Our negligence has a long reach

We humans have a lot to answer for. This planet is a pretty special place and we manage to do some pretty amazing damage often by simply being to bloody lazy to take care of it.

Visit this chris jordan's site with photos from a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific ocean site for a truly awful view of just how we can manage to screw with our world out of sheer, mundane, ordinary stupidity.

I understand that to grow food, provide homes and get jobs for people we have to compromise the pristine nature of this planet. But this casual killing has no justification.

I wasnt being slack - I had a reason......

Just a quick note to anyone who might be wondering. I wasnt being (completely) slack and ignoring this blog. While I gave notice that I would likely be away for a week, that grew to three when unfortunately we had a death in the family.

But, thats done with now and time to move on - so I'm back and I promise to try and get back into stride bringing you even more interesting stuff in future.

I might be missing for a week

At four o clock tomorrow I head off skiing for a week. If the lodge has wifi then I'll still be in business. Of course, if it doesnt, well I'll see you all in a week.

A sad, sad day in sport

If it is true that Caster Semenya has an inter sex condition and has male sex organs contributing to her massive testosterone level then clearly she cannot compete as a female anymore.

This is a tragic outcome for this young lady and a sad day for anyone interested in sport.

Unfortunately the totally irrational reaction out of South Africa cannot overrule the only possible answer, she cannot compete as a female ever again.

one of the great problems with dividing the world into simply male and female is that you miss the reality that gender is not always as neatly defined as we would like to think. The reality is that the amazingly complex transition of a (sort of) female fetus to male is not always a smooth one and between male and female there exists a wide variety of stages. In 'real' life there is no reason, or justification, to discriminate against intersex persons. However, in sport I fear we must. To allow people like Caster to compete as a woman makes a mockery of the contest.

Anyway, I think a few South Africans need to do some research before they go shooting their mouths off again, as always wikipedia is a great place to start.

Finally, Australia gets an ambassador from the US

Its been a little odd here in Oz lately, something has been missing but we couldnt quite quite put our finger on what it was, well now we've remembered, is a US Ambassador!

Ok, perhaps that's a little extreme and in reality only those of us who pay attention to these things noticed but still it has felt weird not having an ambassador from the US for quite some time. But the announcement is made and we are getting Jeff Bleich, described as Obama's Superman by The Australian.

If you want to read more about the guy go to The Australian article - its ok.

In short, it appears we have got another political appointtee rather than a career diplomat - and that's fine by me, why?

• First, governments face great embarrassment if a political appointtee screws up, therefore they are usually extra careful to send someone how might not have the exact experience but will be extraordinarily competent.

• Second, political appointees usually have direct access to high levels of government (also usually often based on mutual friendships with leaders) providing a unique opportunity to the country receiving the politicians mate. And finally,

• Third, political appointees fall into two camps, the comfortable retirement and the career advancement. Appointments to the Vatican and the Holy Sea are a reward for years of hard toil and a chance to see out your final years. The people sent there are usually in their late 60's and this will be there last job. Jeff Bleich is just 48 and in the middle of what appears a glittering career, he's a man going places. I cant see him swanning about the outback for a few years before retiring, I expect him to be looking to make his mark by doing something special. Given we aren't hiding any illegal nukes and turn up to all the right parties always wearing the right clothes I'm guessing that "something special" will be nice.

Welcome Jeff, glad to have you on board.

my unwhite moment 1 - I hate Apple

I'm generally pretty white using the measures thought up by Christian Lander. After all, I'm suppose to love Apple products.

But today I've crossed the line and gone from not being a fan of Apple to actively disliking them as a company. Whats driven this? Well lets start with why I've never been excited by them in the first place. iPods, and more specifically iTunes. To be honest iTunes sucks - it is possibly one of the worst pieces of software I have ever used. As a music fan and photographer I've used dozens of different cataloging systems for music and images (frankly the issues are pretty much the same, locate the files, name them, group and grade them etc). And iTunes is the worst I've even had despoil my computer.

Everything is just so hard. Finding your files on the computer is hard, moving them is hard, editing them is hard (no I dont mean mucking with the music, just changing metadata like genre), its all a huge pain in the arse.

Which brings me to iPods. To start with they look cool, no denying that, but as a music player they are pretty average. Their sound quality is so so, their screens are pretty average and they certainly arent cheap. The user interface is an interesting one, some users absolutely love it, others arent so sure. I swing back and forth on this issue. When the iPod is out of its cover I'm a fan, but once you're exercising and that fancy little pressure sensitive disk is behind its protective screen it really really sucks.

So between iTunes and the iPod I was disposed to be deeply ambivalent towards Apple. Add the immense hype around the company and its aura of coolness and to be honest, ambivalence was always just a small step from mild antipathy.

But hypocrisy really pisses me off. Not to mention market manipulation designed to steal my money.

This brings us to the MacBook. Now I quite like these products. The Operating System is pretty cool, they are easy to use, secure and these days have decent third party software support. When recently considering a switch across from PC to Apple I was really close to jumping.

