Category Archives: Australian stuff
A local talk
HPS book celebration at the University of Melbourne
Kinds of drivers
As a motorcyclist, I am acutely aware of other road users, and some patterns crop up which I am certain is unique to Melbourne, of models driven by those who have no concern for other road users, and especially not those of a two-wheeled kind. So, after some 40 years' experience, and still being alive, if battered, here are the kinds of drivers to avoid.
Posted by in Australian stuff, Humor, Pop culture
The Economy Does Not Exist – thoughts prior to the Australian federal election 2019
In coming days and weeks we are again going to be bombarded with the usual clichés about the economy. This or that will be good…
Posted by in Australian stuff, Philosophy, Politics
A proposal for law makers
I was apprised last night by an IT student that there is a concept in computing known as exponential back-off, in which calls to a service that fail have slower and slower repeat times until an acceptable level of calls are made (for example, to a database that might be under too great a load Read More...
Posted by in Australian stuff, Politics, Technology
Why is politics failing?
In a way this is a silly question: politics is politics, and always has been. The real question is why liberal democratic politics is becoming unrepresentative and generating cynicism, extremism and alienation among the supposedly represented. The answer is, I think, a loss of the social contract that made representative democracy work. In the US, Read More...
Posted by in Australian stuff, Journalism, media, Politics, Rant
Secular Calvinism
Australia is one of the most secular of developed nations. At the last census, 22% of people marked “No religion” as their affiliation, and the attendance at religious services weekly dropped to 16%, from a high in 1950 of 44%. So why is it that a sizeable minority (around 30%) of Australians oppose gay marriage, Read More...
Posted by in Australian stuff, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Freedom, Politics, Pop culture
On tribalism
Humans evolved in tribes, our species’ equivalent of the general primate troop structure. This meant that members of the tribe benefited from shared resources, the protection of the group and the inherited knowledge of the tribe. It also meant that we will natively and naively defend our group against others, and demonise the other groups. Read More...
Posted by in Australian stuff, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Freedom, Politics, Religion
On tribalism
Humans evolved in tribes, our species’ equivalent of the general primate troop structure. This meant that members of the tribe benefited from shared resources, the protection of the group and the inherited knowledge of the tribe. It also meant that we will natively and naively defend our group against others, and demonise the other groups. […]
Posted by in Australian stuff, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Freedom, Politics, Religion
Time for a predictable, just and independent surveyor of government and politics
This is about Australian politics, so please ignore it if you do not care. In New South Wales there is a quasi-judicial investigative organ called the Independent Commission against Corruption, or ICAC (which a certain news empire’s rags insist upon calling “Icac” to avoid focusing on the meaning of the acronym). It has uncovered extensive Read More...
Posted by in Australian stuff, Politics
An unjust government
This one is about Australian politics. International readers may ignore it. There has been a lot of media and internet hype and fun had about the silly and unfair Australian government and its abortion of a budget in which the poor, the unemployed and the future of our nation, students, are unfairly targeted while the […]
Posted by in Australian stuff, Politics, Pop culture, Race and politics