5 - # of Straya threads or # of times Melbourne has been crowned world's best city

[Axver]

Countdown to next random footy star thinking their name alone will get them elected in Victoria without even needing to properly campaign.

 

[cobl04]

5 - # of Straya threads or # of times Melbourne has been crowned world's best...

I think the Libs leaked that. It was very fanciful at best. Gilly denied it

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Heritier Lumumba in 10 years. Greens candidate.

 

[cobl04]

He'll start his own party, surely.

As if my night couldn't have gotten any worse amateur hour Red Bull cost Ricciardo victory in the Monaco GP tonight.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Cory's asking for his office to be trashed again.

[TWEET]737875009616633856[/TWEET]

 

[Kieran McConville]

Dead cat move. I guess we can spend the next day talking about Cory now, and his dead cat.

Christ this is one of the worst election campaigns in living memory (given that quite a bit is actually at stake). The Greens are running a fair, professional campaign I guess, and hoping to hold the line/pick up a couple Sydney or Melbourne seats. Labor are quietly right on some things, but their campaign is blandness personified. You see these organisations sleepwalking along and you realise, they can't help it. Nor can the press gallery. None of them can help it.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I do wish everyone would get real with their plans for the Great Barrier Reef. Don't misinterpret this as opposition to attempts to ameliorate the effects of coral bleaching and so on, but it is surely beyond the power of any national government to promise much of anything at this point; ocean warming and acidification are not great respecters of arbitrary maritime boundaries, and it may well be too late already. Malcolm Turnbull is not King Canute, and nor is Bill Shorten,and nor is Richard Di Natale.

(but we should wind back coal poste-haste, because it's the right thing to do, and by the way the price is tanking and that central Qld project the state Labor government gave the nod is already dead on arrival, lacking financiers or supporters, and everyone knows it, and it will never happen. Politically cheaper to wave it through in-principle).

 

[Axver]

I was going to retweet that Cory Bernardi thing with a pithy putdown but decided he didn't deserve the oxygen.

With the Reef, I find it fucking unbelievable how much Queensland has dragged its feet on this issue given its tourism - both present and future - is one of the state's greatest resources. Global processes are probably going to cause serious damage whatever the state government does, but adding to it with shithouse mining and agriculture policies is as reckless as it comes, and of course it's a reasonably powerful state in a country that has actively undermined the worldwide effort to tackle climate change. It should be flexing its muscle to get shit done in that regard, both in its own capacity and by giving the feds a kick along. You'd think communities in Queensland would be out in force demanding action because "our future as a global tourist drawcard is in peril", but instead the place is full of "lol thur no globull worming, it woz cold today".

 

[Kieran McConville]

I was going to retweet that Cory Bernardi thing with a pithy putdown but decided he didn't deserve the oxygen.

With the Reef, I find it fucking unbelievable how much Queensland has dragged its feet on this issue given its tourism - both present and future - is one of the state's greatest resources. Global processes are probably going to cause serious damage whatever the state government does, but adding to it with shithouse mining and agriculture policies is as reckless as it comes, and of course it's a reasonably powerful state in a country that has actively undermined the worldwide effort to tackle climate change. It should be flexing its muscle to get shit done in that regard, both in its own capacity and by giving the feds a kick along. You'd think communities in Queensland would be out in force demanding action because "our future as a global tourist drawcard is in peril", but instead the place is full of "lol thur no globull worming, it woz cold today".

I think the 'global warming, what global warming?' thing is probably the only alternative, for a lot of people (including several governments) to a veritable brick wall of reality. If anyone told the actual truth (it's probably far too late) there'd be a riot. Incidentally, 'it's probably far too late' will be the next flick of the switch for the professional denialists; viz:

It's not happening;
Even if it were happening, it costs too much to do anything about it;
It's too late now

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Could Roz Ward keep her job if she liked the Australian flag a little? | Jeff Sparrow | Opinion | The Guardian

 

[Axver]

Where do I begin. I don't know Roz Ward personally, but I work with people who do. My feeds everywhere have completely lit up over this, as well they should've. There are so many things about this that are enraging:

1. Ward's comments were on a private Facebook post. A "friend" leaked this. It's a bit chilling for all of us really, with its shades of McCarthyism.
2. It is illegal to sack an employee for their political views. This is clearly spelled out in La Trobe's employment policies too. They are violating their own policy.
3. If you are this upset with somebody not liking your precious flag, fucking grow up.
4. Basically everybody who wants Ward fired for this and thinks she is not entitled to a negative opinion on the flag are the same people who wanted to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act - so in essence they think it's fine to be a fuckwit to people because of their skin colour but you can't bad-mouth a coloured piece of cloth.
5. Academic freedom is sacrosanct. If there is one thing that can bring the academy together, it is our refusal to surrender the basic principle on which our work depends.