But.

MacBooks are by any measure massively overpriced duds. Lets look at the basic model, the simple 13inch MacBook. Right now Apple will sell you one of these for near enough to $1600 Australian. Now, lets be fair and guess that the OS isnt free, but then again looking at the overall pack price of the desktops (which arent bad value btw) it isnt that pricey so lets assume that the OS "costs" - say - $200.

So that means Apple wants me to pay $1400 Australian for a 13 inch laptop with a 2.13 GHz processor, 2 Gb ram, a tiny 160 Gb hard drive and an Nivedia 9400 M graphics card.

What a rip off.

But worse, this plucky little battler of company, out to help the little guy, the friendly company not like those bastards at Microsoft then take legal action to make sure I cant avoid being ripped off.

Where is the Mac clone. If I can buy a 13 inch HP with better processors, more memory, better graphics, bigger drive etc for less than half the price of the Mac that will run Vista or 7 why cant I buy one to run Snow Leopard.

Because Apple sucks and Steve Jobs is an arsehole - thats why.

Sandilands - idiot or truly an arsehole? Either way, the first FAWN.

Kyle Sandlilands is back in the news again, this time for making a crack about Magda Szubanski not really being that thin and how going to a concentration camp would slim her down (I reckon she's done great - read about it here). This is wrong for so, so many reasons.

One, if you are going to make a crack about concentration camps you really want to have some greater social comment that a celebrity weight loss idea.

Two, Szubanski's Polish heritage makes this a particularly sensitive issue (I suppose we should at last be thankful she's not Jewish - she isnt is she?).

Three, it wasnt that funny. It might not be right, but the truth is we'll forgive offensive remarks if they actually make us laugh but Kyle hasnt been able to do that for years - if ever.

But for me the questions are:

a) is this guy really really dumb who just doesnt get it or just an arsehole who really does get it and goes ahead with this crap anyway?

b) how idiotic are we? After all we made this guy a star!

I dont know the answer to either of these questions but I've decided I'm creating a new class of celebrities, the FAWN, Fucking Arseholes I Wont Name. I'll not mention this cretin by name again. Instead on my blog he will forever just be known as FAWN1.

(I suspect I might get ot a pretty big number of FAWNs one day)

PS - I understand how hard Magda has fought this one - I need to achieve pretty much the same thing.

Losing weight got harder - I'm injured.

Ok, the latest installment of my fight with fat - to see where it started go here. Well losing weight just got a little harder. One of the problems with being fat and over 40 is that you are also prone to more injuries.

This one was embarrassingly ordinary. I went out for a gentle kick around with a soccer ball with mates at work, overstretched a touch and strained a groin muscle - how dumb. Well now I'm hobbling around like a really old man and have to be careful about staying still too long or it gets used to being in one place and it kills to move.

Still, I've got on the ride and refuse to get off - I can still swim. So I started swimming yesterday.

All in all swimming is a crap exercise for losing weight, at least when you first start. Why? Because to lose weight you need to lift your heart rate and keep it high for some time. When you first start swimming this is virtually impossible as your arms and shoulders will simply run out of power well before your heart is working hard enough. That's whats happening to me. Yesterday I squeezed out 400 meters, and I could only do that as 8x50 meter swims. Today I stretched that to 500 meters, a 100m plus another 8x50 meter swims.

This is killing me emotionally, you see I used to swim competitively as a kid and I wasn't bad. At my best I was swimming around the mid 23 seconds for a 50 freestyle. Today the fastest I could manage was 1 minute 10 seconds. That's nearly 17 seconds slower than I used to do a 100m!

Well, its just another thing that's going to have to change. If you are interested in my progress, have tips or questions feel free to comment.

My news sources.

There are two quality 'broadsheet' newspapers in Australia, The Australian (run by news limited) and The Age (with a sister the Sydney Morning Herald - run by Fairfax).

Now as a soft leftie, I should be loving the The Age, it is, after all renowned for being a bit of a soft leftie newspaper. I should also be hating the Australian, if its not enough that its a pretty right wing publication, one also has to deal with its being published by the son of Satan himself, Rupert Murdoch.

And yet I tend to read the Australian - why?

Basically its because its columnists are better. Yes there are some execrable ones like Janet Albrechtsen, Australias Anne Coulter (perhaps the most horrid journalist on the planet - and at Fox thats saying something) wannabe. But there are so many other really, really good ones. That doesnt mean I agree, I often dont. I tend to think Greg Sheridan, for example, tends to look for the Liberal Party advantage a little to often and also falls prey to the Great Man theory of history. But still, I like to read his, and other people I disagree with because, frankly, its well written and engaging.

Over at The Age there are a couple of really good writers like Michelle Grattan and Tim Colebatch but far, far too much dross. In fact, I sometimes think that I'd read the The Age more if there was less I agreed with and more that challenged me.

So there you go Fairfax, my stab at why you are struggling. In order to shore up your base, you are actually just boring us and forcing us away. Surprise us, challenge us and we will come back - because God knows we want to escape Rupert.

