Dickensian hypocrisy reigns with UK Homelessness Minister

There is something delicious here which would make a fab short story. The Minister for Homelessness evicts her tenants then jacked up the rent. A classic example of evil in the late capitalism period. “Britain’s minister for homelessness has been forced to resign over reports she evicted tenants from a property she owned and then…

Large algae blooms in SA tell a darker story

Adelaide’s media wants to blame Beijing, Canberra, sex offenders, hoon drivers, the poor, the GST, etc, for the devastating algae blooms across 100s of kilometres of South Australian coast line. Adelaide is the Flint, Michigan of Australia – but we’ll all go together when we go. We’ve ‘seen’ this before in the lead up to…

Nostalgia is eating us alive and we’re vomiting up the past

This story was in The Guardian (Australia) recently, written by Martin Ingle. Some years ago I made the same observation for a newspaper in Adelaide. There’s no forward drive, no optimism in film and writing. Same old depressing, naval-gazing stuff. “There has been much talk about our hunger for a “return to optimism”. Our world…

The choice: ocean wind farms vs nuclear reactors

This election Australians have a stark and historical choice: vote for Dutton and his seven nuclear reactors or build ocean wind farms off the coast. The Coalition reckons reducing the roll out of renewable energy, extending the life of ageing coal plants and building publicly funded nuclear plants after 2040, will be cheaper and more…

Pollies silent on AI

In the next five to 10 years, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will transform every sector of Australian society, from the cars we drive, the books we read, to the jobs we work. Yet the two major parties in the federal election have failed to detail how AI will be managed, if at all. It’s like…