Category Archives: Current Affairs

Current Affairs, Introspection

Would you run in the torch relay?

Groover asked me the other day: “If I’d been selected to run in the Olympic Torch Relay in Canberra – would I pull out?” and it’s a question that has been plaguing me all week.

I imagine the thrill of being asked. The honour. The excitement of representing my chosen field, my family, my country, my Olympic representatives – the athletes who have trained so hard and for so long – in such a public event.

Then the dilemma. Does running mean that I support China’s action in Tibet? And if it does, can I live with myself if I run?

And then the horror of watching the other relays – in London, in Paris, in San Franscisco – and the debacle they’ve turned into. Watching other runners being caught up in the protest. Being attacked.

Being shoved into a warehouse as organisers try and work out what to do next.

Being surrounded by a phalanx of secret service guards.

Where is the honour in that? Where is the glory? Where is the pride?

So imagine. You’re sitting at home watching the news on the telly. Your torch relay uniform, clean and sparkling new is in its box. Your brand new sandshoes gleam. And you, with your heart in your mouth, have to decide whether you’ll take part.
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It’s easy to say “No I won’t take part” from your lounge room when you don’t have to make that decision but if you were actually in those gleaming new sandshoes… would you withdraw?

I am torn on this question.

What I will say on behalf of those who decided to run is that at least they have provided a very public platform for the protesters.

What about our athletes? Do they boycott? What difference would it really make? Did boycotting Moscow back in 1980 really achieve all that much? Could you turn your back on four years of training, of dreams?

Sport and politics should not mix. Is that possible in the real world?

So in summary: I think I would run in the relay as it is a great forum for the Tibetans to make their protest. I don’t think athletes should boycott the games, after all we don’t expect our companies to give up their trade contracts. And at this stage I think Kevin Rudd should consider not going to the Games although, I can’t imagine the Chinese would care if he were there or not.

Your thoughts?

Creative Commons License photo credit: Monster Pete

Current Affairs, Introspection

2020 – I’m just not engaged

2 Comments

Can you name these players?

No, not the cricket game… the 2020 Summit!

(I bet John Howard wishes it were a cricket game…)

Yeah the summit. Where 1000 Australians will discuss matters of import such as:
* Productivity Agenda – education, skills, training, science and innovation
* Australian Economy – the future of the Australian economy
* Sustainability and Climate Change – population, sustainability, climate change and water
* Rural Australia – future directions for rural industries and rural communities
* Health – a long-term national health strategy – including the challenges of preventative health, workforce planning and the ageing population
* Communities and Families – strengthening communities, supporting families and social inclusion
* Indigenous Australia – options for the future of Indigenous Australia
* Creative Australia – towards a creative Australia: the future of the arts, film and design
* Australian Governance – the future of Australian governance: renewed democracy, a more open government (including the role of the media), the structure of the Federation and the rights and responsibilities of citizens
* Australia’s Future in the World – Australia’s future security and prosperity in a rapidly changing region and world
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*yawn*

Sorry, where were we?

Yeah the summit. I don’t know why but this one just hasn’t captured my imagination. I’m sure it’s all very worthy. I’m sure some good stuff will come out of it. Eventually. I’m not saying it shouldn’t go ahead. But… I’m not excited.

And if that makes me a head-in-the-sand, political neophyte who couldn’t give a toss about the future of this great country… well.

Bugger.

Because I wish I were more engaged! I wish I did care a little more. I wish I had time to read the briefing papers and think about the issues involved. To have my say. To stand up and make a difference.

Maybe, you just have to be there.

Maybe that’s one good reason why I’m not.

Current Affairs, From the net, Random

Rainy day in paradise

raindrops in the pool

I’m not one to complain – wait… yes I am – anyway today it’s the first real day post daylight savings and I must say… I miss it!

It’s SO dark SO early. I feel like I’ve stepped from summer to winter in one fell swoop.