Australia takes one step closer to being what it should be

Today in Australia the government finally took away the punitive measure of actually charging asylum seekers for the pleasure of being detained in mandatory detention as covered here in The Age, in abolishing asylum seeker debt.

This measure was never about recouping the cost of detention, it was about making sure that people that tried to escape horrible places that were sent home would never be able return. You see, having a debt to the Commonwealth makes it impossible to apply for a visa. So imagine your kids got accepted as legitimate refugees but you got knocked back, then you got sent home with a quarter of a million dollar debt and could never return to see them.

That wasn't an accident - that was the entire aim of the plan.

It was evil and we are a better country with it gone.

Blogging 101 - avoid drop offs

Just checked my stats on Google analytics and one lesson is absolutely clear. In the absence of a huge, committed following its absolutely essential a 'young' blog just get stuff out there pretty much every day.

A couple of days away and suddenly three days in a row with 0 views. Lets face it, I doubt anyone starts one of these things actually hoping no one pays attention so that's not good.

So thing to note for young players (of which I am one) - always post.

My fight with fat - a personal thread

A slightly different, and pretty personal, thread to start today.

A week or so ago I just felt bad, nothing specific, just kind of off. Anyway, I went to bed, still feeling off and just couldnt sleep. A couple of times through the night I found myself feeling sick, like my stomach was being squeezed and its contents forced back up my throat.

Well I know what was causing it now. I'm fat.

You know, its kind of creeps up on us. I know my clothe's dont fit properly and I know I avoid beaches and things but ultimately I can hide from all that by buying bigger clothes and telling myself I dont really like the beach anyway but this, this I cant escape. When lying down and trying to sleep leaves me feeling ill, well thats pretty hard to avoid.

So what counts as fat then? Well the morning after this night I weighed in at 126.5 Kgs, since I'm 193cm tall, this gives me a BMI of 34. Considering that, as a guide, 25 is healthy, and 30 is obese I'm in trouble.

Since then I've done some things, I've joined Weight Watchers - just the online site and I've tried to start exercising more.

This morning (Monday is my weigh in day) I was 123.5 KGs. So I've lost 3 kilos and I've got to admit I feel a little better for it. That gives ma a BMI of 33.2 so I'm on my way.

So whats the final target?

I'm shooting for a weight of 95kg, thats a BMI of 25.5. I'll take that.

Its often said that dieting is a struggle and I've always found it so. Also, Weight Watchers et al have all suggested that giving yourself 'little' goals and (non food) rewards is a great idea. So whats are my goals?

I'm thinking they are:

119 kg (yay - under the 120 mark) - small goal/reward

111 kg (BMI under 30 - not morbidly obese anymore) - big goal/reward

105 kg (nothing really special here - just half way to the next big goal) - small goal/reward

100 kg (obvious really, a nice round number and weight I first passed when I was 19 years old) - big goal/reward

95 kg (final goal) - small goal/reward (why?????)

95 kg - three months on. Huge goal/reward. The sign I've made it.

So thats it - I figure that if I share this with the world and tie it to a blog I'm committed to keeping and god forbid, get some comments and support, I can keep this going.

I'll keep the blog updated with what I'm doing to lose the weight semi regularly but tune in again each Monday for the latest weight data.

Wish me luck.

Eddie Vedder, Into the Wild - great driving music

Been listening to Eddie Vedder's - Into the Wild cd every morning driving to work this week. Really bad mistake. A long line of discordant, stirring, stirring and ultimately haunting songs questioning the role of greed, the importance of stuff, the glory of the simple and finally the peace of acceptance. A truly horrible soundtrack to have going through your head as you drive through the gates and strap in for another day of working for the man.

But I cant stop listening. I think part of the reason is the timing.

As I drive to work along the banks of the Hunter River in Newcastle, over the Stockton Bridge, and then north through the countryside leading out of Newcastle the sun is just rising in that glorious golden hour. This creates wonderful lines and shadows, imbues ordinarily ugly devices like coal loaders with a magical halo and when all combined with the simple guitars and soulful vocals of Into the Wild I feel transported. I feel like I'm making a journey, I feel that its going to change and be better.

So when I hit the gates of work, yeah I'm brought down a little, but from a point where I was so high it doesnt matter. Soon I'll tire of the album, or the sun will be rising earlier and I'll miss golden hour but either way. I have this time now and I'm loving it.

Yeah - top gear is back

A simple message tonight - Top Gear is back on the tele tonight in Australia. The first episode of series thirteen - my god can you believe that, a simple show about a couple of blokes and cars and its made it to series 13. That is amazing.

But it is, after a great show.

Why, because its not only about cars, but because its about guys and cars and guys having a good time in cars. And thats its real secret, they dont just make you want the cars, they make you want to be with them with these great cars and thats why you watch the show.

Yes Jeremy is a git, Hammond can be a pain and May - well I reakon he's great - but he can also be a snob. But its doesnt matter, they would still be the cool kids that you wanted to hang with even if they were gits, chavs and snobs.

