My Global Economic review, mate.

After another month of quietly watching the markets, Fox Business News, etc, and generally trawling the internet time to throw in my 2c worth.

• You soon get to figure out who on Fox Business is a 'reporter' and who has some idea of what is going on. Very few actually know what is going on; the majority are just rabid rabble making noises. Most technical analysts are not worth ever listening to anyway, but now is the worst time. Technical analysis is mildy useful at best of times, snake oil at worst. Right now its almost completely useless, as they, like most commentators, do not understand that the entire western economic model is broken. They keep banging on based on their models of cycles from the last epoch, which is always the only basis that economic models can be devised from. What none of them realise is that global warming and resource depletion now needs to be factored into their models, and these issues will completely change the models. Current cycles are out. Remember "peak oil": last year's media buzzword. Anyone would think that it and global warming simply evaporated. They have not, and the only thing that might evaporate if we do not start thinking clearly and more broadly and globally, and modelling accordingly, is us. Also, it would be great to stop asking the same question over and over again: "Are we at the bottom yet?" They sound like the kids in the back seat the minute you leave your driveway: "Are we there yet?". "No, and we will not be for a long time yet, OK. So stop asking."
  
• Many people finally coming to realise that the root cause deeper than the US housing mortgage market. It lies in a fundamental issue of freedom aka "The American Dream", aka "I'm alright Jack", "Money is Power", "Greed is Good". Corruption is and has always been at the heart of the American system and to a degree the western conservative democratic system. This is a system whereby those at the top earn tens of millions p.a. while other workers earn then thousand times less, and in wanting to partake in the system that supports the billionaire, and average pleb all get into debt in sufficient volume that the whole system got put under strain. What kicked it over was an entire industry of gamblers, aka 'Investment Banks' etc, propped up by corrupt politicians who let them gamble away and bleed the system dry with dodgey financial instruments in the 'credit derivative' market: a phoney market that included "Credit Default Swaps" a fraudulent form of insurance, but so named to avoid insurance regulation.
  
• When the financial system collapsed in September 2008, public money was sent to the greedies whose finance houses failed, on pretexts that it is actually the public being saved! and that they the public might gain in the long run ("Thanks for your cash, sucker, it will be good for you one day, I promise."). Next other failing companies began lining up for a handout, in a domino fashion, as they had all moved over the years to a model of business via borrowings instead of business via actually owning assets and cash. "Please, " they say "we are broke. Can we have some money?" If they look viable, give them a loan, never a handout. If they are not viable, no matter who they are, let them stop. Let others replace them, and accept any short term disruption. "Survival of the fittest" is a fundamental law of nature, that we tinker with fundamental laws at our peril. In the long term, propping up failed systems will only harm us.
  
• This week the American car makers arrived at Congress via private jet, to beg for bailout of their hopelessly badly run companies, that persist in making last century's vehicles. The trouble was, they were so incompetent that they forgot to arrive with any good figures or a plan. How come these bums do not get fired? Because that is the way the system works, mate. It works nicely for them, mate. It keeps them flying. Plus, they can apply a blackmail argument that they are at a focal and therefore indispensible point within the economy where a large percentage of the workforce is currently dependent on their survival.
• Events move fast these days. These are the days of the internet, global communications, and millisecond response times across the planet. The trouble is that many people, particularly all those that work in institutions of any kind, cannot act with sufficient speed. Our institutions, from the UN to governments, are great places for noise and meetings. But are their systems too riddled with inertia and malaise to respond adequately to events.
  

Wall Street's 'Disaster Capitalism for Dummies'

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

"Wall Street's Disaster Capitalists screwed up, likely planned or let happen this meltdown and recession. Yet America's clueless taxpayers just reward them by giving the screw-ups massive bailouts, control over more than $2 trillion of tax money, and the power to clean up the mess they made."

...

"America is no longer a democracy. Voting is irrelevant. Best case scenario: We're a plutocracy, a government ruled by the wealthy, the richest 1%, the Forbes 400, the influential wealthy elite, while the other 99% are their "servants." Meanwhile, the inflation-adjusted income of wage-earners has declined for three decades."

