You Can't Coach That

Friday, April 06, 2007

I have just noticed that the feed for this site is not formatting correctly when displayed in the google reader. The text is showing as one block rather in the paragraphs I intended.

I am in the process of making some changes to templates to rectify this but would appreciate hearing from anyone who has subscribed and is seeing poor formatting for the feed.

Cheers

EDIT: The change I made has worked for google reader - I will try testing in other readers as well.

Australia is a nation of approximately 20 million people. Australia is approximately 7.2 million square kilometres in area compared to approximately 9.1 million square kilometres for the USA.

No you are not in a geography lesson. These facts provide the background to opinion on the state of the government in this country. Quite simply we are over governed. There are three levels of government in Australia - federal, state, and local. Naturally each level of government is responsible for different areas of running things. For example, defence is a federal responsibility (although some would argue that in this regards we are a very small branch of the US but more on that in another story), Education and health are state responsibilities and water and utilities are generally a local responsibility.

How on earth can we really need three levels of government for a country that in population terms is the size of New York State and only three times the size of New York city or London? We have seven police forces (one for each state or territory), seven health systems and seven education systems. 

Yes, seven education systems. As a teacher this is one area that is particularly of interest to me. We are in the middle of a debate on the need for a national curriculum. The federal Liberal government is pushing this agenda designed to ensure that all students in our country are educated to the same standard. Our state Labour government seems hell bent on pushing through its own ill-considered reforms so as to beat the federal government to the punch.  In my humble opinion the answer is a simple one - make education a federal responsibility. This would achieve all the goals a national curriculum could achieve under the current arrangements and more. I can’t even begin to imagine how many additional teachers could be employed with the funds saved through the abolition of 6 systems of bureaucracy.

These cost savings could be replicated throughout many governmental activities. Health is another case in point. Significant economies of scale would be achieved through bringing this under the federal umbrella and having a single government department stuffing things up running things rather than six or seven. Enormous hospital waiting lengths could be reduced with the employment of more doctors.

Some would argue that the sheer size of Australia prohibits this dream becoming a reality. However, I would argue this is not the case (I really wanted to say “this is bullshit” but this is a serious piece of writing). Cairns is in far north Queensland and as such is approximately 1800 kilometres from the capital, Brisbane.  I would suggest that when a city is already this far away from the centre of power and decision making, another thousand kilometres or so is not going to make a difference.

So, is any change in this regards likely? Of course not. There are too many people with a vested interest in keeping the status quo. The origins of the states as separate colonies of the British Empire seem to have an influence even today. More importantly though, what state politician is going to support such a change when it would entail the loss of their job and the hold on power that they currently enjoy.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

I will say up front here that I am not sure how I feel about the fact Australia has troops in Iraq. It is not that I want to sit on the fence or that I don’t have the courage to express an opinion but the issue doesn’t seem all that black and white to me. Therefore, I am not writing to express an opinion but rather to point out a blog that I enjoyed having a look at in the spirit of finding out what is going on in the world.

It is a blog from the 6th Marines stationed in Iraq and provides an insight into what life is like for them there. When I get some time I plan to search for blogs from people who provide a different perspective on the situation there.

Have a look, or don’t, it’s all the same to me. Also feel free to give me a serve if you don’t like this post or if you want to give your opinion on the coalition involvement there.

Keith Richards has to be one of the world’s most famous drug addicts, not to mention having a face like a Sharpei puppy. Apparently though the normal illicit substances are not enough for our boy Keith, he’s also snorted his Dad. Yep, he has been quoted as saying that he ground up the ashes of his poor dead Dad and snorted him up the old hooter. Life must be pretty boring over in mega rich, I’m a rockstar land. I can just see it now, sitting around with the boys, having a few drinks, doing a few drugs - then hey, what can we stick up our noses? Why the last earthly remains of ones dearly departed father of course.

[original source: British music magazine NME]

[Crazy Aussie Bastard beat me to the punch on this one.]

Overheard at the UN?

I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

“You can’t coach that”

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

nice4rice is a great site that does reviews of blogs and allows users to comment and vote - or “give rice”. You get a free link back by voting but this is not the only reason for visiting and reading Spud’s stuff. His writing is informative and witty at times and he really gives you a good impression of the site he is reviewing. The review reflects the fact that he has a good look around the blog in question and contains many links to interesting stories.

What’s not to like about nice4rice?

“You can’t coach that”

After a serious post yesterday and a semi-serious one earlier this evening time for a bit of flippancy.

My new band is called “My Friend Merle”. For some reason this small phrase has captivated me, has some sort of weird hold over me. So much so that I can only think that it makes the perfect name for a rock band.

Only one problem - no musical talent whatsoever. Never mind, back to dreaming.

“You can’t coach that”

Just read on the Digg front page that there is even more water on Mars in the polar ice cap than first thought. While this might indeed be exciting news for those in the science field and others interested in the area, I say big f***ing deal.

Mine may not be a particularly popular opinion and I admit that I am not particularly well educated in this area but how does this affect me? For that matter how does this affect anybody here on our rapidly filling world? Where I live we are in the middle of the worst drought on record. There are real threats to our supply of drinking water and we are being forced to make long overdue changes to the way we use water. Of course this is nothing compared to others in the third world (can one still use that term in the age of political correctness?) who are drinking contaminated water or have none at all.

So unless they can send a rocket to Mars and bring back some of that water held in the polar ice cap I don’t really give a stuff. I suggest that the money spent on finding out that there is water on Mars would be much better spent here on planet earth making the lives of some of the less fortunate a little better.

“You can’t coach that”

Monday, April 02, 2007

Much progress has been made in recent years in protecting those in our society who are in a position of vulnerability. For example, there are strict procedures in place to deal with allegations of abuse in the work place or in schools. These procedures are often mandatory and in the most serious cases require that the matter be referred to the police. I think that these measures are necessary and go a long way to ensuring that people in a position of power cannot misuse this power.

Here comes the but.....

It is my considered opinion that there is often a lack of balance in these matters. An allegation that is made and investigated can have one of two resolutions - either the allegation is found to have substance and the next stage of the process is commenced or the allegation is found to be baseless and ... well therein lies the problem as I see it.

In my experience (both personal and anecdotal) there is generally very little in the way of justice for someone against whom a false allegation is made. It seems that everyone is very relieved that they do not have to deal any further with what could be a difficult situation so the matter gets dropped quite quickly. This, often despite the fact that someone has had their reputation damaged, not mention been subjected to a degree of emotional turmoil.

Of course in the case of very serious allegations, the person who made the unfounded complaint would be dealt with in some way. I would argue however that in most cases this pales into insignificance compared to the impact of the investigation on the accused party. In cases which are prima facie less serious, there is often nothing done at all despite the fact that a reputation has still been damaged.

The bottom line is that mud sticks and people will remember that an accusation has been made against a person and some will wonder whether there was in fact something to the allegations. I would suggest that an groundless allegation would not follow the accuser to the same extent.

I am not saying for one minute that mandatory investigation or reporting should not take place or should be watered down in any way. This would not be good for anyone. I am saying however that specific measures need to be communicated regarding the consequences of a false accusation. Victims deserve to be protected regardless of what made them a victim.

Rant over.