What is it about the S word (socialism) and how the US is screwing up its health care

What is it about the word socialism that upsets America so much that it can be used to poison even the sweetest well? I can understand peoples reaction if socialism were to be considered as a 'whole of government' idea - I'm not advocating the imposition of state run McDonalds managed according to the governments 5 year plan or anything. But rather why cant Americans accept the idea of "hey, maybe, with in the context of a generally consumerist economy some elements such as health and education might work better with government involvement" with the word "socialism" acting as a virtual veto on sane discussion.

This article - five myths about health care around the world - is excellent and should be required reading for all US legislators.

For what its worth, coming from Australia, having traveled a lot of the rest of the world and having lived in the US for a little while. And having read a lot of the literature on the topic four things are absolutely clear.

1. The US health system, for those who can access it, is very good.

2. Access to the US health system by US citizens is worse than just about all similar nations.

3. A number of countries however achieve far better health outcomes than the US.

4. All similar nations run their health system for far far less than the US runs theirs.

One could ask the question why do I care? After all, as an Australian this doesn't effect me. Actually it does. You see the health system is a very bad place to spend money. It sucks up capital, concentrates it into a very very small pool and distributes very little of that money make into the general economy. Therefore, every dollar you put into health, rather than say buying food, or building a school, or just about anything slows the economy. Right now, anything that slows the US economy is my problem. So you see, we in Australia, and Britain, and Canada etc have a right to care and have a right to speak out we see Americans avoiding the smart thing out of some primal urge to avoid the "S" word.

Twitter - kids hate it, therefore its cool

As I've grown up its slowly dawned on me that the lamest people on the planet are young people and that its virtually impossible to be cool under the age of 30. Why, because to be cool you have to be interesting and to be interesting you have to:

a) know stuff

b) have the experience to understand what you know

c) know you dont know everything.

So with that in mind when I read that twitter has become a tool for older people I begin to think its something I might be interested in.

The return of adverserial politicals or simply the empowerment of both sides

Michael Stutchbury writes in todays Australian that the new industrial relations laws of the current ALP government have ushered in the return of adversarial politics where workers and employers are pitted against each other.

I would tend to disagree.

Workers and employers are always pitted against each other. Every dollar that the boss pays a worker is one less dollar profit and one less in his own. Yes, yes, I hear all those people out there saying that it isnt a zero sum game and that good bosses will treat staff well to maximise growth and benefits for all. That is true - in part. While good bosses will treat their personnel well, they will only treat them as well as they have too, only as well as they are forced to.

So as important as mutual understanding and shared benefits may be, as real as the notion of long term growth is, that harsh truth is that each and every payday there is only so much money in the kitty and who gets what is decided by who has what power.

As someone who has never been able to join a union and always had to rely on the goodwill of his employer let me tell you that alone you have no power and your employer has it all. That the old union adage that together we bargain, alone we beg is true. And that while company profits are certainly maximised by stripping workers of all power to truly negotiate, giving workers some power through the ability to bargain collectively is the only path to a just workplace.

The release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi - my view

Frankly I'm ok with the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi and dont really care what the Libyans do about his return.

The reason we have to win against terrorists isn't because we are Christian and they (usually) arent. Its not because we are white and they (usually) arent. It isnt because its us or them and anything is justified in self defence. In fact its really very simple - we have to win because our way is better, our way is good.

Our way, that of the liberal democratic west, believes in the rule of law, believes in mercy, believes in the individual and their right to be treated as an individual. These are all things our enemies either don't understand or if they do "get" them, cant abide. That's how these people are able to blow up a plane full on innocent people.

But we do 'get' these things. And, in theory, not only do we abide them, we celebrate them, we glory in them. And the recent decision by the Scots to release one of the worst criminals in the history of humanity in accordance with their laws and in the name of compassion is a clarion call to all of those who wonder if the war on terror is worth it.

It is and this is why.

That we can offer some compassion to someone who doesnt deserve it, that we can follow our laws even when its unpalatable, that we can consider this man as a man not as a political pawn to be used solely as a message is a testament to us. Its a celebration of how we can be great.

Its something I welcome with open arms.

Malcolm Turnbull as an ALP minister?

Actually I can see this. Lets face it, Turnbull certainly isnt that far, ideologically, from the NSW Right of the ALP and probably has more in common with the intelligentsia of the ALP Left than the National Party so its really no surprise that he'd consider the ALP or that the party would consider him.

I am glad, however, the relationship didnt flower.

Turnbull has some political views but I think the only one that he'd really live and die by is that whatever is good for Malcolm is good for his party and the nation as a whole. Hey, I have no problem with a politician compromising his beliefs to win the odd election, after all being a principled, but irrelevant, opposition might be virtuous but its hardly useful. But I think its still important to have those beliefs and to know when you are giving up on them. With Malcolm I sense that compromise is all to easy and I wonder what he really, truly stands for. In opposition this is annoying, in government this could be a real concern.

