Just a few notes about the council elections, which officially take place on Saturday (though many areas are postal ballots, thus a lot of people have already voted). A fascinating article in The Age the other day with former Glen Eira mayor Helen Whiteside saying she wonders why people bother trying to get onto the ... [More]
Category: Politics and activism
I’m a troublemaker sometimes
It’s local council election time again. Candidates have been prominent around the streets of Bentleigh, and at least one billboard has popped-up, nicely located so you can see it as you come down this street: I haven’t decided who to vote for yet. Oscar Lobo, pictured above, is running again, and was one of those ... [More]
Because I’m interested in politics, I make it my practice to follow various politicians on Twitter, whether I agree with them or not, including all the local ones I can find. My local federal MP Andrew Robb would have to have the single most relentlessly negative Twitter feed of any of them. Here’s all his ... [More]
As if disrupted trains weren’t enough, now we have Metro apostrophe crimes. (from Channel 10 news 25/6/2012: Commute derailed) Metro was already having a bad Monday morning peak with the inner part of the Sandringham line suspended due to a maintenance train derailing overnight. Things didn’t improve when at about 7:15 the outer section of ... [More]
The first Tuesday of May is Victorian State Budget day. On Budget day, journalists and some interest groups (well, those that have the resources) attend the Budget Lockup, where from about midday to the 3pm public release, they get to peruse the budget papers, but can’t communicate what they find with the outside world. They ... [More]
These anonymous flyers appear to have popped up overnight (at least I didn’t spot them yesterday) around Bentleigh station. (Note another similar pink one in the background on the small pole opposite.) I might note that since the 2010 timetable was introduced (and the tweaks in 2011), the morning commute is slower, but I for ... [More]
Categories
Crime and punishment
The barber the other day was having a rant about crime (as well as a number of other issues), and claimed that white-collar criminals almost always get caught (specifically, he reckoned they get caught 95% of the time), but muggers and others who commit crimes against the person almost never get caught (he reckoned 95% ... [More]
This might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but there was some fascinating reading on economics and politics in last week’s media, and since I have nothing else for you, here it is in my blog: Bernard Keane on Access Economics’ poor record on forecasts: Then there was Access’s early 2009 warning that it would ... [More]
This billboard is still on display up high above Flinders Street, opposite the station, roughly across from the centre entrance*. It seems to refer to the 20% emissions reduction by 2020 pledged last year by Labor, and matched by the Coalition, though some say there are indications the Coalition will drop the target. Perhaps it’s ... [More]
New for June… a Lego house with solar panels on the roof. Here’s a few thoughts on the carbon scheme announced yesterday: 1. I simply don’t understand how the deniers can continue to be taken seriously by anybody when the vast majority of climate scientists agree there’s a problem that needs to be fixed. It ... [More]
But solution of our problems involves hard cash. Of this, at present, public transport is getting less and less. … (Minister for Transport) Mr Wilcox emphasises that Government action depends largely on public demand. If such demands are not made funds go elsewhere. He says that while the motor car owner readily provides funds for ... [More]
Glen Mount Waverley MP Michael Gidley got into a scrap with some ALP campaign workers on Wednesday outside Parliament Station. On exiting the station, I received a brochure from an individual. I then sought advice from authorised officers at the station on the distribution of this information because I do not believe it is appropriate ... [More]