Category: the daily column

The $700 billion bail-out of the US banks and their ‘toxic loans’ is not exactly universally acclaimed:

For years now, they’ve told us that we can’t afford—that the government providing healthcare to all people is just unimaginable; it can’t be done. We don’t have the money to rebuild our infrastructure. We don’t have the money to wipe out poverty. We can’t do it. But all of a sudden, yeah, we do have $700 billion for a bailout of Wall Street.

and

The idea—we didn’t cover insurance … for four million kids, because Bush vetoed it and said $7 billion was too much to spend [on] health insurance, for four million kids, but now they can throw $700 billion at these banks, and they say we can’t even have hearings about it.

(via)

The problem of ‘moral hazard’ is even greater with this proposed package than just a prop-up loan as given to Goldmans and Morgans, or the sharply targeted buyout of AIG ($85b loan at 11% p.a. for 80% control of a company with assets close to $1 trillion), . The idea that the government take responsibility for the worst of the excess just promises that this will happen again, in one form or another.

Today is the kind of day that makes slogging through the winter (such as it is in Australia) all that much more worthwhile. The sun is out in force, the skies are blue with a hint of cloud, and there’s a warm breeze that makes the shade that much more perfect, and out in the open entirely bearable.

It’s days like these…

And so another year passes…

These things are going faster and faster every time, I swear.

More marvelous-ness from the Daily Show, having a field day at the RNC:

(Skip ahead to the 4 min mark to get the juicy bit).

Haven’t had one of these in a while, so I thought I’d fill you in on the excitement that’s been happening lately.

I got a MacBook Pro.

Um.

Er…. *scratches head*

Yes, that is just about it. I really, really got nothing. I can’t even say “settling back in to Sydney” because now it’s been nigh on 6 months and I have no excuses. The scary part is that it’s well over a year since I was over in London (I feel like I’ve mentioned this before…). Work continues apace – it’s been a bit nutso lately, as the pressures mount on time and my abilities, but somewhat like assignments at uni I’ve been managing to scrape in at the last minute.

This will catch up to me, one day. Today is not that day, and neither will Monday be. Tuesday, not so sure.

The other thing fun about work is that we’re now regularly playing cards, in a misguided attempt to forget the views we lost. We’re playing 500 at lunch, a game I’d never heard of before, but allegedly it’s “the most popular card game in Australia” (Wikipedia) – go figure. It makes up for a lot when you have people at work that don’t just clock-in-clock-out on the friendship.

On every other front, things are on the boringly staid side of normal. There are some that are vicariously stupendously complicated and unable to be discussed in public. These things I’d love to have a rant about, things I’d love to talk through, but being of sensitive nature to others, it would be insensitive to discuss with y’all, probably even in private.

(and before you get too excited, let me remind you of the meaning of ‘vicarious’)

So in summary, just your stock standard old life. Better luck next week? :)

I live just beyond a stone’s throw from Sydney’s biggest army barracks/training area, Holsworthy, and occasionally they do training exercises which are a little… loud. Like this morning, when someone decided a bright idea would be to have a heavy munitions drill within window-rattling distance of the residential areas.

Goooooooooooood morning Holsworthy! Hope you enjoy the sound of multi-inch shells blowing up bits of the countryside while you’re having your corn flakes.

Having recently read Tomorrow, When the War Began, I wonder whether I’m being a little paranoid in considering whether, in the event of an invasion, I would be first to know (since it’s the army barracks after all), or the last to know (since these things go on all the time).

It’s one of those things you’d like to know, ideally.

Kottke points out, on the occasion of NASA’s 50th birthday, that it took 11 years to get people on the moon.

Eleven years, from scratch.

Three years after, they were on Mars. I’m beginning to think we’re getting quite a bit lazier and impatient even than people were 40 years ago (compared to medieval times, that’s a given).

Maybe I’m just being picky here, but I think someone needs to hand the Catholic church a dictionary for “World Youth Day”, as it is neither “World”, what with only being Catholic and all, nor “Youth”, what with 40-60% of attendees at least over 30, nor a single friggen “Day”. Nor are the attendees allegedly “pilgrims”, given there is no Catholic holy site in Sydney for them to pilgrim-age to, unless the Pope is a walkin’ talkin’ holy site.

I’d found The Presidents‘ new CD at my local JB Hifi the other day, and listening to it in the car on the way back I got to thinking how rare this brand of what I call “fun rock” is – rock-type music that’s reasonably upbeat and light-hearted. I’ve got a very limited library of it, mostly made up of The Presidents and Do As Infinity (sadly, no longer together).

There has to be more of this stuff out there though. To that end, I ask you, dear friend, to have a listen to a sampling of fun rock on my muxtape and tell me where I can find more of this kind of stuff. I don’t know what exactly it’s called – perhaps alternative? – but it’s the polar opposite of both Emo and “heavy metal” and its ilk. The song’s gotta make you smile, make you tap your foot along to it on the train. I’ve heard good things about MGMT for example, but not really sure what their fun rock songs are.

All suggestions welcome!