Graham Polak to play for Richmond again - thats a great story

About a year ago a Richmond player, Graham Polak, was hit by a tram while attempting to cross the road. He suffered very extensive head injuries and for some time was expected to die. When it became plain that he was likely to survive it was still considered virtually certain that he would never play AFL again. While Richmond kept him on the list it was generally considered this was really little more than a gesture.

And yet, this evening Graham Polak is expected to run out to represent Richmond again at the highest level in a match against Hawthorn.

I dont know about others, but for me this represents everything I love about AFL. The courage to play, the dedication of clubs to their players, the passion of the supporters. So have a great game tonight Graham, play it hard, show us you can still do it and get ready to be part of a new Tigers outfit in 2010.

Things Australia could learn from the USA - Left hand turns at red lights

So a new theme I will develop and return to every now and again. The theme is simple, having lived in the US for a couple of years I discovered a huge range of things we can learn from them, some good ideas we should adopt and a few bad ideas we should avoid.

In the main I loved living in the US so I'll try and keep this theme positive and focus on the good ideas.

So good idea number one that we can learn from? In the US its legal to turn right (remembering they drive on the wrong side of the road - ie the right) at a red light after stopping. This is a wonderful rule. Traffic moves a lot faster, tensions are reduced, its far safer for other drivers and pedestrians and it has no downsides. After having spent two years with this rule, to not have this ability makes absolutely no sense at all.

Make me king of Australia and we'll have the ability to do a left turn at all red lights tomorrow.

Rudd, China and the importance of poise

Greg Sheridan, has a good little opinion piece on the recent handling of the Australia-China relationship by the Rudd government.

I agree with his basic thrust. That the current Australian government has been wise in playing a straight bat to China, not getting over-wrought, not stamping our feet and holding our breathe, but rather quietly pointing out our concerns with issues such as the Stern Hu arrest, steadfastly sticking to our guns over the issue of a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, and working to secure a huge natural gas sale.

China has an alien political culture to us. And, casting all relativism aside, a vastly inferior one. There is no other way to characterize that countries authoritarian government, opaque legal system, endemic corruption and massive poverty. Australia and China will often disagree. I think the wise course is the one we have taken. Call it principled pragmatism. Basically we simply acknowledge our differences, deal with them best we can while being true to our values, always be on guard and dont trust to much but find a way to do business.

Perhaps one thing we need to always remember - China needs us, perhaps as much as we need them. We need to hold our nerve, not let the bully sense fear and above all retain our poise.

Album Review - The Frames: The Cost

Look, I'm a guy that generally takes the world and my life in it pretty seriously, so while I love a nice fun little pop song as much as the next guy, the stuff that really grabs me is music that goes a bit beyond that and moves me. While they miss occasionally, The Frames hit the mark more often than not.

With "The Cost" The Frames are well and truly on form, giving us a tender and yet still intense, examination of what its like to try and get by living and loving in a world where things dont always finish with a happy ending. I like these guys though because they dont chuck in the towel. I walk away thinking that yes life is tough, yeah we can get dealt a crummy hand and it can suck, but we go on. We embrace life with all its ambiguity and frustration and pain and still look to live and love and go through it all again.

So for those into a little intense Irish folklike (for what of a better description) music, who want to really probe around our hurts and yet feel better for it. I really recommend The Frames album "The Cost"

Clubs NSW TV AD - a followup

Well, there's a first time for everything and today was the first time I got an "official" response to one of my blog posts - which is pretty cool (man does that make be sad or what?!?).

Anyway, a rep from Clubs NSW has sent me an extremely polite email pointing out my error and that there are in fact a number of references to people of other than an anglo-celtic background in their piece. Specifically,

• At the 20 second mark of the advertisement, there is a family dining together and enjoying a club meal who are of Asian background.

• At the 46 second mark, there is signage on a golf course that includes the words “Con’s Green”, “Raj’s Fairway” and “Raul’s Rough”

• At the 55 second mark, the names “Bella” and “Fatima” are shown in neon writing."

Ok, I've gone back, had a look and sure enough its all there. But if we look at the ad not so much as a text to be studied but rather as a method of communicating a message I thinks its still a concern that I drew the conclusion I did. Lets face it, if I, a fifth generation Australian of Irish heritage, has my radar send a warning signal I suspect many others also felt a little disquiet with the ad.

So clubs NSW - I was wrong, there is a place for 'the others' at your venues. Hey, maybe I'm the only person out there whose had this reaction and there's something worng with me. But, if I'm not wrong, and if you've had this reaction from other people, you might want to think about how you advertise in future.

Clubs NSW TV Ad - Is it racist?

Am I the only person to notice that the current Clubs NSW tv ad is incredibly racist?

The ad shows a variety of people walking through club doors, looking at club pictures, seeing the big signs out the front of clubs and stuff. Whats fascinating is that we get Sally's club and Johnno's club, and Sam's club and ........ well you get the picture.

Where is Akmed's club, or Spiros' club, or Ari's club. Lets face it unless you are white and Anglo-Celtic it seems that Clubs NSW doesnt have a place for you.

