I’m a troublemaker sometimes
Remember these old things? Sold by a real human, as I recall. I found this one in a book I dipped into last week. A book I never finished. Must have been there for six or seven years. The government announcement the other day of the board for the Public Transport Industry Ombudsman should have ... [More]
I’ve never been on a Critical Mass ride. Frankly my bike comes out rather too occasionally, and I think I’d be struggling to maintain the pace. But I was amused on Friday to hear that they were planning another ride on the tollway — this time over the Bolte Bridge. Some talkback radio hosts began ... [More]
…a man on death row, the night before his execution. Well, just a little. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow. It’ll probably start around dawn, which is fast approaching. It can’t be stopped. Better get some sleep while I can.
John Howard commented over the weekend that he thought parents were taking their kids out of government schools and moving to the independents because state schools are “too politically correct and too values-neutral”. What a crock of shit. Too politically correct? Values-neutral? What does that mean? That schools that don’t conform to Howard’s nostalgic vision ... [More]
I think it was Alexei Sayle who described people who regularly protested outside the South African embassy in London against the Apartheid regime. When Apartheid finally crumbled, they were shocked that they’d actually won, and didn’t know what to do anymore. Over in my little corner of activism land, three of us slogged our guts ... [More]
Tony Abbott has beenappointed the new head-kicking Minister for Health, and is getting a baptism of fire with the current debate over hospital funding and medical indemnity. So with that in mind, here is a short rant about health insurance from Daniel Bowen, private citizen. I have private health insurance. Government policy practically makes it ... [More]
Got an e-mail from an irate Net user who came across my diary pages and was outraged that my opinions are headlined as "Diary of an Average Australian". Apparently only people the only people with the right to call themselves Australian are those who believe all the immigrants (oh, only the recent ones – eg ... [More]
Well, there you go, the government’s done it. They have descended into complete stupidity. No, not the GST, I mean the way that somehow, some way, the Australian government has passed a bill through the Senate that suddenly magically makes the Internet for your grandmother to surf, without fear of wobbling fleshy images being thrust ... [More]
The state and federal governments have been splitting up government businesses and selling them off. To introduce competition, they say, to improve services. So now the Victorian police are having problems responding to crime. 45 minutes to get to a burglary, that sort of thing. So I was thinking… they should do the same thing: ... [More]
Well, that’s another election over and done with. Thank goodness that unbearably whiney Hanson has been denied a seat in parliament. Maybe now she’ll shut up – though I wouldn’t count on it. As it happens, we spotted Jeff Kennett on Saturday, in Geelong. It was from a distance, but definitely him – I’d recognise ... [More]
I’m baaaack! Actually I’m back a bit early. Just in time to put up with the dying gasps of the last few days of the election on Saturday (my local member really expects me to vote him back in with THAT beard and no moustache?!?), and no hot water or gas cooking because of a ... [More]
Is it just me, or does the Federal Government have absolutely no imagination? PM John Howard is trying his darndest to back Australia out of binding targets for greenhouse gas reduction, which quite frankly is pretty embarrassing to a lot of Australians, myself included. I mean, I can certainly commit myself to reducing my own ... [More]