Read the entire post.

Credit Default Swaps - 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'

In the world of corporate spin and greed, this might be the Grandaddy of all nefarious cons. If this is how the greedy rich get richer, perhaps its time for an entirely new system.

In related news:

1. Apparently Global Warming is being put on hold until the global economy is straightened out.
2. The next episode of 'The Universe' on the 'History Channel' apparently includes more fantasy by our 'leading' boffins about humans needing a second home on another planet. This I gotta see.... more later.
   

Good to see that the inmates are still running the asylum.

Who is Barak Obama?

This looks interesting: read Comment by Lynda: October 8th, at 1:32 am - a comment on Gretawire.
Your homework today is to go read or watch The Manchurian Candidate.

Fox: good for a laugh

Watching the cable news channels over the past few weeks, its not hard to draw these conclusions about Fox "News" Channel:

1. Almost all Fox reporters are extremely Republican biased, and often their attempts at any sort of balance still involve subtle & less subtle bias, eg arguing & being negative with Democrats far more so than with Republicans, cutting them off mid-sentence, & attempting to ridicule them at every opportunity. Of course they would vehemently deny this, but that just reflects how blinded Americans are to their preferred party. If you are an independent American or a non-American (the other 96% of the world) you just need to watch it yourself.
   
2. Their slogan is "Fair and Unbiased". That would be like Hitler's Nazi Party having the hide to use "A fair go for the Jews".
3. There are laws in the USA about declaring political contributions, and about party advertising. The Fox budget ought to be included into the Republican and McCain campaign declarations.
   
4. Bill O'Reilley is reasonable entertainment, but as a serious commentator is little more than a bad joke.

The Economy: Australia 1, USA 0

In the USA:

1. Absurd levels of housing loans were extended for many years to people who could never afford them. These people cold be excused for hoping that the mortgages would be a better option than spending similar amounts on rent.
2. Rampant credit equals high debt levels, and feeds into high house prices as easy money and more buyers force prices up. The higher the house prices, the more credit and thus debt ensues. This vicious circle spiralled out of control.
   
3. No laws of oversight were set up, for instance to prevent lenders from promoting untenable loans in order to collect commissions.
   
4. Politicians supported this system for personal gain: both in monetary kickbacks from lenders and to retain office.
5. The system, the economy, collapsed when the straw of a petrol price surge broke the camels back.
   
6. A bill that many of the public and politicians themselves accepted as bad got passed. Many politicians had little comprehension of the economic issues, abdicated all leadership, panicked, and voted 'to do something'. The bill will firstly help the rich and the powerful. The ugly side of the 'American Dream' is evident for all to see. It seems second-nature for their rich and rampant capitalist leaders to make things work for themselves first. Yet again their poor will get the crumbs at the table.
7. American banks have no confidence in each other's robustness, so are currently unwilling to lend at any rate. Therefore rate cuts would be pointless.
8. The USA is headed for a depression. Whether their political system can serve them and what mayhem might result is entirely a matter of conjecture at this time. However if the highly partisan political views as expressed on the Fox newschannel, and those reported in their legislative assemblies is any indicator, then it seems highly unlikely that sufficient sensible and logical thinking will prevail that might lead them to make sane laws to lead them back to prosperity for a very long time.
   

In Australia:

1. Financial system regulation has been well maintained for decades, so there has been less excess in lending compared to the USA.
2. Political corruption seems to be much less rampant than in the USA.
3. Housing price increases have been somewhat more sedate, as mortgage rates and conditions have been set sensibly.
4. Our financial system, and banks, have remained sound. Recessionary pressure mostly results from an expected drop in value (price and volume) of exports to trade partners in Asia who are already in recession or expected to head that way, due to their exposure to the USA. Australian recessionary pressure is therefore somewhat indirectly attributable to the expected deep recession in the USA.
5. The Reserve Bank of Australia has acted decisively today to cut interest rates by 1%. This ought to help counter our possible slowdown. This is appropriate for Australian circumstances, but is not a suitable action for the USA to take.