The importance of a free society

I hate Kyle Sandilands and everything he stands for, which appears to be the glory of standing for nothing. I think the world would be a better place if he vanished into obscurity and was never heard from again.

But I dont believe he should be sacked - yet.

And I absolutely dont believe he should be taken off the air by some sort of government agency.

The beauty of a free society is that the same freedoms that give us The Chaser at one end of the spectrum and Four Corners at the other unfortunately mean that we are stuck with cretins like Sandilands. In a rare thing I actually find myself agreeing with David Penberthy of the Australian when he calls for Kyle to be allowed to keep his job.

I dont want the radio station that employs Sandilands to take action! I dont want the Government to take action! I want us to take action! I want us, the people, the masses, the citizens to say that there are standards and we care about something even if he doesnt. And the action I want us to take is very simple, I'd like people to simply turn off. I want people to simply walk away from Sandilands and leave him to wallow alone.

I suspect it wont happen, I suspect that there are enough cretins to listen to him that he will stay famous. But I so hope I'm wrong.

All opinions can be wrong

Part of my continuing battle with the idea that peoples opinions are somehow sacrosanct and not open to challenge. This is a little spin on the idea that everyone is entitled to an opinion. I suppose I'm agreeing but backing that up with the right of opinions to be wrong.

If, like me, you have a preference for people actually thinking about stuff and not just acting on base instinct how about buying a Tee Shirt here at my Mineshaft Gap clothing store.

An example of why China cant be trusted

China is an ancient culture that is emerging now as an economic power-house and one day it will be a superpower. And yet it cannot be treated as an equal partner in the community of nations because of crap like this (China urges world to respect Myanmar's sovereignty). How can any country urge that a military junta like that ruling illegally in Myanmar be treated with respect is beyond me.

Evil amongst us

Sometimes we read about horrific violence in our safe and secure areas of Australia and wonder where it comes from. Today we got a little sample from this story in the Herald Sun about a mother encouraging her daughter to beat up another, disabled, girl.

I don't know how we punish people like this but whatever we do it should be truly terrible. But more than that, here is a warning, the violence that appears to be emerging is part of a cycle, we have to find a way to break the chain!

Restricting the vote - my theory

I'm 42 years old and everyday I still wake up to find I'm smarter than I was yesterday. I know more, I understand what I know much better, I know my limitations and I have a clue how to work around them. Everyday I look back at work I've done in the past, whether that's 5 years or 5 weeks and think "How did I write that?, How was I so ignorant and simplistic?" Going further I find myself wondering, if I get a little more knowledgeable and a little wiser everyday how dumb was I when I was twenty something?

And this goes to the core of my problem with the idealization of youth and in particular the insane notion of giving people under the age of 18 the vote.

In the main people don't really fully develop their moral sense until their late teens, brain development doesn't stop until their mid to late twenties so why would we actually go out of our way to give people, clearly still in the process of becoming adults the single most important right most of them will ever use, the right to elect a government? In fact I'd like to go further, how about we raise the voting age until something like 21.

Better still how about we throw some other requirements in as well. These would be some of mine:

a. You cant vote until you have a job and earn at least 80% of your disposable income yourself. People with trust funds, inheritances, allowances etc need not apply.

b. You cant vote until you've moved out of home and been responsible from running a household. If you live at home and mummy and daddy take care of you how can you be trusted to have a say in the running of the country.

In addition to controlling who can vote at all, I also think we need to control whose vote counts. This would be pretty simple. On the back of the ballot would be a test with simple questions relating to some of the key issues of the day at the time of the election. So using an example from one of the more shameful parts of Australia's past it could be something like:

Under the UN convention for refugees (to which Australia is a signatory), people seeking asylum are required to stop:

a. at the first country outside their own,
b. at a country in their region,
c. at a country similar in race, religion and/or political system like their own, or
d. only when they feel safe.

or alternatively

Last year the number of asylum seekers arriving at Australia by boat was closest to:

a) 500
b)2500
c)5000
d)20000

Have just (say) four questions and make them absolutely factual with no room for interpretation. Get two wrong and your vote isn't counted. Really this seems pretty obvious, if you simply don't know anything about the key issues of an election why should you get the ability to impose your ignorance on others?

Ok, clearly none of this is going to happen, and on mature reflection I'm not even sure it should but it would be nice to think of a government actually elected by people who had some grasp on reality.

Beware - the stick shark

Well after my anti IMHO post I decided to try something a little lighter, after all life should be fun also shouldn't it?

So for a bit of fun, just as we seem to live in a world where stick figures are constantly being electrocuted, run over and crushed I wondered what was doing all the damage.

I've considered the stick car, the stick dog but first here's the big killer.

The stick shark - buy the t-shirt here.

Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton is not one of the worlds great philosophers, however, he is one of the very best at explaining philosophy and expressing its importance in our everyday lives.

It was seeing an episode of one of his first tv series - The Consolations of Philosophy (which itself is based on a book) that quite literally changed my life. He made me think - I dont mean idly day dream, I mean really really think. This makes him important to me.

