Archive for April, 2006
Corporate slash and burn in Tasmania
I live in Tasmania, an island about the size of the republic of Ireland, or the state of South Carolina, which lies off the southern coast of the mainland of Australia. It has a population of just under half a million, a temperate climate, and an ongoing war over the question of forestry. Evano seeded [...]
In: environment, society
Telling it like it is
Colbert gives a speech at the Whitehouse press dinner which rather offends Mr Bush: Google Video. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I’ve been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bullet proof S.U.V.’S out front, could you please move them. They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.’S and [...]
Cool! A carnival.
The Carnival of the Liberals as moderated this fortnight by Dr Biobrain’s response is… has accepted Writings on the Wall’s submission: The Batman effect. Yay!
In praise of pluralism
In a dry glacial valley, 1000m above sea level and 40 miles from the coast of Antarctica, a friend of mine was shown the mummified remains of a seal. The scientist from Davis base who had taken him there asked how old he thought it might be. I don’t know, there’s no moisture or much [...]
In: philosophy, science, society
A nuclear magic bullet for greenhouse
A number of prominent conservationists have recently been quoted in support of nuclear power as a way of decreasing greenhouse emissions. The gravity of the situation is undoubted, but it has led people to grasp at flawed solutions. In fact the greenhouse card can be seen as the last gasp of a dying industry which [...]
In: environment, society
How to be Sheriff
After discovering that much of the WMD evidence had been fabricated, and there was no link between Hussein and Al Quaeda, George Bush announced that he had invaded Iraq to get rid of a brutal dictator who was part of an axis of evil. It’s turned out badly, but I don’t think he should let [...]
The Political Compass
The Political Compass: apparently I’m Economic Left/Right: -7.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.05 Just so you know…
West Papua, Indonesia and human rights
A short history of West Papua The island of New Guinea has practised agriculture for 8000 years, but it’s so mountainous that it has never been a single kingdom. The western half, West Papua (called Irian Jaya by Indonesia) was a Dutch colony, although there was little colonial presence before the second world war. Indonesia [...]
Warmongering: Iraq all over again
Unclaimed Territory and Belgravia Dispatch point out that nothing has changed. The administration trots out the same rubbish and the press laps it up in just the same uncritical way. The attack will probably be smaller but the consequences will be just as bad.
John Howard and refugee policy
Background: Refugees as political advantage. Australia is famously a nation of immigrants, an idea which ignores a bunch of people who have been here for around 45 thousand years. The attitude of the white residents to further migration, however, has been split between a need for their skills and labour and a fear of competition [...]
AT+T and wiretap of whole internet
Wired describes how AT&T may be attempting to conceal documents relating to a case EFF is bringing against it for funnelling it’s internet backbone into the NSA for monitoring. Not that it comes as any surprise really that NSA would monitor the internet in detail. Get yourself a copy of PGP.
The Batman effect
If you’re the biggest, toughest guy around you’re going to make some enemies. If you put on a cape and a mask and gird your loins with a utility belt, jump into the Bat-Car and declare that you’re going to take on a crusade to rid the world of evil, then you’re going to make [...]
Culture, autonomy, and human rights
An attempt at a universalist approach to Human Rights, which if not culturally neutral, at least imposes an explicit moral underpinning rather than an implicit set of cultural values. Liberals are conflicted people. It’s not a bad thing, it comes about because there’s not always one right answer to a question. Sometimes there are two [...]
In: law, philosophy, world
Citizen journalism rescues the fourth estate
This article comes from ideas stimulated by a Newsvine article by Anna Sebastian and the ensuing discussion. I thought it was going to be a comment, but it’s a bit long. No one remembers now, but on Sept 11, 2000, in Melbourne, there was a demonstration against the World Economic Forum, which was being held [...]
Evade China’s firewall
Anonymizer have produced a tool to allow Chinese web surfers to circumvent the national firewall, by encrypting communication and routing it through one of a number of IP addresses. Google.com should be accessible by this means. The current site from where the software can be downloaded is here, but this will be changed from time [...]
In: law, net, observations, world
The real war on terror
Newspapers, politicians, people in the street – everyone seems to take the “war on terror” seriously. As for me, I just don’t buy it. The realistic chance that terrorism will directly affect me or any other westerner does not seem to me to be greatly more than it was a decade ago, unless I were [...]
The sum of all dystopia
The US is planning a 1984 style propaganda war of epic proportions. Claus Jacobsen points out what’s happening in a wonderful and somewhat terrifying article.
The economics of meanness
I wonder whether economic rationalism, as the Washington Consensus is called in Australia, is actually rational or if it is simply mean. Years ago, in my only brush with the law, I had to appear in the small claims tribunal as a witness. The law courts building is adjacent to the police station and across [...]