• The scorecard so far: Australia 1, USA 0
  

On the passing of the US Bailout Bill

Further thoughts:

1. Many people, including congressmen who voted for it, are saying that this was a bad bill but they 'had to be doing something'. To them I say 'Wrong. You need to be making good decisions, not "any" decision. A bad bill is worse than doing nothing, not better. Taking a step backwards is not progress. Never confuse frantic activity with progress.'
2. Like in many institutions I have been in, once people focus on one idea, other better alternatives that appear later get shunned, and people proposing them are often labelled 'out of step' or 'troublemakers'. However in the history of mankind, all changes start with one 'out of step' person, who is often misrepresented and/or shunned, as the thundering herd heads for the cliff. The herd is impatient, and like lemmings, take great comfort in all running the same way.
   
3. I have a lot of respect for those who votes against this bill on the grounds that it will not fix the problem, but will bail out failed corporates and mortgagees who mostly ought never to have had loans in the first place.
4. I am disappointed with both Presidential candidates who have shown no leadership, in following the herd, when they both know that this is a bad bill. They especially ought to have put up alternatives. Either could have suggested solutions whereby the loans remain where they are. However neither would do this for fear of becoming the owner of the problem. They decided to hide in the herd.
   
5. Perhaps I should let them read the essay I wrote in late 2001 pointing out a core problem with the western economic model that I still think is at the heart of their problem. I am still not sure they are ready for that though. Certainly the talking heads of the US legislature & the cable news channels seem incapable of extending their 3 to 10 second soundbytes more than one step beyond the obvious symptoms.
   
6. I expect the stockmarket will nosedive this week, probably beginning Monday 6th. Irrespective of short-term swings, the trend must be down for a while yet. The question is how far. In the interests of preventing panic I shall keep my thoughts to myself. As a student of history though, its hard to ignore its lessons: All empires come and go, and many collapse very quickly when the rot surfaces.
7. I hope the USA does not tear itself apart over this. I think they are too civilised for this to happen. More likely, if Obama is elected:

• They will cut back on the military budget (erroneously spun as 'defense' when its really for offense) and so put out of and lose military influence and presense in Iraq and Afghanistan. A weakened USA might create a power vacuum and problems in many countries, and Russia, Iran, and many 'terrorist' groups might flourish. Perhaps a great counter for this would be for the USA to follow the USSR into oblivion, replaced by up to 50 new countries. It would be hard for so many other entities to be at odds with a country that does not exist. Or perhaps the flag should not be waved so vigorously in the face of the rest of the world. I pointed this out in late 2001 as well. Many people do not like it.
  
• or Obama will be neutralised by the same type of shadowey figures that had been behind such acts as having Kennedy assassinated, helping the Taliban supply heroin to US GIs in Vietnam and elsewhere to finance the Taliban against Russia in Afghanistan, hiding behind the Bushes and pushing them into Iraq to keep their munitions and oil businesses going, coordinating the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Centre buildings and firing a missile into the Pentagon, etc ,etc.
  

US elections and economic woes

I must have just watched over 100 hours of news about the US & global economic meltdown, and the US Presidential election, on CNN, Fox, BBC, & Australian Business Channel cable TV, since mid September. What did I get out of it?

1. The US meltdown was initially seen as being a problem with subprime mortgages. It took days for commentators and 'experts' to announce that this is merely a symptom. The real reason is a combination of greed in financial institutions and borrowers, and systemic failure to have adequate controls in place that allowed rampant high risk loans in an economy that does not produce sufficient real wealth to cover it.
   
2. The current bill before the US Congress is a dud. Some in the US have clearly stated during its first passage that its focus is all wrong, yet still it blunders on. This reflects poorly on the US system of government. The real losers will be democracy, the USA & the world at large. The American public do not want the ownership of bad loans switched to the government. This will burden them, be relatively expensive & inefficient to administer & let the perpetrators of the problem, as seen by the public, off the hook. However once the core of the first bill was put up in the House of Representatives it seemed that no significant alternatives could be heard. The American public is being ignored. The Senate passed the same bill that the House of Representatives rightly voted out, with some stupid politically-inspired addons, most of which will anger the public even more, as they are seen to be treated condescendingly.
   