Of course it wasn’t helped by the fact that it was a rainy rainy day thanks to Cyclone Pancho. (31.6 mm since 9am this morning)

Also, while buying through cash on delivery sometimes you may also wish to simply relax. see over here now cialis soft order These conditions include heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 sildenafil tablet viagra diabetes. Orders are delivered india cialis discreetly to your exact shipping address with no extra costs or fees. I’d seen him last as an 18 year old viagra purchase canada boy. Maximum temp in my suburb of 16C (what’s that about? – this is Perth people!).

I got home from work, cold, sniffly and waited no more than two seconds before slipping off my sandals for my trusty ugg boots. I love you my ugg boots… smooches.

We had pasta for dinner and now I feel back in the land of the living – should be mostly fine tomorrow and yes, alright… we need the rain.

One thing that really cheered me up was the fact that South Park is now online – although sadly, not yet in Australia.

Current Affairs, Random, Travel

A smoky drive home

Tuesday night, and as I leave Bunbury on my way back to Perth I see a thick cloud of smoke…

Bunbury Smoke

In fact there are two fires and the helitacs – or whatever those fixed wing planes that drop water on fires are called – were flying between the two.

An hour later driving through Mandurah I see another thick plume of smoke. This time it’s in Port Kennedy so for the first time in my life I decide to turn into Secret Harbour… shhhhhh.

There, I join a bunch of locals on a low ridge and watch the flames as the bushfire burns through 500ha of Scientific Park.

spectators

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port kennedy fire

It was a serious fire and some homes were evacuated, though in the end no houses or lives were lost. An interesting side story was that the park had been a bombing range in world war 2 and there is unexploded ordinance through the park. Firefighters had to stick to the existing tracks.

Meanwhile my photo journalism over, I was stuck in Secret Harbour. I’d got disorientated and spent twenty minutes driving into cul-de-sacs.

I can’t express adequately my delight at finally finding the highway home.

w00t.

Current Affairs

What is the point of mounted police?

Mounted Police ex Geraldton GuardianComing home today I round the corner and was taken aback to see two police officers astride horses, clopping down the street. We all stopped at the cross roads and they politely waved me on, I turned right, and they proceeded to cross the road disappearing from my rear view mirror.

It’s an inner city suburb. I suppose there is some street crime. I’m not aware that it’s a particular hotspot at 5pm in full sunlight but I’m not regularly checking into it.

To be honest, I wonder at the value of the mounted police. The horses are lovely but really how effective are they? The police say that it has reduced crime in some areas by up to 50%. Really? Show me the figures.
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I get how they could be useful in crowd control situations, and possibly searching in the bush for missing persons, but inner city or suburban crime?

Prove me wrong if you know different… I’d like to be convinced. 🙂

Current Affairs

Just a note on Generation Y

Is anyone really surprised by this news?

A survey has revealed two thirds of West Australian graduate teachers plan to leave the profession within 10 years. (ABC News)

Now I have nothing against teachers. I am VERY grateful they have chosen the profession they are in. Very. Grateful.

To me, this story is just a beat-up by the Australian Education Union (who did the survey) to push teachers’ salaries up.

I would wager that most graduate teachers are in Generation Y.

Generation Y are known for changing jobs often:

…new job entrants are changing careers faster than college students change their majors, creating frustration for employers struggling to retain and recruit talented high-performers. (USA Today)

Generation Y consider five years a long time to stay with one employer:

Almost half of baby boomers believe they should stay in a job with the one employer for at least five years, but only a quarter of Gen Ys would consider such a long stay. (Herald Sun)

Generation Y want to keep their options open:

Four out of 10 respondents said they plan to stay at their job up to two years; only one in five foresees staying at his/her current job six years or longer. (SmartPros)

Is it any wonder then that two thirds of graduate teachers plan to leave the profession after ten years?

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Of course the Education Department aren’t let off the hook.

