The drought resistant philosopher

Australian internet filter dead in water

2010-08-06T13:01:00.001+10:00

Forners may not be aware of an extremely boring federal election in Australia right now. Indeed, few Australians seem aware of this. This is as it should be. Elections that are Interesting usually turn out to be Dangerous. But there is one good that has come out of this. The Coalition of conservative parties has decided not to support the mandatory internet filter. Given that the party most

The first casualty

2010-07-26T15:59:00.001+10:00

The increasing intention of western and non-western governments to censor the internet is usually put in terms of "child protection", although it is very unlikely to be affected by censorship, merely by using uncensorable techniques like Torrents. But one has to wonder if the real reason is more to do with preventing this sort of thing. It turns out that we have been lied to about civilian

A letter to the PM

2010-07-05T11:10:00.001+10:00

It turns out you can write to the Prime Minister via an online form, Roger Lamb pointed out to me and others via Twitter. Here's what I wrote: Policies that will make me not vote Labor Dear Prime Minister Congratulations on your accession to the office. I am impressed that you eschew faux religiosity and do not apologise for your marital state. It's about time we had such honesty in our

Cardinal Fang gives notpology, and evades real problem

2010-07-05T09:32:00.001+10:00

Cardinal Fang, also known as George Pell the Ignorant, has avoided an apology (at least his Melbourne colleague gave one) for child abuse by priests int he Catholic Church, on the grounds that he did that already, and isn't it time to move on? George, if you have any decency at all, open up the Church's correspondence on pedophilia. Let us know what the Church knew, when and who. Hide no details.

Parenting and the law

2010-06-26T16:36:00.001+10:00

Sydney Morning Herald has a couple of well expressed opinion pieces about legal aspects of adoption by homosexual parents and on abusive fathers and the Family Law Act. Both are sensible and you should read them.

On recent developments, and a prospective

2010-06-25T10:38:00.001+10:00

So, we have a woman PM. I'm not particularly impressed by that - we should have had equal representation in the Parliament thirty years ago and it's no great achievement to get a female executive now. We beat the US. Hoobloodyray. But that she is unashamedly unmarried, and took the affirmation rather than the Anglican Oath, now that impresses me. I wonder how long it will take for Cardinal Fang

On preventing illegal content

2010-05-14T11:56:00.001+10:00

Stephen Collins of EFA has a nice post to follow up Scott Ludlam's excellent speech to Parliament, in which he notes that the filter will not prevent child porn, and that there are more effective ways to deal with it. Here's my one-line summary: The mandatory filter is a way to avoid having to do anything substantive about porn, because that would take effort, money and not get politicians a

On bogans

2010-05-05T23:14:00.001+10:00

When I was a lad, before colour television or unleaded petrol, a "bogan" was an entirely unknown beast. Now, there's a guide. I strongly recommend it to watchers of this exotic fauna...

Ludlam gets Conroy to admit the filter is useless

2010-05-04T20:53:00.001+10:00

The money quote: Folks, we're spending a lot of money to build a small empire for which the emperor has already declared failure; and yet he persists.

Filtering to be run for the Christians?

2009-12-01T13:01:00.001+11:00

Over at the EFA site, Colin Jacobs points out some worrying facts, like the Australian Christian Lobby getting briefed where the Rest of Us cannot be, about the Internet Filter. Here's what he said: One of the reasons EFA so opposes the Government’s mandatory ISP-level filtering scheme, of course, is that once it’s in place, special interests will be knocking on the Minister’s door seeking to

Rudd to oppose ACT gay marriage laws

2009-11-25T19:33:00.001+11:00

Just as the first legal gay marriages happen in the ACT, Rudd has decided he will block those laws. Listen carefully, Mr PM. You. Don't. Have. That. Right. You were elected to handle federal laws and issues, not state laws, and if a state democratically passes a law that permits Australian citizens who presently lack the same rights under law as other Australians enjoy, you do not have the right

Well that kills the Greens for me

2009-11-24T17:06:00.001+11:00

The father of the modern attempt to censor the internet in Australia has, in a stunning case of hypocrisy, attacked the Labor government for its secrecy over internet filtering. Yep, Clive Hamilton! But there's worse to come! The Greens have made him their candidate for the Higgins by-election! Fuck 'em, I say. I will no longer touch or trust the Greens as a party if they can take that