3. If the current bill passes the House of Representatives the second time round, the measures might give some brief but passing respite, but will not fix the problem long-term. The American public and global stockmarkets seem to already know this, but American politicians seem to be in marching like lemmings in lockstep along the cliff.
4. Irrespective of the outcome in the US legislative assemblies, the broader issue of fixing an economy in the face of environmental pressures is not being adequately addressed. Its as if when the chips were down, the global environmental problems got shifted into the too-hard basket. Barak Obama's ideas about focussing on alternative energy as a way to minimise dependence on hydrocarbons in his first debate was great. This has been ignored since then, whereas I believe there needs to be a strategic focus on it.
   
5. In summary, it seems to me that so far, the American system has proven to be incapable of making the hard decisions required to settle their economy, let alone do so in an environmentally sustainable way. In other words, the USA is broke, and its economic and political systems are as well.

I am sure I can find others who I think are on the right track.

• http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/03/will-the-bail-out-package-fix-the-economy/
  

M$ patents PgDn & PgUp - (seriously: no joke)

Oh, dear: that's 2 posts today based on the same source. For some reason Linux Journal is now following me on Twitter, and co-incidentally I took a look at a couple of their articles as one appeared on Google Reader, my key news aggregator. Here is my 2nd post today, again copied from a comment to an article, this time one I first read last week and marked in Google Shared. (I seem to live inside Google these days: Reader, Mail, Igoogle, Docs, Groups, Photos, Image, Maps, this Blogger, Earth and more)

If I had a gazillion dollars to protect I would not muck around: I would patent the SpaceBar, or perhaps the letters M,I,C,R,O,S,F & T, oh and the $ key of course.

Anyway, on to:

Pointless Patents

September 8th, 2008 by David Lane

and my comment:
Look at the big picture

If this is true, it just confirms 2 things to me:

1. How corrupt and bereft of any value the entire patenting system is, and has been for many years now. Do you wonder why the likes of China, and most of the rest of us in the rest of the world simply pirate stuff now? But why does the USA support patents? Because you do not produce and export goods anymore, so you need royalties and patents in software and medicine etc to try in vain to prop up your economy and help pay for your immense debt and military forays. The business and economic aspects to the Great American Dream are bankrupt, and now so is America. Your housing crisis, stock market woes, and forced bail-out of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac are no more than symptoms of this. It does not take a genius to see this: its blindingly obvious. In a nutshell the wealth that the USA gained from the 2nd World War has run out.

2. Microsoft's strategic business philosophy of screwing money from everywhere it can, by whatever means it can. This great capitalist dinosaur, whose old leader rightly said that 'Linux is Un-American', is a dying part of a dying system. That system, capitalism, is based on supposedly open competition but in fact has led to the subversion of freedom, commercial viability based on obfuscation (partly stripped away by the internet), greed, and propping up the established and the rich via patents and royalties at the expense of everyone else.

OK, that's more than enough for the day. Time to go and either shovel some more real dirt at the neighbour's or go have a quiet lie-down.

The Death of the Letter?

I read this short interesting article :
The Death of the Letter?
August 26th, 2008 by David Lane

and added a comment as per below, repeated here.

Your homework, after you read this: do a search on 'deforestation' at Google Images. Go on, its not hard, it will not take any time, and you can just take a quick look at the pictures.

"Mailbox = paper = chop trees = end of human race"

The sooner people start looking at the big picture the better.

Its pathetic really. Everyone ohs and ahs and tut tuts about the environment's problems, and then promptly forgets it and starts prattling on about mailboxes and what a problem it is that they are disappearing. Wake up people. Try to connect a few dots: its not hard. Then tell whoever that you do not deal in paper. Don't read them. Don't mail them. Don't pay with them. If you do you are yet one more agent of the planet's destruction. You are part of the problem, not the solution. Outside of the dunny, I see little reason to have ANY paper in your house, or your business, unless its a legal document that requires a signature, and even that is debatable. Of course the old dinosaurs in corporate institutions will choke on their soup at this thought, but then again, we do all know where dinosaurs end up anyway... same place the entire human race will be within 150 years if we keep thinking like this.

