Daniel Petre has pretty much nailed the Australian Disease here.
One of the best bits is this quote from Warren Buffet.
"My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it services our country well ... I've worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mispricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate's distribution of long straws is wildly capricious".
Read the story and weep - and see why our culture needs all the help it can get.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Things to do
Memo to Julia - here is something to add to your To-Do list for after August 21st.
When allocating your ministry you will need to put someone with experience, balls and brains in charge of communications.
And the first thing the new Minister should do is junk that internet filter - it was never going to fly and is a relic from Rudd's and Conroy's pandering to the religious right.
Job number two will be to speed up and bulletproof the rollout of the National Broadband Network to ensure that it can never again be jeopardised by the wowsers, the conservatives and those who seek to dumb down our nation.
Job number three will be to deal with our completely dysfunctional, biased and partisan media. Get on the phone to the moguls and their boards and read them the riot act. Tell them that you will legislate unless they fix up their game and give them six months to get their sh*t together.
And tell Rupert to start disposing of his Australian assets because he is not welcome here anymore.
And then get the ABC's Maurice Newman in for a cup of tea and tell him the same thing. Present him with a carrot as well as a big stick. If he puts his house in order then he will get some more funding - if he continues to play silly buggers then he will lose dollars - lots of them. That will focus the minds of the ABC Board and Management.
Job number four will be to claw back those license fee rebates that Rudd and Conroy used to *accommodate* the television moguls - because it clearly didn't work.
And when your new Minister has done these things then he or she should have a couple of years to relax a bit, sit back and monitor progress.
When allocating your ministry you will need to put someone with experience, balls and brains in charge of communications.
And the first thing the new Minister should do is junk that internet filter - it was never going to fly and is a relic from Rudd's and Conroy's pandering to the religious right.
Job number two will be to speed up and bulletproof the rollout of the National Broadband Network to ensure that it can never again be jeopardised by the wowsers, the conservatives and those who seek to dumb down our nation.
Job number three will be to deal with our completely dysfunctional, biased and partisan media. Get on the phone to the moguls and their boards and read them the riot act. Tell them that you will legislate unless they fix up their game and give them six months to get their sh*t together.
And tell Rupert to start disposing of his Australian assets because he is not welcome here anymore.
And then get the ABC's Maurice Newman in for a cup of tea and tell him the same thing. Present him with a carrot as well as a big stick. If he puts his house in order then he will get some more funding - if he continues to play silly buggers then he will lose dollars - lots of them. That will focus the minds of the ABC Board and Management.
Job number four will be to claw back those license fee rebates that Rudd and Conroy used to *accommodate* the television moguls - because it clearly didn't work.
And when your new Minister has done these things then he or she should have a couple of years to relax a bit, sit back and monitor progress.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A question or two for you
So why do you think that Rupert's little plaything - "The Australian" would peddle a newspaper full of lies all designed to discredit Labor and our PM Julia?
Lies that are easily demonstrated I might add - if we were to apply a little brainwork and some rigor and maths based analysis.
Do you think it is because the monk is doing so badly that he needs a bit of a *leg up* from Australia's most powerful ex-citizen - to help him get back in the game?
Or is Rupert so partisan and one eyed that he can't see the forest for the trees?
Perhaps the Sun King just doesn't like women?
Or do you think that if he manages to get the monk over the line that there might be a little *payola* at the end of it all?
I don't know either - but it is becoming rather tiresome.
If Rupert does succeed then this will probably be the first time that a political media campaign has successfully "fooled most of the people - most of the time".
Lies that are easily demonstrated I might add - if we were to apply a little brainwork and some rigor and maths based analysis.
Do you think it is because the monk is doing so badly that he needs a bit of a *leg up* from Australia's most powerful ex-citizen - to help him get back in the game?
Or is Rupert so partisan and one eyed that he can't see the forest for the trees?
Perhaps the Sun King just doesn't like women?
Or do you think that if he manages to get the monk over the line that there might be a little *payola* at the end of it all?
I don't know either - but it is becoming rather tiresome.
If Rupert does succeed then this will probably be the first time that a political media campaign has successfully "fooled most of the people - most of the time".
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Consensus Building
Quite a few commentators have berated Julia for her plan to establish a community consultation forum involving 150 *ordinary* Australians - to help gain consensus on what to do about the carbon problem.
Those who are against the idea point out that we already have such a forum in the Australian Federal Parliament. And the rest of us point out the obvious - those people can't agree on anything.
The Federal parliament is particularly ineffective - why? Because 150 odd years of *party* politics means that it is impossible to gain real consensus on anything much at all.
You want consensus? Get rid of the political parties and revert back to individuals representing their electorates.
But I do like Julia's idea. It is an attempt to remove the political puppeteers and bias from the process and it will also allow a real engagement with the Australian people over this "diabolical problem". It is a neat way of reducing the influence of the vested interests - and negating the lies that they have been peddling.
Plus the simple truth is that the power of Government is limited these days. We saw how vested interests combined to reduce the impact of the mining tax - big business is now much more powerful than our elected Government. So if the nation needs to introduce significant change - like a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme - then the *only* way to go about it is by gaining community consensus.
