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Showing posts from February, 2016

Japanese safety inspectors save the fin whales

Fin Whales Safe Off Iceland as Japanese Bureaucracy Snarls Hunts - Bloomberg Business : "Fin whales, the world’s second-largest mammal, can swim safely around Iceland’s shores this summer thanks to the dedication of the Japanese bureaucracy. The Nordic country’s biggest whaling company, Hvalur hf, has been forced to halt its operations as it’s unable to deal with the demands of Japanese safety inspectors. The company was this season planning on catching as many as 155 fin whales, which can measure up to 27 meters (88 feet) and weigh about 70 metric tons. Chief Executive Officer Kristjan Loftsson said he has suspended hunting because of Japan’s methods of probing for toxins or contaminants in whale meat and blubber. “Sending products to Japan is like playing Russian roulette," Loftsson said in a telephone interview Friday. “They’re using a method which is so imprecise and so old -- a Stone Age method -- that it makes it impossible to know in advance what will come out of

One big plus for Coalition in latest Newspoll - removes chance of Labor removing Shorten

I just can't believe opinion polls showing three percentage point changes in a fortnight. Things just don't happen that quickly. I'll be treating the latest Newspoll putting things at 50-50 with disdain. Would you want to back Bill Shorten at even money to become Prime Minister after the next election? I certainly wouldn't. One thing I do believe is that the Newspoll will put an end to any chattering within the parliamentary Labor Party that Bill Shorten should be replaced as leader before the poll. And for the Coalition that has to be good news.

Some interesting thoughts on campaign door knocking and other political news and views

Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind? A Countrywide Experiment on Voter Choice in France  - Existing evidence on the impact of door-to-door canvassing comes from small-scale experiments that assign treatment at the individual level (at which voter choices are difficult to measure) and assume greater control over canvassers' selection and behavior than is typical to most campaigns. This paper takes a different approach by assigning entire precincts to either a control group or a treatment group in a countrywide experiment during François Hollande's campaign in the 2012 French presidential elections. Overall, activists supporting the Parti Socialiste's candidate knocked on five million doors. Visits did not affect voter turnout but increased Hollande's vote share in the first round at the expense of his right-wing opponents and accounted for one fifth of his victory margin in the second round. This impact largely persisted in later elections, suggesting that eve

Comedians will have to stop telling jokes

The radio advertisement features a female voice-over which says, "They say there's no such thing as a free lunch. Not true. Because right now, at Thirsty Camel, we're giving away a gourmet super model's lunch. That is, a refreshingly free bottle of water." Tut, tut.  And the complaints flooded in. Like this one: I feel that this radio ad makes light of disordered eating and the modelling industry. It stated that purchasing this product will get you "a supermodel's lunch" which according to the ad was "a bottle of water". Disordered eating should not be prompted, mocked or taken lightly, it deeply affects many peoples life. The water is advertised as a super model's lunch which is derogatory and offensive to the modelling industry. It portrays models in a bad light and demeans their intelligence. A lot of super models work extremely hard to maintain a high standard of fitness and nutrition and can be positive role models to young wo

The difficult world economic environment for Australia's Teasurer

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The OECD released overnight a rather gloomy update of the state of the world economy. Global GDP growth in 2016 is projected to be no higher than in 2015, itself the slowest pace in the past five years. Estimates for Australia are  not provided in this Interim Economic Outlook  but overall forecasts have again been revised down in light of disappointing recent data. In summary: Growth is slowing in many emerging economies with a very modest recovery in advanced economies and low prices depressing commodity exporters. Trade and investment remain weak. Sluggish demand is leading to low inflation and inadequate wage and employment growth.  Financial instability risks are substantial. Financial markets globally have been reassessing growth prospects, leading to falls in equity prices and higher market volatility. Some emerging markets are particularly vulnerable to sharp exchange rate movements and the effects of high domestic debt.  A stronger collective policy response is needed

Common sense about cash from Cory Bernardi

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I'm a regular Cory Bernardi reader. I quite look forward to his "Weekly dose of common sense" email letter; not because I often agree with the conservative Senator's views but because he challenges me to think about my own. Like this week with some comments about money and a cash-less society. Senator Bernardi gives a warning that's deserves consideration. He wrote: Dear Richard, Today I am going to write about money. More specifically, what the government wants to do with your money. The  Sydney Morning Herald  reports this morning that Australia is ‘on an unstoppable march towards a cashless future’; with the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Alex Hawke MP saying that a move to a purely digital currency “will lead to countless benefits for all Australians in convenience and security, and will save billions in transaction costs every year”. He’s correct that it will enhance convenience for many and will save government huge amounts of money but he omits on

