Politics Entries
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Australia has apparently decided, through its elected leaders, to filter its own Internet connection. Since many, many other people are discussing whether this is advisable or indeed effective, I’ll focus here on what this will do to HTTP, and by extension the Web. What’s on the Table Reading the white paper, there are three different technologies for filtering the Web on the table; “pass-by hybrid”, whereby the ISP’s router will shunt traffic to target IP addresses to another box...
Thursday, 13 April 2006
According to ABC Online (that's Australian Broadcasting Corporation to the Americans out there): Two Melbourne men have been elected to the Italian Parliament. It is the first time Italians living overseas have been allowed to vote and stand for election. Nino Randazzo, who will represent Italians in Oceania and Africa in the Senate, says he is honoured to have won the seat for the centre-left party. That's fantastic! Although governments have been encouraging free trade and skilled migration to...
Sunday, 26 March 2006
A few snippets from the day; 1) The Wall Street Journal reports on the divergence between productivity and wages; Since the end of 2000, gross domestic product per person in the U.S. has expanded 8.4%, adjusted for inflation, but the average weekly wage has edged down 0.3%… Since the end of the recession of 2001, a lot of the growth in GDP per person — that is, productivity — has gone to profits, not wages. This reflects workers’ lack...
Thursday, 21 July 2005
Both my wife and I signed up to johnkerry.com’s mailing list during the last federal election cycle. After he lost, we inevitably lost some immediacy of interest in what he had to say, so we’ve unsubscribed from the list. At least three times each, with no effect. John, how could you?...
Tuesday, 10 May 2005
Social Security represents a pact between generations—a financial and social commitment among people of all ages. — US Social Security Administration Although George Bush has caused a brouhaha with his ill-defined plans to reform Social Security, it’s actually part of a larger problem that’s been known about for some time. In a nutshell, demographic shifts (Americans are retiring earlier, living longer and having fewer children) and the rising costs of health and aged care mean that the pact between...
Sunday, 10 April 2005
Those who have been preoccupied by Two Funerals and a Wedding may have missed news of a developing diplomatic crisis in Australia. Sir Michael Somare, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, happened to transit through Brisbane airport on his way back from New Zealand a little while back. When his shoes set off the metal detector, they asked him to take them off; he refused. When he finally did get home, he complained. A lot. He also demanded an...
Friday, 5 November 2004
For some reason, people are considering a change, such as this one. Might I make another suggestion [pdf].
Saturday, 16 October 2004
I’m not the first to blog this by any means, but it’s notable enough to interrupt our regular… err… broadcast. Stop what you’re doing and see John Stewart take on Crossfire. A taste; STEWART: It’s not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. And I will tell you why I know it. CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you’re accusing us of partisan hackery? STEWART:...
Friday, 30 July 2004
Apple is making an executive summary of the 9/11 commission report and the major speeches from the Democratic National Convention available for free on the iTunes Music Store. They deserve a lot of praise for this, and I hope they continue this practice. Dissemination of information through multiple channels is all the more important as Americans’ rights are eroded; Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or...
Tuesday, 27 April 2004
I think I'm starting to sympathise with Our Great Governor in California; the state senate has passed a bill banning the production or sale of foie gras. That's right, when they're not telling us what's good for us on the Internet, they're telling us what to eat. *sigh* On a related note (maybe we can stop antics like this), I'm thinking more about using technology to open government. Ironically, you come across some of the least usable content when trying...
Monday, 12 April 2004
From the Washington Post: This is Bush’s 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency. I guess I...
Saturday, 14 February 2004
Paul Krugman points out continuing efforts to shore up George Bush, the Myth; By my count, this year’s budget contains 27 glossy photos of Mr. Bush. We see the president in front of a giant American flag, in front of the Washington Monument, comforting an elderly woman in a wheelchair, helping a small child with his reading assignment, building a trail through the wilderness and, of course, eating turkey with the troops in Iraq[…] It was not ever thus. Bill...
Monday, 9 February 2004
In the same week that Melbourne is yet again called the most liveable city in the world (a regular occurrence), John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, has negotiated a free-trade agreement that allows US businesses to invest as if it were just another state in the union. The effects will be felt widely and for a long time; Australia has been moving more towards the States every year, and not in a good way. In combination with the effects...
Sunday, 8 February 2004
George Bush on why he should be re-elected: “I’m a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind.” Well, I’ll sleep better at night....
Monday, 12 January 2004
From the Washington Post: The Army War College has published a paper questioning the scope and approach to the war on terror. Record’s core criticism is that the administration is biting off more than it can chew. He likens the scale of U.S. ambitions in the war on terrorism to Adolf Hitler’s overreach in World War II. “A cardinal rule of strategy is to keep your enemies to a manageable number,” he writes. “The Germans were defeated in two world...
Sunday, 11 January 2004
Well, this should liven things up… “These people are nasty and they have a long memory,” [O’Neill] tells Suskind. But he also believes that by speaking out even in the face of inevitable White House wrath, he can demonstrate loyalty to something he prizes: the truth. “Loyalty to a person and whatever they say or do, that’s the opposite of real loyalty, which is loyalty based on inquiry, and telling someone what you really think and feel—your best estimation of...
Friday, 12 September 2003
I was in Stockholm earlier this summer as a stopover on the way home from Helsinki. One morning, Jorgen and I were walking along Strömkajen, waiting for a ferry, when a well-dressed man walked by, just a few feet away. This wasn't unusual, but the larger man in sunglasses with a discrete earphone behind him at a discrete distance was. This was the only sign that he wasn't an ordinary person; a single bodyguard. I've always found Sweden to be...
Saturday, 3 May 2003
From the Montreal Gazette - "Deborah Wolfe, a Canadian citizen who was just breast-feeding her son and changing his diaper while en route between Houston and Vancouver, says her "subversive" actions led to her being threatened with detainment, RCMP involvement and legal charges for terrorist action against a U.S. citizen in international airspace while on an American flight during a time of war." I'm speechless (even if Ashcroft hasn't taken the right away). [ via Risks Digest ]...