I could keep going. I do often wonder how vocal I, as an academic, should be about my politics. When I started my professional Twitter a few months ago I was a bit reluctant to post anything political. I only started after noticing a number of academics were far more free in their views than I am even now. I keep my strongest opinions for private/non-professional locations - but hey, maybe some wanker I currently consider a friend will leak them too.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I second everything you have said wholeheartedly. I find this particularly worrying.

I could keep going. I do often wonder how vocal I, as an academic, should be about my politics. When I started my professional Twitter a few months ago I was a bit reluctant to post anything political. I only started after noticing a number of academics were far more free in their views than I am even now. I keep my strongest opinions for private/non-professional locations - but hey, maybe some wanker I currently consider a friend will leak them too.

I have the same dilemma too, even as a student. I have this inbuilt reluctance to air my political views even within university settings, and I have never directly stated my leanings. And as someone who is on that pathway that could potentially lead to an academic career, it worries me greatly and only increases that reluctance. As you are well aware, my political leanings on Facebook are limited only to the liking of articles.

I thought it was worth a discussion.

 

[Axver]

Huh, I pictured you being more vocal. I at least assumed you'd participate in one of the student political groups.

I should say that in general I notice a good degree of academic freedom for political views. Very few people I know are a political mystery to their colleagues, many participate in protests (in fact you will soon see on my Twitter a picture of a small group of us in solidarity with Ward), maintain membership of political parties, etc. I can name heaps of people I work with who are ALP members, socialist activists, marriage equality campaigners, and the very rare Tory fellow-traveller. You probably know the only reason I am not a Greens member is not for any professional concern, but my intellectual commitment to political independence. Many of Australia's esteemed historians have had some sort of political involvement at some stage, and even if Christopher Pyne sometimes likes to point out who's an ex-communist on Q&A some forty years after the fact, it sure hasn't affected their career or scholarly standing.

But that's why the events concerning Ward are so troubling, because none of us want this culture to change and become less open.

 

[Axver]

Damnit we need something witty for a new Straya thread before Cobbler makes one.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Huh, I pictured you being more vocal. I at least assumed you'd participate in one of the student political groups.

Nah, I'm reserved about my own views unless it pertains to my Honours project. I don't think I'll ever be entrenched in a party, especially now, I think it's wiser to take a 'critical support on the outside' sort of approach. (And my university barely has any political presence on campus, interestingly enough. I have only ever seen one Labor stall in four years)

I should say that in general I notice a good degree of academic freedom for political views. Very few people I know are a political mystery to their colleagues, many participate in protests (in fact you will soon see on my Twitter a picture of a small group of us in solidarity with Ward), maintain membership of political parties, etc. I can name heaps of people I work with who are ALP members, socialist activists, marriage equality campaigners, and the very rare Tory fellow-traveller. You probably know the only reason I am not a Greens member is not for any professional concern, but my intellectual commitment to political independence. Many of Australia's esteemed historians have had some sort of political involvement at some stage, and even if Christopher Pyne sometimes likes to point out who's an ex-communist on Q&A some forty years after the fact, it sure hasn't affected their career or scholarly standing.

But that's why the events concerning Ward are so troubling, because none of us want this culture to change and become less open.

Wait, when did this happen?

 

[Axver]

Nah, I'm reserved about my own views unless it pertains to my Honours project. I don't think I'll ever be entrenched in a party, especially now, I think it's wiser to take a 'critical support on the outside' sort of approach. (And my university barely has any political presence on campus, interestingly enough. I have only ever seen one Labor stall in four years)

Huh. My campus is unbearable at student election time, to the extent that even those of us passionate about politics start making comments to the effect of I JUST WANT TO GO TO THE LIBRARY LEAVE ME ALONE I'M STAFF I CAN'T VOTE ANYWAY.

But yes, I agree. I'd love to be involved in politics but I could not take an uncritical "I support the actions of my party" standpoint. The ALP is the prime example with their insistence on party unity at all costs, but I still couldn't function within the Greens or any other minor left-wing party. I'm too vocal about my divergences - and, at times, too much of an electoral pragmatist for those who insist on ideological purity (which I find kind of amusing, because that pragmatism is borne solely out of my passion to defeat Tories at the ballot box whenever possible, to the greatest extent possible).

Wait, when did this happen?

While education minister, Pyne derided Stuart Macintyre as an ex-communist during a debate about the national history curriculum, in which Stuart played a major role (before it got politicised and reviewed anyway).

It's weird how Stuart's former communist affiliation keeps getting trotted out by his critics. That was the 1970s! What the hell does it have to do with now?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Oh yes, now I think I remember.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

La Trobe lifts suspension on Safe Schools academic Roz Ward | Australia news | The Guardian

Nice backtracking from La Trobe. Also surprised the IPA came out and criticised the university for this.