You choose: the death of the letter or the death of the human race.

Emissions scheme won't be 'pain-free'

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has shrugged off the growing corporate backlash to his emissions trading scheme, saying he never expected the introduction of the scheme to be easy.

Stick to your guns Kevin. I just hope you do not get overwhelmed by the combined weigh of corporate clowns like Dixon at Qantas, who obviously feels its more important to emit as much jet exhaust and sell as many cigarettes as possible in the name of corporate profit than to help create a habitable planet.

"We can't absorb a $100 million cost, which is the price analysts are saying would be for Qantas. We would have to put that cost back onto our domestic operations," he (Dixon) told a Sydney news conference.

So do it you dickhead. Wake up. You are meant to be a leader. Start leading.

Mr Dixon says the Federal Government's proposed emissions scheme has unfairly singled out the aviation industry.

No they haven't. They might however have fairly singled out one of the industries that is the most wasteful and harmful to ongoing human life. Welcome to the 21st century Geoff.

Its these sorts of statements that could lead one to despair that we will even make it alive to the end of this century. If these corporate leaders are the finest that the western economic system can produce, then we had better change to another system real quick, or we are doomed.

Fortunately, there are still a few real leaders in this world of non-leaders incumbents.

Gore urges Americans to make total shift to renewables
Al Gore has urged Americans to make a total shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy within 10 years.

And BBC adds ...

Mr Gore compared the scale of the challenge to that of putting a man on the moon in the 1960s.

See that; that's leadership!

How the obscenely rich stay that way.

I read that Dale Carnegie declared that he thought it was crime for the rich to die that way, so he created the Carnegie charities to give his wealth away. The trouble was, he found that he then somehow got even richer no matter how he tried. The poor guy. Even if I had been around to help him get rid of it, after I got a decent yacht and a couple of houses and maybe lived on a cruise-ship, I would run out of ways for me to spend it and would have to start getting a few hundred thousand others in to help. That's the trouble with us poor people, we just can't think creatively enough about how to squander money. Its damn near criminal of us. Anyway, on with the story.

By Eric Jul. 7th, 2008 at 3:25 pm at http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/richard-stallman-expert-in-the-art-of-fud/

(Reprinted in full)

There are a LOT of correct observations in the comments here including the tax shelter mentioned above.

That's exactly what the B&M foundation was formed for. What most Americans don't know is that many pro athletes (and other wealthy individuals) form these same foundations (IRS 501c3) to shelter their income and all they have to do is utilize a small percentage of the revenue towards the stated goals of the organization as described to the IRS.

I'm also the president of a board for a 501c3 charter school so I know how they are structured and how they work. What most people don't know is that 501c3 status does NOT preclude you from making a profit. There are two types, a non-profit (B&M foundation) and a not for profit. The prior can make money and shelter it within the 501c3 (in a nut-shell).

The other half NO ONE has caught wind of yet (not even RMS) is that the B&M foundation has a large software development team who are actively developing the B&M eCharity platform to manage individual and corporate donations. The B&M foundation is actively pushing this solution at United Way and other large charitable organizations as a middle-man product to collect and manage donations, albeit for a nominal fee. You may say, ehhh.. it's still compulsory usage right? Not exactly... The B&M foundation is pushing hard and getting support.. When you have that kind of cash in the bank (B&M), organizations usually roll over and fall in line.

The CEO of a TX based United Way chapter let me know that this is a MAJOR concern for them because it would centralize charitable donations that Americans normally do through payroll deductions and that cash would then flow through this B&M foundation system. This now creates a vacuum for local charities since the donations would no longer go directly to them (i.e. the local charity chapter). The local charitable organization would have to go this "company" for their money minus the handling (extortion) fees.

Now you have the B&M foundation sitting in the middle of a $300 billion dollar transactional stream taking their cut which goes to the B&M foundation originally formed by Billy G and Warren Buffet to shelter their billions.

You seeing the bigger picture here?? The B&M foundation is not what it's billed as. It is a for profit center (run by a ruthless ex CEO) and they want YOUR money to go to them before going to the charity of YOUR choosing first.