IMHO

I've written in my other blog about the curse of the interest phrase IMHO. I hate this phrase. Actually its not the phrase so much as the attitude that says "because its my opinion it requires no justification and cannot be challenged". Well that's bullshit.

In 99% of cases opinions aren't pure aesthetic choices like "I prefer blue" they are instead simply assessment that people aren't able to back up with any evidence or even a modicum of logic. A classic is something like ergonomics. People say crap like "a dial is better than a button" and when pressed as to why they say something stupid like "well its my opinion" as if that means there's nothing else to say.

Well I've had enough and I'm going to start my one man crusade against the dreaded curse of IMHO right now. If you are with me buy a shirt. I know this is pretty rough but its going to be the first in a series on the topic.

I'm a left social libertarian - sounds about right

Facebook - gotta love it. One of the most inane aspects of all social networking sites are the quizes, polls and games. And yet, every now and then one comes along I'm motivated to try. This political views quiz is one that caught my fancy. Here are the results.

My Political Views
I am a left social libertarian
Left: 5.4, Libertarian: 3.73

Political Spectrum Quiz


So what did I say to get there? Well I hate the idea of abortion but I hate the idea of governments forbidding it more. I think that markets are wonderfully efficient but also essentially amoral (at best) so in need of regulation and their more egregious tendencies controlled. While progress is great only a fool could ignore that all change creates losers and I think its only fair that those who benefit from things entirely outside their control (like their inherent skill and abilities) should shoulder some of the burden for those who suffer from things totally outside their control. I believe in morality and want people to do the right thing, even think its fine for us to judge those people, but its never ok to try and enforce our will on people.

The Australian medical system, ok but could be spectacular

Interestingly, considering yesterdays post, there are some issues of policy where the consequences of 'mere' inefficiency are so grievous that they can elicit a visceral response. One of those is health care.

I'm not going to write a great deal on that right now but I will over the next little while. However, I will point out that although I approach the problem from a very different point of view to Tony Abbott, a man with whom I share almost no ideological common ground, I actually think he might be on to something here when he suggests getting the government out of the health services business.

Politics - the intellectual vs the visceral

My interest in politics comes in two flavours, the intellectual and the visceral.

The intellectual interest is that part of me that says I could do this better, or with less ego, that this could be done better. This makes we what to be involved in politics but it lacks the urgency to turn the vague desire into something more concrete.

The visceral interest is that part of me that says we must do this better because the way we are doing it now is evil. This visceral urge turns a vague desire into real action.

Because governments, even nice ones in relatively honest first world western liberal democracies, can be evil. In the Australian context I believe the Howard government had some policies that were essentially evil. I am not using that word lightly, the willing fanning of racist fears, the imprisoning of children as a deterrent, and a range of other policies were, by any of my moral measures - EVIL. These were the things that turned me from a passive voter to an active citizen involved in politics, ultimately joining the Australian Labor Party and even running for council as a Labor member in local government elections.

But Howard has gone and my visceral urge is missing and so I'm wondering if I can find my desire to get involved in politics again.

Australian Rules Football - one of my passions

Australian Rules Football is a truly unique sport. Played only in Australia and even then its not universal. It is definitely 'the' football code in Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, and Tasmania but is probably only the third football code after League and Union in New South Wales and Queensland. The rules are complex, the fields are huge, there's no offside so players can be where-ever they want whenever they want.

All this makes the game almost impossible to truly understand unless you've grown up with it but to learn more you can go to the AFL website or, like the rest of the world visit Wikipedia.

But its a magnificent game. It requires special skills, power, endurance, courage and intelligence. Its not enough to to some of these, you need all of them. Its a topic I'll discuss a lot if you follow this blog.

By the way, if you are going to follow this amazing, exasperating, magnificent game you should really torture yourself and support the Richmond Football Club - the mighty Tigers.

Teens, media and the future

Mark Day in the Australian recently ran an article on the question of the future of the media considering the attitudes of kids. Particularly in the context of his recent experience with his own grandson and more specifically in relation to an article written by a 15 tear old boy in the UK in the UK financial times.

In this case my natural bias against young people comes to the fore again and my extreme skepticism of their opinions is mirrored by Mark Day. I think its easy to get swept up by a single well written article and lose sight of larger trends. Harry Potter, the Twilight books, give an indication that text isn't dead. In fact, having discovered reading late my 13 year old daughter has gone further and discovered sites on the net like quizilla to help her write her own work. Right now she's writing a 10,000 word novella based on characters from some of her favorite characters from a collection of books, cartoons and films. These stories are shared with hundreds of other girls who are writing their own and the kids spend hours poring through some amazingly dense words.

I think we need to be careful in thinking that our kids have given up on text and that by extension traditional reporting, quality journalism and considered commentary has no place in an internet future. The best thing about kids is that they grow out of it, sure some parts of childhood is like a virus you never shake but in the main we all get over it.

