News and current affairs
Can it be the end of the year already? I know there have been a few tumultuous events this year – the passing of Elizabeth II, the awful war in Ukraine, and both Federal and State elections. But for me it’s felt like a bit of a nothing year. A holding pattern. COVID retreated a ... [More]
TL;DR: I’m moving my focus off Twitter, onto Mastodon and FB. Everyone who uses Twitter is likely to have their own view on this… Twitter has been really good. A critical mass of interesting people, organisations, breaking news and everyday experiences. But the new owner seems determined to make it his personal plaything, and ruin ... [More]
Happy end of lockdown, Melbourne! On a related note: Last week Texan Republican senator Ted Cruz weighed into the news that the NT government will mandate vaccines for public-facing workers: I heard similar sentiments from an Australian recently, in the context of Victoria’s vaccine mandates for permitted/essential on-site workers. Here’s my view on this, if ... [More]
I had the washing machine going, so at 9:15am when I suddenly felt the house shaking, I thought it was the spin cycle going a bit crazy. But no… it was the first really big earthquake I’ve ever experienced – magnitude 5.9. I’ve felt tremors before, but this was longer and stronger by far. No ... [More]
A year ago today it all went off. The talk of theoretical disruptions from the COVID-19 virus became very real in Australia. I thought I’d look back over the past 12 months. Hopefully I haven’t messed up any of the chronology, but if so, please leave a comment. March 2020 It seemed sudden – cases ... [More]
Last week’s horrific Eastern Freeway crash, which killed four police officers, shocked all of us – even before we knew about the alleged execrable deeds of the Porsche driver. In tribute, flags have been flown at half-mast, and around Melbourne, many people placed blue ribbons on their front gates and fences. And a number of ... [More]
With all the talk of falling public transport patronage (some estimates have suggested it’s down 90%) and persistent (but unconfirmed) rumours of reduction of services to weekend levels, it’s worth remembering that capacity is only one aspect of service levels. Normally, trains trams and buses are often packed, but with patronage currently so low, passengers ... [More]
I said it last week, but this whole situation is surreal. At this point, there are 3,048 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around Australia. In the past week or two, the number has roughly doubled every 3-4 days. There’s a slight bit of relief for those of us in Victoria – the growth here is a ... [More]
Fires have ravaged south eastern Australia this summer. As I write this, cooler weather and even a little rain provided a few days of relief, but warmer weather is on the way. There’s much of the fire season still to come. 26 people are dead. 8.4 million hectares are believed to have burnt – figures ... [More]
Part of what makes Friday’s tragic events in Bourke Street so horrible is that it could have been any of us who got hit. One can only have the deepest sympathy for all those affected. I work on Bourke Street, and often go walking along it at lunchtime. On Friday I was on Spencer Street ... [More]