How the EU Energy Commisssion and the English are buggering the planet.

The EU Energy Commission
At http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/24/2284726.htm

EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs urged OPEC to do away with the grouping's production ceiling in order to provide relief to the market.
"In my opinion, there is no reason to keep ceilings on production," he told journalists.
"If there are no ceilings, markets will adapt much faster.

What's up with these idiots. Hey Andris: "Bugger the market... who cares about it. Oh yeah, clowns like you. Get it into your head: oil is GOING TO RISE BY POWERS OF 10 UNTIL THE PRICE GOES WAY OFF THE SCALE, AND THEN OIL WILL RUN OUT. The best thing to do is to consider the planet, NOT the bloody market, and scale back oil and energy production to planetary-sustainable levels. This way we as humans MIGHT have a chance of not becoming extinct."

Anyone want to give me a job running the EU. This clown obviously has no idea. He would be first for the chop.

The English
Apparently in England, SMEs are bound by law to print, ie hard-copy to dead tree, your business 'paper-war' like invoices. So its the law there, that to prove your expenses and tax position you are REQUIRED to help bugger the planet. 'Printing' to a file, eg Acrobat, is apparently not 'good enough'. They want real dead trees to be used. That sounds like a nationally legislated order compelling global human suicide. Nice going you Poms.
(Please someone: tell me I am wrong about this.)

Preannouncement: Carbon Offset Tax Scheme Version 2 -

I hereby pre-announce the next major refinement to the global carbon tax scheme. Whereas there is no formal title for the current scheme, and indeed the informal title varies from one country to another.

The new global scheme will simply be known simply as the Carbon Offset Tax Scheme Version 2.

This name, determined after several months of international conferences held in several continents at immense expense to all but the attendees, was carefully and deliberately chosen because it gives the settling impression of being a small refinement of the current schemes, whereby essentially various institutions are taxed on the carbon they produce mainly as CO2. The new version though takes the next logical step at targeting the source and most easily measurable cause of carbon production output. The new version takes the lead of Quality Programs, which focus on the process that produces the output. In step with world's Best Practices in Quality Management theory: to improve the quality of output, improve the quality of the process that produce the output.

Moreover a parallel study, at a cost totalling more than the annual GDP of the 45 poorest nations, by a large number of the most honoured scientists in the developed world, has been conducted. This study was tasked with refining the components of institutions (ie both corporate and public-sector organisations) that can be accountable and therefore directly charged for carbon production. Their major achievement was to deduce that the single factor common to all studied institutions was that these institutions are essentially comprised of individual human beings, and moreover that these beings are essentially the entities that are responsible for controlling and operating all identifiable processes withing that institution.

On the basis of these 2 studies, a series of international meetings of the highest order, attended by statesmen and senior diplomats supported by several squadrons of consultant specialists in concerted workshop sessions, have resulted in the provisional formulation of the interim draft proposal for the Carbon Offset Tax Scheme Version 2 scheme. This scheme focusses directly on :

* individuals, and
* any automated processes that each individual directly engages in or controls, plus
* the actual physical work that the individual personally attempts.

Version 2 can be thus seen as a major refinement of its predecessors. The devil is, as always, in the detail, in that physical work attempted is measured by an individual's rate of physical respiration, ie CO2 produced, in terms of rate of breathing and heartrate. This refinement has far-reaching consequences. The primary consequence is expected to be the establishment of a market for respiratory constraint whereby individuals will be encouraged to trade on their individual respiratory savings attained by any activities or lack thereof, all being directly invoiceable or traded on a market established as a consequence. Tradeable non-activity examples include:

* The 'Fitness Option': achieving sustained optimal respiratory efficiency in personal physical fitness with the minimum of exhursion input to attain the level, itself seemlingly a paradox or catch-22 for many people, and one that implies optimum genetics to achieve,
* The 'Genetic Choice Option': sustained voluntary reduction of potential respiration of any potential offspring by conceiving children with approved partners as per the preceding,
* The 'Safe-sex Option': complete elimination of respiration of any potential offspring by sustained practicing effective birth control,
* The 'Do-nothing Option': sustained reduction of respiratory output by oneself, eg stop moving as much as possible.
* The 'Step-off Option': complete elimination of respiratory output by oneself (Note: this option is not however invoiceable by yourself nor by your estate.)