Conroy's memory lapse

2009-09-22T12:57:00.001+10:00

Usually, when someone forgets on the stand some crucial bit of information, we call it evasion. A convenient lapse of memory has now been had by Stephen Conroy, who now says (in the Senate, no less) that he never intended to filter peer-to-peer internet traffic. Since this is how the child pornographers he is using as a convenient justification for government control over the internet in

Shock jocks on radio and decency

2009-09-17T16:32:00.001+10:00

"At long last, sir, have you no decency?" That was the question that finally brought down that weasel Joseph McCarthy in his vile campaign to make anyone who was not right wing and equally vile isolated and marginalised in the US. His success can be seen in the present American vile right wing. So Kyle the Vile Sandilands has been suspended for four weeks. Whooptifuckingdoo. Why hasn't he been

Scientologists want to gag anonymous criticism

2009-09-17T15:16:00.001+10:00

This is not news, of course, because they have always tried to harrass and gag critics using legal and other means, but now they want the Australian legal system to do it for them. From here, which has some links you ought to read if you don't already know the back story.

Anonymous threaten dDoS against the federal government

2009-09-10T00:06:00.001+10:00

It looks like the hacking group that attacked the Scientologists are going to do the same thing to Labor's government websites. I don't approve of this, because it means that Labor on the one hand will retreat into their shell and blame the hacking community for the ills of the internet. The best way to win this is for people to vote and protest. And on the other hand it is, after all, illegal,

On preventive censorship versus punishment

2009-09-02T16:54:00.003+10:00

In the last few years, there has been an increasing tendency of so-called democratic governments to increase the amount of control they have over their population, under the guise of various "emergencies": terrorism, child pornography and of course a slightly more honest concern over property rights. Just today, the Australian attempt to mandatorily censor all internet feeds to eliminate child

Oppose the anti-gays on marriage

2009-08-27T15:06:00.001+10:00

The current Senate Inquiry into Marriage Equality has just been swamped by thousands of anti-gay submissions from the Religious Right. The inquiry is just about to close for submissions. It aims to gauge the level of public support for marriage equality across Australia. Does anti-gay discrimination have any place in our secular laws? If you think not, go here and register your PoV. Hat tip to

Who should be the next advertising face of Australia?

2009-08-26T22:09:00.001+10:00

This guy: Just mail me my $20 million, please.

Corby and the media

2009-08-25T12:06:00.001+10:00

Are we supposed to feel sorry for Corby now? Is the media's continuing obsession over her "plight" (but not the less camera-friendly Bali Nine) another beatup by a family that has been pretty good at manipulating it? Let's face it, if Corby looked like the woman who is looking after her, Renae Lawrence [see pic], she'd be ignored just as much as they are. But Lawrence is taking it like an adult.

More funding for Brethren schools

2009-08-20T17:15:00.001+10:00

This is pretty fucking disgusting, but it only highlights the wrongness of funding religious schools any differently to state schools. If you fund a Catholic school you have no argument against funding all religious schools, including the cults. We should insist upon funded schools following a tight secular curriculum and not proselytising. That would sort 'em out.

The great Australian Starhunt

2009-08-19T21:12:00.001+10:00

My mate Ian Musgrave, who is too clever for six ordinary people, has sent me this: The Big Aussie Starhunt is well underway! I did my survey tonight, the first chance I've had with the clouds and kids. The Big Aussie Starhunt is a Australia wide event to get people more familiar with our wonderful night sky, and to raise awareness of light pollution so it's well worth participating . All you have

China is smarter than Kevin Rudd

2009-08-14T12:44:00.001+10:00

Because they will make their internet filtering optional. You know, personal choice and freedom optional?

The Malaysia PM is smarter than Rudd

2009-08-13T13:16:00.001+10:00

He, at least, realises that an internet filter will not work to stop child porn.

The gods or whoever bless Dick Smith

2009-08-07T22:46:00.000+10:00

For this ad on vaccination. Also see Phil Plait's post.

Labor compromise turns down gay marriage

2009-08-01T15:10:00.001+10:00

As reported by the ABC. One question? Why? What possible argument against gay marriage can there be? How is it not discrimination to prevent adults from marrying who they choose? What is motivating the ALP? There can be only one answer: religion. Yes, the ALP is now Kevin Rudd's personal religious evangelising ground.