And this is especially so because many of our people either can't or won't inform themselves. If Australian's would only read the Stern and Garnaut reports then they would understand the problem and realise that early action is necessary. If they were to do that then they would be insisting our MP's take early action - but instead they seem to be more interested in MasterChef.
Now lets sit back and watch as every interest group attempts to subvert the process and impose *their* views on the forum.
Those who are against the idea point out that we already have such a forum in the Australian Federal Parliament. And the rest of us point out the obvious - those people can't agree on anything.
The Federal parliament is particularly ineffective - why? Because 150 odd years of *party* politics means that it is impossible to gain real consensus on anything much at all.
You want consensus? Get rid of the political parties and revert back to individuals representing their electorates.
But I do like Julia's idea. It is an attempt to remove the political puppeteers and bias from the process and it will also allow a real engagement with the Australian people over this "diabolical problem". It is a neat way of reducing the influence of the vested interests - and negating the lies that they have been peddling.
Plus the simple truth is that the power of Government is limited these days. We saw how vested interests combined to reduce the impact of the mining tax - big business is now much more powerful than our elected Government. So if the nation needs to introduce significant change - like a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme - then the *only* way to go about it is by gaining community consensus.
And this is especially so because many of our people either can't or won't inform themselves. If Australian's would only read the Stern and Garnaut reports then they would understand the problem and realise that early action is necessary. If they were to do that then they would be insisting our MP's take early action - but instead they seem to be more interested in MasterChef.
Now lets sit back and watch as every interest group attempts to subvert the process and impose *their* views on the forum.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Monk and his sloppy Joe
The only reason the monk and sloppy Joe are talking BS about Australia's public debt is because many of their constituents - aka rusted on Liberal voters - are apparently not smart enough to know that it is BS.
Why else would they rave on about something that is not at all significant? Why else would they *pretend* that our Government debt is both a problem and a bad thing?
It's simple really, they obviously don't have anything of substance to contribute and they think that their own constituency are too stupid to know any better. Now maybe the monk and Joe aren't that clever but I'll bet at least some Liberals voters can see through their smoke and mirrors.
There is a debt problem in Australia Virginia, but it has nothing to do with Government debt - as outlined here.
It is amazingly clear - even after 4 days of the campaign that the coalition leadership have no clue about the big issues facing the nation. Even their rusted on’s must have similar feelings and many of them will be wishing they had kept Malcolm in the top job.
But that's what happens people when you let the far right rule the roost and dictate terms to the rest of you.
Why else would they rave on about something that is not at all significant? Why else would they *pretend* that our Government debt is both a problem and a bad thing?
It's simple really, they obviously don't have anything of substance to contribute and they think that their own constituency are too stupid to know any better. Now maybe the monk and Joe aren't that clever but I'll bet at least some Liberals voters can see through their smoke and mirrors.
There is a debt problem in Australia Virginia, but it has nothing to do with Government debt - as outlined here.
It is amazingly clear - even after 4 days of the campaign that the coalition leadership have no clue about the big issues facing the nation. Even their rusted on’s must have similar feelings and many of them will be wishing they had kept Malcolm in the top job.
But that's what happens people when you let the far right rule the roost and dictate terms to the rest of you.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Project Plan
Project Plans are the bane of my life. Just about everything that I do is in response to a series of milestones that are documented in one or more project plans. But most of the people that I deal with have zero knowledge about what a project plan is - or how to create and interpret one.
And my main problem is that I deal with a lot of people who should know.
A project plan is just that. It is essentially a mixture of tasks, resources, dates and milestones that document the sequence of activities that are needed to complete the project.
It does usually require some specialised software to create but only needs an open mind to understand. But open minds are sometimes hard to find in this neck of the woods.
I often work with people who are required to provide the resources to complete the tasks to the timeline that is agreed in the plan. And that is sometimes too much for them.
Hey Virginia, I do understand that corporate life has a huge range of existing pressures and we can't always respond to a new one without a few months worth of navel gazing ;-)
What I usually find is that if people are encouraged to educate themselves then they will - and they will work out what a project plan is - mostly these people then become enthusiastic supporters.
But if there is no pressure to learn then usually they won't. And the boss will then complain bitterly because his project goes off the rails. Management is often the problem - and not always the solution.
I could write a book about this - and perhaps one day I will.
And my main problem is that I deal with a lot of people who should know.
A project plan is just that. It is essentially a mixture of tasks, resources, dates and milestones that document the sequence of activities that are needed to complete the project.
It does usually require some specialised software to create but only needs an open mind to understand. But open minds are sometimes hard to find in this neck of the woods.
I often work with people who are required to provide the resources to complete the tasks to the timeline that is agreed in the plan. And that is sometimes too much for them.
Hey Virginia, I do understand that corporate life has a huge range of existing pressures and we can't always respond to a new one without a few months worth of navel gazing ;-)
What I usually find is that if people are encouraged to educate themselves then they will - and they will work out what a project plan is - mostly these people then become enthusiastic supporters.
But if there is no pressure to learn then usually they won't. And the boss will then complain bitterly because his project goes off the rails. Management is often the problem - and not always the solution.
I could write a book about this - and perhaps one day I will.
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