Australia 2020: recent articles

Here’s what other people have written about the Australia 2020 Summit recently:

  1. Science communicator Professor Julian Cribb says “Your Ruddiness, the problem with your summit… is that it is already thinking too small, although it professes to think big.” Hear hear! We must solve the problems facing humanity as a whole, he said. “This isn’t a joke. For the last eight years the world has eaten more food that [sic] it has produced, and the gap is widening as demand rises and production stagnates. Meanwhile Australian governments, Coalition and Labor, have done their level best to ensure a future food crisis by winding back agricultural science in this country and agricultural aid overseas.”
  2. In The Australian, Mike Steketee asks us to Forget ideology, just focus on ideas. “A start to considering ideas on their merit would be not to pigeonhole them according to who puts them forward.”
  3. In An ambit claim for the Ruddfest 2020, Valerie Yule says that a fair Australia can also be prosperous. “Australia Fair would still be able to Advance,” she says. “‘Fair’ means fairness in opportunities, fairness in rewards, and fair dealing.”

For completeness, in my last post I mentioned the Media Watch report, and the Centre for Policy development’s ideas for what happens next. What else have you seen?

Australia 2020: The Disillusionment

Photograph of Kevin Rudd from The 7.30 Report

When Chairman Rudd announced the Australia 2020 Summit the euphoria kicked in like a clean hit of a fresh new political drug. After 11 drab years of John Winston Howard, Change! Big, bright colourful change with sparkly bits and the sound of a thousand sitars! But now the euphoria’s wearing off. We’re coming down — and the Main Event is still a month away.

Kevin still looks pretty cheerful, though, doesn’t he. Why is that?

Look back through everything I’ve written so far and you can see the moodswing. “Chairman Rudd’s got a clever strategy going,” my first post began. Another post was headlined Australia, let the Enlightenment begin!, quoting Maxine “Toadslayer” McKew and agreeing that the nation was ready to start a new conversation about its destiny. At the end of February I even nominated myself.

Given Rudd’s claim that his government would be open and transparent, and develop policies based on evidence, it all sounded pretty good.

As days go by, however, it’s become increasingly clear that the potential of the event will be stifled by the political “need” to placate the same old whingeing lobby groups, the same old middle-class middle-aged white men in dark suits (just flick through the Steering Committee) and, it seems, the “need” to pre-load the agenda with specific topics to… well, let’s explore that.

Continue reading “Australia 2020: The Disillusionment”

Not happy with how the Twitter digests work

Hmmm… No, I’m not really happy with how the Twitter digests are presented. They dominate the website’s home page when in fact they’re very much secondary material. More thought required… but I’ll leave them as they are until I have a better answer.

Twitter updates for 2008-03-11

  • An hour on the phone fries one’s brain, even when it’s with a good friend and colleague and "delivered good outcomes". #
  • I wish people would stop sending me interesting things to read. Just for an hour or so, so I can make a client a bit happier. #
  • Apparently yesterday was "Commonwealth Day". Did this actually have any relevant to anyone? #
  • We can all give up this web development and media stuff now, check these guys! http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/239803/ #
  • Hmmm… reducing a client to tears just how wasn’t quite the intended outcome. And there isn’t a field for that in my CRM system… #
  • How daft is MYOB? Just sent me a promo fax (3 copies!), headed "Start the year fresh". START? It’s the MIDDLE of MARCH! FAIL! #
  • @NickHodge Which "data gone"? MYOB’s of the tear-filled client? #
  • @NickHodge Data OK. Had kept morn free for client, but no call. Now committed until day’s end. They called wanting instant fix. I vented. #
  • @mpesce No, children of your cousins are "cousins once removed". #
  • Twitter is excellent. Instead of having to look up Wikipedia, you just ask here and someone else looks it up for you. #
  • Hey this so-called "National Binge Drinking Strategy" is to STOP binge drinking! WTF? #
  • @Fifikins Re Westpac ATMs, you may like this little sketch then… http://youtube.com/watch?v=OAknJSsXQRY #
  • Hmmm… is there any way to FORCE Twitter to use something like tinyurl.com, even if the URL fits into the message? #
  • @zhasper "Michelle the bank-slut" LOLZ. Yeah her logic is shitty. Offers a receipt and then says I can’t have one so there. Ignorant bitch. #
  • @mpesce Careful what you say, or you’ll end up sounding like what I write. 😉 #
  • About to disconnect the client-whinge feed… #
  • @aglick35 Hi, new Twitterstalker(tm)! I hope you find something entertaining, controversial or at least mildly erotic. #
  • OK, already I don’t like seeing a daily digest of my tweets. Too scary! http://tinyurl.com/2mwv2u #
  • @NickHodge Don’t worry, you fucking bastard, I’d never censorship myself! Arsehole! #
  • @Fifikins Just take a deep breath and remember, with Westpac we’re… saving penguins or something. With harmonica music. #
  • Ah! Absinthe and Bickfords Lime works quite nicely. Genius! #
  • @NickHodge My pleasure. There’s a few more words I can use, if you like. Some of them are truly excellent. #
  • What’s wrong with this headline? "Govt invites sports chiefs to binge drinking conference." [smirks] http://tinyurl.com/33pwdb #
  • @Fifikins This is what you need then! http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/r/crownhim.htm Crown HIm with Many Crowns! And lots lots more! #
  • @Fifikins Oh dear! I Keep running into choristers! And I wasn’t even a Catholic! #
  • @NickHodge The LOLbible has already been started, running on MediaWiki somewhere.\ #
  • Indeed the lolcatbible is at http://www.lolcatbible.com/ and I blogged about it 9 October: https://stilgherrian.com/religion/lolbible/ #
  • 1. Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem. #
  • 2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz. #
  • @kcarruthers @kcarruthers nickhodge I am a prophet to my people! #
  • @NickHodge Thoroughly agreed re the importance of Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing, but sorry, never could get into the nasal, droney NZers. #
  • @kcarruthers Sorry, but as a Discordian I am forbidden to believe anything I read. All hail Eris! #
  • @crispin_harris @vandra Twitter needs a wall-to-wall display mode – though certainly not in this specific instance. #
  • OK, Twitterverse, you are my moral compass. Should I have another drink before bed? #
  • @Fifikins Didn’t think Catholics did the Bible? Catholics will do ANYTHING. And you don’t even need to buy them a drink first. #
  • @kcarruthers Oh, yes, I quite frequently commit random acts of discord. What’s "DS9"? #
  • @bronwen ‘Pong http://www.outtospace.com 😛 #
  • @bronwen Yep, that’s @ApostrophePong and his current obsession with abandoned furniture. The portfolio is more representative though. #
  • I find it very scary that I’m at least acquainted with 6 of the Top 100 at Tweeterboard. #