More tales of incompetent filtering

2009-07-29T12:46:00.001+10:00

So, the NSW Education Department put internet filters on school computers. The outcome? Students may access porn sites, but not educational or government sites. Lesson #1: anything administered automatically can be mistyped... Meanwhile, gay groups are waiting to see if their [legal] sites are going to be barred. They have every right to be concerned. Lesson # 2: If bureaucrats are the ones who

Censordyne for a clean internet

2009-07-09T12:26:00.001+10:00

GetUp has an amusing and pointed "ad" here. Go see it. Contribute also,

Rudd to lobby Dalai Lama

2009-07-07T20:33:00.001+10:00

In news to hand, the Prime Minster, Kevin Rudd, is dropping in on the Dalai Lama to lobby for the next Panchen Lama to be an Australian. He's also visiting London to ensure that the next Archbishop of Canterbury comes from Sydney.

Paul Syvret nails it

2009-07-07T14:12:00.001+10:00

At The Courier Mail no less: It's idiocy. Offer, and that means offer not impose, filtering for children's net use by all means but let adults decide for themselves what they want to watch, play and talk about, or buy online. When even a News Unlimited paper can say it, it's freaking obvious, right? Nah. Labor will continue as before, you watch.

How to tell if your country is illiberal

2009-07-02T16:26:00.001+10:00

When the People's Republic of China is less censorial censorious than your own country, you might be living in an unfree country. The PRC has bowed to demands by its own users and not put the Green Dam Youth Escort internet filtering software mandatorily on every computer sold in its borders. Meanwhile, it turns out that the Great Wall of Australia will filter out adult games, including Second

Internet censorship shock! Well, not really

2009-06-27T15:35:00.001+10:00

So the wider public have realised what the internet filter is really going to be used for - to filter out entertainment some censorship committee thinks you, as adults, shouldn't be exposed to. Games, of course, but who thinks it will stop there? Look, the principles here are obvious: stop censorship altogether, and if people do things that are criminal, prosecute them. No committee appointed by

Are Australians racist?

2009-06-13T17:32:00.001+10:00

Recently, departing Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo claimed that Australians were racist, and the media went spare. Then along came the attacks on Indian, and it later turned out also Chinese, students. There are hints that this is due to Lebanese gangs. What is going on here? Is Australia racist? Yes. Yes, we are. Not just against Asians, but against any non-majority group. The very structure of

Conroy shifts ground. Film at 11

2009-05-27T14:42:00.001+10:00

Smartcompany magazine is reporting that Conroy has shifted ground in a Senate estimates committee meeting. I'm shocked! Shocked! I say. [Late note - Christians upset, film at 12] Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said in a Senate estimates committee yesterday that the Government could take two approaches to introducing a scheme, one mandatory and one voluntary. "Mandatory ISP filtering

More on the ACMA censorship of political content

2009-05-08T15:17:00.000+10:00

The Register has a good piece here. They note that this means that even linking to content rather than having it is sufficient to attract the $11,000/day fine, and ask how many hops are sufficient to be OK. If I link to a site that links to a site that links to the offending (in this case anti-abortion) site, am I liable? This gets more fucking ridiculous by the day.

I hope he was pushed

2009-05-06T13:27:00.001+10:00

So Mick Keelty is going early and the panegyrics are starting up. I believe Keelty's spineless subjugation to the political interference of the previous government, and his opportunism in gaining "special powers" for the AFP, have been among the greatest disasters to Rule of Law in Australia, and have gone a long way to re-establishing the "special branch" mentality of the old style of policing

Political censorship of internet linkage begins in Australia

2009-05-05T16:02:00.001+10:00

The host ISP of Electronic Frontiers Australia has been served a take-down notice for linking to an R-rated "blackbanned" site, itself not in Australia, in a page that was a political comment on the merits (or demerits, rather) of mandatory internet filtering in Australia. I put the entire text of their notice below. This is exactly what we were told would never happen by the minister. It is

Don't trust filterware

2009-05-05T12:52:00.001+10:00

They can cause a major problem of national security. Incidentally this is who we are emulating.

Keating's Mistake to be rectified

2009-04-07T14:43:00.001+10:00

Back when privatisation was all the rage, even for left-wingers like Paul Keating, Telstra was sold partially to investors (and boy, didn't they get a bargain!). At the same time, other telecommunications companies were permitted to compete. But there was a real flaw in this bit of economic rationalism: Telstra still owned the exchanges, the PSTN and the other infrastructural components needed,

Filtering with an electric kettle

2009-04-04T13:51:00.001+11:00

“Trying to filter the Internet is as effective as boiling the ocean with an electric kettle.” From here.