Culture and Sport

I'm a fan of novels, film, theater. Not a fan of opera and ballet but I enjoy reading classics like Hemingway, Conrad and even the odd Russian. So all in all I don't consider my inner life a cultural wasteland.

And yet I love a good sporting match. Especially Australian Rules Football. A great game has everything a great Shakespearean play could hope for plus the bonus of not knowing the ending. There are heroes and villains, hidden motives and plot twists we can only unravel after years of critical reading. The casts are huge, the characters multidimensional, complex and ambiguous. What more can one ask for, really.

Ok, I can ask for one more thing - that following my team, the Richmond Tigers, be less of a comic tragedy.

Mineshaft Gap Clothing on line

One of the things that got Mineshaft Gap going in my mind in the first instance was the growing divide between my photos and my clothing. Well the separation is as complete as its going to get. All the tees have been removed from my pmacimagery site, rebranded and moved here.

I'll be adding more very soon but if there is a soul out there interested check out the Mineshaft Gap Clothing line.

China, Stern Hu and the west's dilemma

China's rehabilitation in the eye's of the world has been the result of a combination of greed and hope. The west has wanted to sell China resources and has wanted the cheap clothes and electronics that flowed back. In this exchange the west has been largely willing to overlook that in all practical senses nothing in the Chinese political system has changed.

But its not all bad, along with the greed, has been the hope (and its only hope) that as we traded, the wealth China was accumulating would be spread, wages rise, civil society would strengthen and the strict authoritarian rule in China gradually dissolve. Perhaps that hope was misplaced.
The Stern Hu affair yet again underscore that China is not a nation capable of being trusted in the community of nations, China either does not understand or simply does not acknowledge the rule of law. Through the confusion of state security laws and basic commerce China has joined nations like North Korea and Zimbabwe.

And yet, China is already powerful and becoming increasingly rich. What are we to do? If civilizing China (both for the benefit of its own citizens and, as shown by the Hu affair, our own) risks some of our own wealth are we prepared to undertake the task?

My top five cars for sale today

Hey, I warned you all. I love my cars - in fact I even love cars that arent mine. Therefore like a lot of guys in my position I cruise the classifieds looking for cool cars for sale. Beware, this will be a recurring theme so if I bore you bad luck.

Anyway, since I've surfing the net, I may as well use that opportunity to blog as well. So here it is, my top five most interesting used cars on the market in Australia today (in some vague sort of order top to bottom).

1. 1972 Maserati Ghibli SS. So beautiful and so cool it makes Ferrari's and Lambo's look like try hards.

2. 1969 Jensen Interceptor. Big US muscle in a car that can actually go round corners, stop and look really special.

3. 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL. The basis of the batmobile, one of the best looking (and most successful) touring cars of all time. Fast, light, chuckable the beemer that marked the companies arrival in the big time.

4. 1981 De Tomaso Longchamp. Not particularly fast, or good looking, or great handling so what gives. Well like the Jensen, a big powerful car with simple mechanics but for gods sakes its De Tomaso. Its an Italian sportscar with virtually no hassles and cheaper to buy than a 3 year old Commodore or Falcon.

5. 2002 Elfin Type 3 Clubman. I love these little clubman's. Ok, nothing else to say.

So there you go, five really interesting cars you can buy right now (if you've got the spare cash). Yeah I know they aren't dirt cheap but they aren't ferociously expensive either. The dearest is just over 100 grand and the cheapest just over 30.

Ok - yet another blog.

Mineshaft Gap.

Ok, what’s this blog about.

Like many people the idea of blogging is kind of attractive to me. And like many people I’ve lacked the commitment to see it through and I’ve contributed my fair share to the fleet of Marie Celeste like ghost blogs floating the high seas of the net. But this time it will be different (I promise - ok I hope).

I actually do have a blog (Pmac Imagery) that has stayed alive (barely) and which I’ll be working to get off life support but I think I need/want another. PMac Imagery is a photography blog – I want to limit it to photography type topics. But I have ideas, thoughts, and opinions on a whole range of things outside photography. That’s where Mineshaft Gap comes in. The concept for this blog (and associated bits and pieces) is that this is a home for whatever thoughts have survived my war with reality and how I see the world now.

So what exactly am I going to talk about?

Easy – stuff that interests me! That might be cars, politics, religion, philosophy, god alone knows. I’m deliberately going to keep it pretty flexible as I think that will be the key to me having some remote chance of keeping this project alive.

I think that if I’m able to just be me – and therefore write about what I’m really, actually thinking and feeling I’m likely to be committed to do it. But there is more.

I am interested in having this blog be read by someone else. I’m not after a book deal or looking to retire on the proceeds of internet ads but I do want to matter to someone else – if I can do that I’ll be happy. To that end I recently heard an interview with the guy that created the “Stuff White People Like” blog (really cool site, although it seems I’m only about half white) and he said something that really resonated with me. That is that the key to a really successful blog is to not try to be successful. Work hard – sure, present well – absolutely, but don’t chase a “market” with your ideas.

So that’s the plan. I’ll work to write stuff worth reading about stuff I’m interested in. That’s my only promise.