In many ways the efficiency measures outlined, while a little weaker, are probably more important because the issue is not where we get our energy from, but how much we use.

Whilst I support Victoria (and Australia, and the world) running on 100% renewable energy, those that expect this to happen immediately are probably being a little naive. To turn off Hazelwood tomorrow would mean power shortages across the state – something we’d all be pretty frustrated with. We need to reduce out energy demands as quickly as possible and start the switch on renewables as quickly as possible, but this takes time.

And time is the thing we’ve squandered the most.

As for criticism that Brumby has exposed Gillard, I desperately hope it means that she will have to finally take some action.

For the record, in principle, a consensus on climate change is a really good idea. But a “citizen’s assembly” will do absolutely nothing to build a consensus.

What we need is leadership which is what is missing.

Date: July 26th, 2010
Cate: Cycling, Entertainment, Goonanism Websites, Politics, Sommelier.net.au
2 msgs

The week that was

Yesterday afternoon I took myself off to see Inception. I won’t say anything about the film – it’s the sort of film that it is best to go into with few expectations. I do urge to you see it at the earliest convenience though. It is truly incredible – a game changer – one of the best films I’ve seen in a very long time.

I can’t remember the last time I walk out of a film thinking: ‘that changes everything’. The Matrix? Maybe.

Whatever the case, it was a 2 and a half hour film that I didn’t want to end and will probably go and see again while it is playing at the cinema – something I never do.

I rushed home from the cinema to catch the leader’s debate. The contrast could not have been more stark. Moving from something so exciting, so engaging to the most uninspiring, pedestrian leader’s debate I can remember. The only loser in the debate was the Australian public. Does that mean that both leader’s lost?

Waleed Aly said early on in the piece that this election was about nothing. My immediate reaction was ‘oh, about nothing is a bit harsh, it’s about… it’s about… it’s about’.

He’s right and that is really depressing. I’ve never been this disenfranchised with Australia’s political process.

Given our leaders inability to provide me with anything even vaguely resembling intellectual stimulation, I’ve turned to podcasts in a big way. My regular cycling commute has become full of thought provoking material which I’m loving. The podcasts I’m currently loving include:

  • The Bugle (funny and informative)
  • In Our Time (probably haven’t bonded with this one as much as others)
  • NPR: Fresh Air Podcast
  • NPR: Wait, Wait… Don’t tell me (a quiz show that keeps you up to date with news as well)
  • ZDNet: Patch Monday (fully of tech goodness – and Australian!)
  • Tank Riot (too me a little bit of listening to start enjoying but now I’m hooked)
  • This American Life (my favourite – just so interesting)
  • WNYC’s Radio Lab (shorter episodes and very interesting)

Feel free to share your thoughts on podcasts below. Any recommendations?

While riding in to work this morning, listening to a podcast, there was an interesting confrontation on the road. A scooter rider was going a long in the bike lane. This really bothers me. It’s illegal ($50 fine – no demerit points) and dangerous. As a motorcyclist I would never ride in the cycling lane. I knew how much it bothered me when I was cycling and I actually think that it is a much more dangerous thing to do than ‘lane split’. You should always avoid passing on the left… especially when there isn’t actually a lane there as it is the last place a car will look as any cyclist can attest to.

Anyway, on this particular morning a cyclist decided to take issue with the man on the scooter… to the point where he actually tried to push the guy off his scooter. I’m not one for the ‘cyclists-should-behave-well-so-that-cars-are-nice-to-us’ types. I’m all for cyclists being assertive, but this was just going too far.

This week I started doing website support for Prosper Australia (including support for Earth Sharing). I can’t see it being too much work but it’s a bit of fun as they are eager to implement some good changes and it’s always nice when you’re doing some work for someone eager for change that has faith that you can just get it done for them. It also means getting stuck into Pordpress themes and plugins which is something I really enjoy as the API is fantastic.

Unfortunately though, that work meant that I couldn’t get the changes to Sommelier.net.au done that I would have liked to. A few upgrades are coming though and I’ve got a good sense of the next couple of improvements which I’m looking forward to overhauling.

21 weeks to go.

Date: July 23rd, 2010
Cate: This Blog
4 msgs

New look

As you will have noticed by now, this blog has a new look.

I hope you like it. The old template was getting pretty old and I think this one is very neat and easy on the eye. Thanks to MUKI space for making a great template.

What you may not have noticed is that I also have a new home page.

Feel free to leave a comment hear and tell me what you think.

I had started work on a portfolio section of the site but wasn’t happy with it so decided to just get the new site up there without the portfolio. The portfolio will come with time.

I’ve also decided to start using tags.

(PS it seems access to my site is a bit patchy at the moment. It’s BlueHost’s fault. They are aware of the issue and are apparently working on it. For what it is worth, it’s not just my site playing up, it’s everyone’s site on this server.

Date: July 19th, 2010
Cate: Politics
3 msgs

There’s an Election on!?!

(here’s my first mandatory election post, please excuse me, I’m quite jet lagged.)

A little help from Indexed
(an informative graphic from Indexed).

As we all know, 3 weeks ago Julia the Great became leader of the Labor Party. At the time I experienced the familiar wave of excitement I experience every time we get a new leader of the Labor Party. I become so full of hope and optimism. She’s from the Left, she’s done the hard yards, has important links to the Union movement and is Australia’s first female prime minister. How could this go wrong?

This time I really tried to ‘curb my enthusiasm’. I reminded myself of the ongoing disappointment that the Labor Party has left me with and that I’m sure to be disappointed again, but I can’t help myself, I got a little excited. I was even telling some German friends that I met up with how Gillard’s rise was great for Australia. I rushed to revise my position a few days later though as the policies rolled out: we will still be getting an Internet filter; an increasingly inhumane approach to asylum seekers; a absurd population policy; poor response to Climate Change and so on.

I began to get that other familiar feeling… betrayal.

At times I’ve heard myself say: ‘If Malcolm Turnbul was leader of the opposition I would consider putting the Libs above the ALP on my ballot paper’. That’s utter crap of course. Whilst I’m attracted to the progressive liberalism of the Liberal Party’s ‘Wet’ faction, the reality is that with the Libs in power there will be less spending on Health and Education, not to mention a further regression of Industrial Relations. My comment is really intended to point out that there isn’t much difference between the two major parties.

So how can I support a party that conforms to the popularist crap that the ALP does? I can’t. The problem is, that unless the ALP does conform to said popularist crap then they won’t be re-elected, which means having Abbott as PM which means I’m leaving the country (actually, I’ll be doing that anyway, but I’ll blame Abbott if I can).

Being the inner-city intellectual type, I’ve actually got a pretty good local (ALP) member (Kevin Thompson). There’s another dilemma: if the ALP lose Thompson there will be one less moderating voice in the ALP.

So once again, I’ll be voting Green’s this election and I’d encourage you to do the same. Not because I’m a particularly big fan of the Greens, I actually think they are conservative on a few issues, but because they are the party that most closely represent my views. In fact they are often the only ones that speak with any sense.

I’m depressed.

(On a slightly more encouraging note, it is good news for all that the Greens and the ALP have done a preference deal. I may also have a small crush on Bob Brown.)