Zombies eat Sydney again

2009-04-04T13:18:00.001+11:00

Another power outage leaves folks stuck in elevators again. The Premier obviously hasn't read his Pratchett, because he said, “I was told the other day that the chances of this happening again were one in a million. So I am seriously unhappy.” All us Pratchett fans know that a million-to-one chance happens nine times out of ten.

Here it comes...

2009-04-03T16:31:00.001+11:00

Gird your loins, boys and girls, and strap yourself in; we're in for a bumpy ride. The Cleanfeed nonsense is spreading. Now the EU wants to impose it. Given that the agenda here is control rather than protection, I foresee an increase in censorship of the free internet over the next few years. I wonder who benefits from that? Oh yes...

Who are the voters to say what is "appropriate"?!

2009-03-23T13:52:00.000+11:00

From Gizmodo:

Iran - what Australia can aspire to be

2009-03-22T18:15:00.001+11:00

See this.

Update on the "leaked list"

2009-03-22T03:17:00.001+11:00

Wikileaks, bless them, are now saying that they have a new copy of the blacklist, and that ACMA did a massive cleanup to drop the number of links from over 2000 to around 1200. It looks like the minister was, dare we say it, lying about this. Whirlpool have the story here. They also point out how stupid it is for the minister and ACMA to threaten a Swedish site with Australian prosecution,

Not "smacks of" Big Brother; is Big Brother

2009-03-21T13:24:00.000+11:00

Helen Razor has a nice article in the Melbourne Age taking down Conroy's hubris, but the subeditor who put the title "Net filter smacks of Big Brother" missed the point. This is Big Brother. Helen's final line gets it just right: Don't even try to argue with Conroy about his Clean Feed. When it comes to debate on internet safety, he appears every bit as flexible as an evangelical toothpick.

That's not the real blacklist, but you can't see what is

2009-03-20T14:19:00.001+11:00

Really minister? We are supposed to take your word that the leaked list on Wikileaks is not the real one because you tell us there's a different number of links on the "real" list? Why would we believe you? You have steadfastly refused to countenance any criticism and have declared opponents like me to be supporters of child pornography, just because you don't want to hear us. We should take your

Censorship outright now

2009-03-19T20:53:00.003+11:00

I have put my post up at Evolving Thoughts for reasons given there. Note, however, that Wikileaks is now blocked from Australia - with no legislation behind it! We are long past potential censorship and into the worst excesses of the 1950s. Funny; I thought Howard was the regressive PM.

In defence of liberty

2009-03-18T11:57:00.001+11:00

I urge you all to go read Russell Blackford submission to the Human Rights consultative committee. It covers well the issues brought about by the recent rolling back of civil liberties to combat "terrorism" and "religious vilification" and the like.

A balanced view on internet safety

2009-03-17T15:13:00.001+11:00

Here's an essay by Peter Chen at Online Opinion that gives a good summary of the issues, concerns and problems with internet filtering and safety. I recommend it. But one thing Chen does not address that I think is crucial here is the legal principle of not punishing people for criminal acts before they are committed. By inhibiting people's rights to see what they want online, so long as it is

Queensland back to being stupid

2009-03-10T23:57:00.001+11:00

I have just left Queensland, where the weather and landscape are wonderful but spoiled in virtue of being inhabited by, you know, Queenslanders*. So I expect this kind of stupidity: Here's a guy who has no criminal history, has done no harm to, nor promoted harm to, children or anyone else so far as we can tell. He faces twenty years in jail: for embedding on his site a video, with caveats and

And they will still shift Dexter

2009-03-10T14:16:00.000+11:00

Freeview: More of the Same Sh#tby DanIlic

Filtering elsewhere

2009-03-09T14:03:00.000+11:00

In one of those wonderful headlines, like "Fog in Channel; Continent cut off", the NY Times has noted that Europe is helpfully "test run"ning net neutrality for US providers and lawmakers... Maybe they will thank Australia for test running censorship in general?

GetUp!

2009-02-20T17:54:00.001+11:00

Hamilton: Free speech has no place in a democracy

2009-02-19T12:18:00.002+11:00

Clive Hamilton, propounder of all that is evil about the "Clean Feed", has determined that as well as not being able to shout "Fire!" in a crowded cinema, citizens of democracies also have no right to the internet. It seems that censorship, which we all thought was a necessary evil to be used sparingly and not at all for adults who are doing legal things that harm none, is in fact the foundation

What is so bad about the internet?

