I’m a troublemaker sometimes
Cameron Reilly’s done a podcast followup to his Age article encouraging people to “get off the bench”. Listening to it reminded me of something I once wrote: “Every person has the potential to create a great work of art; to work for the benefit of humanity; to become a spokesman or a great leader; to ... [More]
I can’t say I’m going to go quit my job (not even for six months), but it does remind me of why I do the extra-curricular stuff I do, and why I’m always on the lookout to learn new things and try and make a difference.
If you’re worried about climate change, and the glacial (!) rate government is addressing it… and you’re in Melbourne, try this: on Sunday morning the Bayside Climate Change Group are getting together people for a human sign on Sandringham beach at 10am, to say “HALT CLIMATE CHANGE NOW!” (I’m assuming the team co-ordinating don’t all ... [More]
The great thing about election day is you can exercise your right to democracy, and have a sausage too. Daniel’s election day sausage tally: 2. PS. Sunday night. Result probably what most people expected. Interesting to see that the ALP misinformation worked — some people were asking Greens helpers if they were preferencing Libs. (They ... [More]
What I’m pondering for this Saturday’s state election is who am I going to put last? It’s not like a Federal byelection, when every man and his dog decides to run. No, in my district there isn’t a huge assortment of weird and wacky parties, nor are there any independents. All you’ve got are ALP ... [More]
The streets were closed to traffic, the barricades went up. Yes, the Bentleigh festival was on again. But 15km away from the sausage sizzles, roaming families, showbags and Humphrey B Bear, some streets in central Melbourne were blocked-off for the third day, for the G20 meeting. Hearing about the violence in Collins Street on Saturday, ... [More]
Rosa Lee Long, Queensland’s only sitting One Nation MP, was returned in her seat of Tablelands in the Queensland state election on Saturday. I only mention this because she’s actually a distant (non-blood) relative of mine. On the Chinese side of my family there are a mass of Lee Long family members, and I understand ... [More]
The Howard government is doing it again. It’s just like the republic debate all over again. Back then it was not Do you want a republic, it was Do you want a republic with a Prez replacing Her Maj and the GG, appointed by a two-thirds majority of parliament. This time the energy inquiry being ... [More]
My bloody car is still playing up, despite a service the other week that included an astronomically expensive ultrasound on the fuel injection! Given that that was prompted by reporting the same fault it’s still suffering, what are my statutory rights here? Anyway it’s been at the service place since last night (so they can ... [More]
According to a sticker left on the glass partition of a now dis-used office at work, “Mountain cattlemen care for the high country.” The other week I was chatting to a friend about the issue of the Victorian Government banning livestock grazing from the Alpine National Park. Apparently the image of the mountain cattlemen — ... [More]
Goodnight and Good Luck — A dramatised version of the campaign against Joe McCarthy by 50’s CBS programme See It Now, but with so many modern parallels in today’s climate of terrorism, fundamentalism, secrecy and censorship. Beautifully shot, and compelling. My eyes didn’t waver from the screen for the full 90 minutes. On a couple ... [More]
I look down my street, and wonder how this exists elsewhere in my country: (From The Age: ‘Chicken coop’ village fights to shed despair) Successive governments have let things get this bad. Please Mr Costello, don’t give me a tax cut, use the money to fix this and other problems of poverty in our society.