Anger fades. This is both a 'good' thing and a bad one. After all it's no fun to go through life as angry as I am (trust me on this). Angry at our so-called 'leaders' who mouth pieties and platitudes while not taking actions which would give our species the slenderest chance of survival. Angry... Continue Reading →
“You’ve had your fun” – on emotions, rituals and resistance #USSStrike
So, the USS strike moves into its fourth week, with more industrial action likely. I've just lost a small gig because of it, but am not on the breadline yet. For the Vice Chancellors to climb down now, and admit that their scare campaign around the pension scheme is based on the rubberiest of figures... Continue Reading →
IAM what IAM – on models, muddles and human failure.
Six weeks or so I went to a talk by a man I respect immensely. I knew exactly what I would be getting – he's delivered basically the same talk every time I've seen him, going back over a decade. He explains what we need to do, starting now (we should have started decades ago,... Continue Reading →
Brilliant neglected book: “Ecological Pioneers” #Australia #environment
I like to believe I've read a lot these three and a half years (even by my own somewhat Rabelaisian standards). Specifically, on the Australian environment movement/climate change/climate policy etc. I've read a few excellent books, a few stinkers and lots in between (thankfully mostly at the 'excellent' end, and towering piles of journal articles... Continue Reading →
Tom Uren and the class war
So, to my shame I don't know enough about people like Tom Uren. That shall be rectified #afterthethesis. For now, this, from a speech he gave in 2007, which touches on his time as a POW working on the Burma railway. Talk about natural experiments... "There are many people and experiences that have nurtured my... Continue Reading →
Dodgy Academic Concepts #94: “Digital Haussmanisation” and the 21st century city
When I'm not Finishing My Damn Thesis (FMDT), I either watch Roger Federer doing his ballet/ice-skating combo, or else have interesting conversations with supervisors and friends. Via a post-supervision chat I found myself uttering the phrase "digital Haussmanisation." Let me "unpack" that, with complete sentence structure and so on. For hundreds of years (longer?) elites... Continue Reading →
Lobbying, lies, prostitution, disruption #climate – extraordinary truth-telling
The problem with studying the rich (well, one of many) is that access is hard. So you end up relying on leaks and whisteblowers. Both can be deeply problematic. But every so often the curtain DOES get pulled back. With Australia and climate change two great examples are a) the leaking of the minutes of... Continue Reading →
Max Weber nails it on politics, natch #stupidity
"Only he has the calling for politics who is sure that he will not crumble when the world from his point of view is too stupid or base for what he wants to offer." Reminds me of "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert... Continue Reading →
Advice to activists – “Educate yourselves first” Gary Foley
Garey Foley advice to activists- Educate Yourselves first... This is well worth a watch.
What would a genuinely “empowering” #OpenState look like? @JayWeatherill
On Wednesday morning Jay Weatherill and 200 or so of Adelaide’s soi-disant cognoscenti gathered at Adelaide Oval, scene of triumph, disaster and foreigners hurling dangerous things at locals. Everyone was there for the launch of the programme of the second ‘Open State’ festival, which will chart the potential triumphs and disasters of our species as it careens into the 21st century, with... Continue Reading →
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