2009-01-30T10:13:00.001+11:00

Even the Christians realise that internet filtering is not going to protect kids. The very conservative Christianity Canada has a piece in which it is pointed out that no filtering is a substitute for parental oversight and education. Meanwhile, Crikey again notes that the proponents of mandatory internet filtering are the Christian Right. Why is the ALP, a left wing social democrat party, trying

Filters are already being used for political purposes

2009-01-26T16:42:00.001+11:00

Crikey reports a case in which some people whose ISPs are trialling the ACMA blacklist cannot now reach an anti-abortion site with graphic images. Whatever one thinks of prolifers, their views are not illegal, and should not be censored. If we do not stand up to political censorship now, no matter who is being censored, then we have no standing when those who administer the List (which may not at

Filtering mania spreads to Germany, and the Demon screwup

2009-01-17T15:49:00.000+11:00

Germany is not known as a bastion of individual freedom and rights - the interests of corporate entities like "the community" and "the state" are deeply protected there. So it comes as no surprise that Germany's Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen is working towards an internet filter (where it did come as a surprise that Australia would have one, until you reflect on the lack of protection of

While we're thinking of the children, don't worry

2009-01-15T13:56:00.004+11:00

The Minister for Clean Feed Censorship has closed down the "opt-in" filtering scheme actually in place, which was established by the previous (Coalition) government. So now while we wait for the mandatory filter to fail its tests and get implemented anyway, parents relying on the prior scheme will find their kids are not "protected". Quelle surprise!Derek Bambauer of the Brooklyn Law School lays

Update on filtering

2009-01-06T16:00:00.002+11:00

A nice critical essay by David Kennedy at Ovum here gives some of the history and context of moves to filter the internet by governments. He notes that the original proposal the Clean Feed Party - sorry, the ALP - actually took to the election was merely a proposal for a trial, not a mandatory filtering. In the meantime, the ALP's model of Clean Feeds - PRC China - has vowed to clean up the

The Great Wall of Australia update

2009-01-04T16:42:00.001+11:00

Just to keep up to date, the international media are expressing their incredulity that we'd do this, just as similar moves appear in limited form in the UK and USA: Here's an example of the identification of internet freedom with being pro-kiddie-p_rn reported by Zero Paid: Australian Internet Filtering Plan Will Be Mandatory for Everyone - No Opt-Out. PC Mag has a short piece about Burnham's "

The road to hell

2008-12-30T15:51:00.000+11:00

In the final chapter of Terry Pratchett's Eric, the wizard Rincewind and the boy Eric are climbing out of hell on steep steps. He looked down at the broad steps they were climbing. They were something of a novelty; each one was built out of large stone letters. The one he was just stepping onto, for example, read: I Meant It For The Best. The next one was: I Thought You'd Like It. Eric

Peer to peer next. After that, email?

2008-12-24T14:43:00.001+11:00

Conroy has finally responded to criticisms that URL filtering is a fail by saying "Well, we'll also filter peer to peer". But how? What filters can tell if child p-rn is being sent across the intertubes? Only a human can tell, which suggests a whole department of internet censors. Is anyone feeling 1984ish yet? Will they next read all our emails? I have a hypothesis: this isn't about p-rn. It's

The lies of the internet censors: Your. Filter. Won't. Work.

2008-12-17T15:43:00.001+11:00

The title is the title of a nice essay at Crikey. I especially like this: Bernadette McMenamin of ChildWise, you've crossed the line, defaming everyone who’s protested the government’s plans. "Most of these people are not fully aware of the facts and secondly, those who are aware are, in effect, advocating child p-rnography," you said. How dare you! Ms McMenamin, to really stop child abuse

Why copyright is censorship

2008-12-16T17:33:00.001+11:00

Here's an excellent discussion by Lawrence Lessig on the creeping nature of regulation through copyright. Quite apart from anything else it's an amazing use of presentation software. Sure, it's 2002, but things have only got worse...

No shit?

2008-12-15T15:19:00.001+11:00

Here's an article, by MSN no less, that explains the problems with broad filtering. A fellow named Herman Libshitz can't get an email account from Verizon because his name contains "shit". Residents of Scunthorpe in the UK apparently have similar problems. God only knows what the residents of Testiclebreastpenisvaginaville can do...

Rudd does too little on climate change

2008-12-15T15:00:00.001+11:00

I received this from GetUp today. I wonder if the politicians recognise that no amount of economic manoeuvring or political RealPolitik will avoid the laws of nature? If we do too little, then our children - not even our grandchildren but the very next generation - will suffer and badly. The ALP (sorry, the Clean Feed Censorship Party) is starting to look like More of the Very Same... again.