Details of the establishment of an authority or commission to oversea the Carbon Offset Tax Scheme Version 2 will follow. Of immediate note though:

The Genetic Choice Option will imply the additional use of an international identification scheme to include a personal genetic blueprint. Current national identity schemes will be merged internationally, and incorporate DNA profiling techniques. Also the internet IPv6 protocol will be merged into this, perhaps along with VOIP teleconferencing via robot drone aircraft and current CCTV cameras in some countries, to a substantial monitoring section within the commission. These operators would be tasked with confirming the identity of individuals at locations in realtime as a means of verifying the Genetic Choice Option. This extension might be further investigated in the near future as the 'Propagation Audit' or 'Dogging' Option.

Aust scientists call for urgent climate change action

(Full news item from the ABC.)

The group, which includes some of the country's leading scientists, population and health experts - as well as politicians - is calling for an urgent response to global warming.

Mate, this is Australia: its not going to happen. This is the country where work is what you often turn up to, to fill in time between weekend barbies.

They say global warming is accelerating at a greater speed than previously thought and the window of opportunity for avoiding severe consequences is rapidly closing.

I could have told you that years ago. And guess what, based on my understanding of human nature and history:

• most minds are still closed, most people with the resources to do something about it are and will continue to look to their immediate personal interests. That's the way the competitive western world (eg the 'Great American Dream') works. ("Eve of Destruction" by Barrie MaGuire is playing as I type this: co-incidence?)
  
• the window will close
• the rich will make good from global warning
• the poor will get still poorer, the very poor will die even more. Footnote: It appears that as fossil fuel runs out, sustainable green energy sources will sustain only 6 of the current 7 billion humans anyway. So most of us will need to leave and not breed on. "I've done my bit for the gene pool" will mean the opposite of what it has done until now. When China lost so many children in the earthquake last month, relaxing the one child per family policy was the wrong thing to do. Actually China's entire expansionist policy is going to be an overwhelming problem soon, just as the USA's is now, but that's fodder for another whole post, or more accurately, several entire websites.

I am off for a walk down On The Beach. The whales are back again this month. (Its playing 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' now. i think 'Fool on the Hill' should be next.)

Microsoft: The dinosaur stumbles ...

How long until the fall?

The chooks are finally coming home to roost at Micro$oft. Here is a small sample of articles that indicate the groundswell of opinion that is now finally appearing that shows Microsoft is finally being eclipsed in at least the mindset of the business I.T. world, though certainly not yet being swept off corporate desktops.

• Vista selling well!?
  
• Laptop buyers: We don't want Windows machines
• Microsoft can’t support Open XML

There are many articles along similar lines coming from many sources these days, and no longer from open-source or Linux-related websites.

ps. On a similar vein, I thought this report, Lenovo Linux-Powered ThinkPad in Action, was worthwhile for anyone looking to buy a computer. I have been back using mainly desktops for years now, as I did not need the portability laptops and notebooks. However lately there seem to be many notebooks that offer excellent functionality at comparatively little premium. So as long as they do not suffer any hardware component failure once your warranty runs out (and IBM/Lenovo, and Toshibas too for that matter, are known to be robust), they are becoming serious contenders as total desktop computer replacements.

pps: Corporate clowns: Is the penny dropping? you don't have to buy/use Windows any more in many cases. And for those odd Windows applications that you think you really really cannot do without, your Linux machine can now run them within a Windows virtual machine.

Taking it to the streets: New immigrants show Australians how to be Australian

A nice article by Sushi Das about shaking the tree the way Australians used to, eg back in the days of the Eureka stockade. (That's way back before even the Vietnam protest days: possibly the last time people actually got out and said something back to the government).

Oh wait: Eureka stockade: they were new immigrants too weren't they? (Mainly Irish? ... and Chinese?)

Linux and the tax office: never the twain shall meet

Read this shining example of institutional inertia/incompetence at the Australian tax office.