Generation Y are also known to be very demanding on employers, expecting new opportunities, training, and interesting work.

The department can’t just shove a Gen Y teacher into some outpost and expect them to stay there forever – or even more than a year. Certainly not without thinking about expanding that teacher’s horizons.

This is the commercial world we live in and the Education Department needs to think seriously about changing its practices to keep up with the times.

A recent APM Training Institute survey found most workers aged 18 to 29 expected travel opportunities, further training and social events as part of their employment packages.

It found many Gen Y workers also expected cash bonuses, health insurance and rostered days off. (Herald Sun)

That is the real story here. Long gone are the days where teaching was just a vocation.

Creative Commons License photo credit: ephotography

Current Affairs

Yet another reason to hate daylight savings

First of all let me say that in general I love daylight savings. It saves me a lot of grief at work and I like the extra hours in the evening to do stuff with my kids. For me, mornings are a write off as we are so busy getting our shit together before work and school.

But.

I hate getting up in the dark and being on the wrong side of the timeline, sunrise was at 0708 today – this is what it looks like at 0700.

Daylight Saving

Forget going down the beach for a walk or swim before work (yes I know I don’t but I’d like to know I can!).

Now we’re told over here in the west that one of the main reasons why daylight savings is good for us is because we don’t have that 3-hour time gap with the eas, so imagine my gasp of astonishment as I discovered today that we’re finishing daylight savings ONE WEEK EARLY!

What. The. Fuck.

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I just couldn’t believe it.

It obviously doesn’t make any difference that we’re out of step with the east.

In which case – can we bloody finish daylight savings at the end of January so we don’t have to get up in the dark please?!

Just as a comparison – Sydney’s sunrise on April 5th will be 7.10am.  Our equivilent sunrise time is on March 6th.

On March 29, our last morning of daylight savings, our sunrise will be 7.26am.

Am I the only one who thinks Daylight Savings goes on too long?  Even in Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart it will be past 7.30am before it gets light on April 5th… it’s madness.

Current Affairs

The Apology

ABC News - members of the stolen generation listen to Rudd's apologyDriving to the airport today I asked the taxi driver to turn on the radio so I could hear Kevin Rudd apologise to the Stolen Generations.

I was completely moved to tears. It felt to me like a new dawn, a new beginning and I felt privileged to be alive and through listening, witness to this moment.

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I don’t know if that’s a true story – but it sounds true – heart breakingly true – and that’s why today is so important for us all.

Current Affairs

Happy Australia Day!

The flag flying at EnnuinMy Country by Dorothea McKellar

a poem about Australia

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies –
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of rugged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

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Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

I don’t think I’ve ever read the whole poem. It’s quite inspiring isn’t it?

And in this spirit of nationalist fervour, in a country who has a country music singer as their top Australian (no not Keith Urban), can I direct you to our favourite online forum and blog just for Aussie bloggers and friends. 🙂

Current Affairs

Mosquito economics

a neglected swimming pool ... okay it was mine last year... before we got a pool boyMosquitoes could be the canaries in the mineshaft of the American economy.

It has been a dry year in California. They have been in a grip of a drought. Normally this would mean that the mosquito population would be reduced, but this year in some areas, this has not been the case.

Why?

Swimming pools, neglected when the banks foreclose on homeowners, have become breeding grounds.

The fact that there’s a noticable problem with mosquitoes is an indication of the number of foreclosures.

Stockton is a prime example.

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This is the human end of the banks’ mortgage crisis. A crisis according to a BBC article I read recently that could “… have a reduction of total credit to the economy of two trillion dollars”.

Will it affect us here in Australia?

If it leads to global recession… yes. Simply put as far as I can tell (and I am no economist) – if the biggest economy in the world stops buying, then suppliers – for example China – will be affected. And who is buying all our natural resources and keeping the boom rolling in WA? You got it.

I’ll be watching those mosquito reports.

An excellent BBC Documentary on this subject.