Latest bits on the Clean Feed

2008-12-14T12:21:00.000+11:00

I have an infected foot, and couldn't attend the protest yesterday. If anyone has pics and info (for any city) let me know. Late note: APC has an article with pics of the Sydney event here. The New York Times is now reporting the Clean Feed proposal. A PC World blogger has attacked it here. Blog Critics blogger Jonathon Scanlan has a discussion on the feed here. Greg Laden has a discussion of the

Latest on Clean Feed

2008-12-12T00:48:00.001+11:00

There's a nationwide series of protests this coming Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm. Take a hat, some sunscreen and a drink and go along. I'll be at the Brisbane one. A number of bloggers' efforts against the Clean Feed are reported by the Sydney Morning Herald. They missed me, of course... Conroy is evading questions about the trial, according to the Australian. But on a day when actual child

Human Rights in Australia

2008-12-11T14:31:00.002+11:00

GetUp! is running the following campaign as part of the government's consultation process on Human Rights. Support and contribute to it. Dear friends,Today, as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, we've been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to ensure that human rights are finally protected in Australia. It sounds unbelievable, but Australia is the only

Latest clean feed objections

2008-12-11T12:47:00.002+11:00

Telstra has said they will not participate in the trials, arguing that it is unable to due to "customer management issues".Are they worried that customers used in the trial might sue them? I would. A child protection agency, Childwise, attacked this as a bad decision, but I think this is the "Somebody Think of the Children" motivation in play, not any considered judgement. Sage-Au, the sysadmin

Technical reasons against the Clean Feed

2008-12-07T14:27:00.001+11:00

From Ars Technica:Here's an idea: if the Australian government actually finds child porn, nuclear bomb making manuals, and the like on the Internet, why not do their best to find the perpetrators and put them behind bars? That way we get to keep our free speech and have less crime and terrorism, rather than less of the former without actually reducing the latter. Then again, imposing restrictions

GetUp! raises a lot of cash

2008-12-07T13:21:00.000+11:00

I trust The Brisbane Times won't mind me including their whole story - it is important because it is one of the few media outlets to note that Conroy still refuses to answer questions about ISP filtering, which is due to commence on 24 December (merry Christmas! Your present is a fail of internet). Parliament has now risen for the year, which means that no matter what the trials indicate and no

Opposition to ISP filtering now from Telstra

2008-12-06T13:57:00.002+11:00

When the 600lb gorilla objects, even the Clean Feed Feds must pay attention, right? TELSTRA chief operating officer Greg Winn says the federal Government's attempt to censor the internet is akin to trying to "boil the ocean". "My view on that is that's like trying to boil the ocean ... to think that you're going to be able to centrally filter everything, I think that's a pipe dream," Mr Winn told

It's the end of the world as he knows it

2008-12-05T11:02:00.002+11:00

This is just embarrassing. Here's a representative of Parliament in the ALP, which I have noted before is increasingly pandering to religious interests: LABOR MP James Bidgood, the first-time MP under investigation for selling pictures of a protester attempting to set fire to himself outside Parliament House, has declared the global financial crisis an act of God. Mr Bidgood, who was carpeted by

ISP filtering opposition grows in the MSM

2008-12-04T13:01:00.001+11:00

So we are starting to see more objections to the "Clean Feed": The GetUp campaign has attracted the attention of the Fairfax Media (The Melbourne Age) and also an OpEd. Blogger Josh Catone at Sitepoint attacks it from Rhode Island, with many comments by readers. And a really badly designed news feed service for Australia, Australia.to, also reports negatively.

The Policy policy, and a Bill of Rights

2008-12-04T12:59:00.002+11:00

When my kids were in school, I noticed an interesting phenomenon that went something like this: Headmaster: No, your kids can't be being bullied. We have a policy against bullying. I came to call this the "Policy policy": so long as there's a Policy in place for some longstanding problem, action is unnecessary and complainants can be silenced by reference to the Policy. The Sydney Morning

Welcome

2008-12-04T12:31:00.004+11:00

This blog will be my Australian rants - things that are of interest solely to Australians and those who engage in the Australian polity. It will be different from my Evolving Thoughts blog in that there will be some but not much biology and philosophy, and a lot of opinion... err, wait... that may not be much of a difference. Anyway, enjoy. I'll repost some of my previous posts from ET in a while