A peek at Russia's economy and other news and views

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A Peek at Russia's Economy  - Even before the recent plummeting of the price of oil, Russia's economy was showing signs of slowdown and stress. With oil prices now in the neighborhood of $30-$35 per barrel, and maybe with additional declines still to come, Russia's economy is already in recession and probably headed for worse. Don’t Privatize Air Traffic Control  - The current system is the safest in the world, and there is no credible evidence that a private one would be better U.S. Closing a Loophole on Products Tied to Slaves  -  President Obama  will sign legislation this week that effectively bans American imports of fish caught by forced labor in Southeast Asia, part of a flurry of recent actions by the White House, federal agencies, international trade unions and foreign governments to address lawlessness at sea and to better protect offshore workers and the marine environment. Polling Is Ubiquitous, But Is It Bad For Democracy? The Fire Meets the Wall

China's revival of totalitarian scare tactics and other political news and views

China’s Rule of Fear  - China is once again gripped by fear in a way it has not been since the era of Mao Zedong. From the inner sanctum of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to university lecture halls and executive suites, the specter of harsh accusations and harsher punishment is stalking China’s political, intellectual, and business elites. ... Beyond the bureaucracy, academics, human-rights lawyers, bloggers, and business leaders are also suffering. In universities, the government has recruited informers to denounce professors espousing liberal values in their lectures; several outspoken liberal academics have lost their jobs. Hundreds of human-rights lawyers have been harassed and arrested. Many business leaders have gone missing temporarily, presumably detained by anti-corruption investigators. ... With China’s international influence growing by the day, the revival of totalitarian scare tactics there has far-reaching – and deeply unsettling – implications for Asia and the world.

China's bad debt problem enough to make any Australian Treasurer a "bed wetter"

Just another thing for the Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison to worry about. China's bad debts could exceed $5 trillion, a staggering number that is equivalent to half the size of the country’s annual economic output. The speculation is growing that Chinese growth rate will slow even more with serious consequences for Australia. Toxic Loans Around the World Weigh on Global Growth - The New York Times : "Beneath the surface of the global financial system lurks a multitrillion-dollar problem that could sap the strength of large economies for years to come. The problem is the giant, stagnant pool of loans that companies and people around the world are struggling to pay back. Bad debts have been a drag on economic activity ever since the financial crisis of 2008, but in recent months, the threat posed by an overhang of bad loans appears to be rising. China is the biggest source of worry. Some analysts estimate that China’s troubled credit could exceed $5 trillion, a stagg

The role of money in politics and other political news and views

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Financing Democracy - Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns and the Risk of Policy Capture  - The recent debate on the role of money in politics has shed the light on the challenges of political finance regulations. What are the risks associated with the funding of political parties and election campaigns? Why are existing regulatory models still insufficient to tackle those risks? What are the links between money in politics and broader frameworks for integrity in the public sector? This report addresses these three questions and provides a Framework on Financing Democracy, designed to shape the global debate and provide policy options as well as a mapping of risks. MAIN FINDINGS Finance is a necessary component of the democratic processes. Mmoney enables the expression of political support. It enables competition in elections. However, money may be a means for powerful narrow interests to exercise undue influence e.g. newly elected officials maybe pressured to &q

The death of the political influence of newspapers?

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Just something to think about before you get your knickers in a knot about headlines in the Murdoch tabloids. Newspapers are getting less and less influential. News and information about the contentious 2016 presidential election is permeating the American public, according to a new survey of 3,760 U.S. adults by Pew Research Center. About nine-in-ten U.S. adults (91%) learned about the election in the past week from at least one of 11 types of sources asked about, ranging from television to digital to radio to print. This high level of learning about the 2016 presidential candidates and campaigns is consistent with recent research that has shown strong interest in this election , even more so than at the same point in the previous two presidential elections. 1 Americans are divided, though, in the type of sources they find most helpful for that news and information. When asked if they got news and information about the election from 11 different source types, and then asked whi

Replacing the Movable Cultural Heritage Act and other political news and views

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Final report for review of Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 released - From the report : Previous reviews have come up with long lists of recommended improvements and suggestions for further consultation but what all of these, and indeed any analysis of the Act will show, is that the problems of the Act are systematic. They cannot be dealt with by tinkering amendments. I have adopted the position that any attempt to undertake piecemeal amendment would be inefficient and that what is needed is a new model by which the Australian Government can deliver effective, cost-efficient and balanced protection for significant cultural material. Accordingly, I have chosen a different path from my predecessors—to create a model designed to replace the current scheme. Australia Boasts That It Has Met Its Climate Goals, But There’s Reason To Be Skeptical Studying the Heart of El Niño, Where Its Weather Begins Further easing of El Niño  - El Niño remains strong, but

Is Scott Morrison getting ahead of Malcolm Turnbull in the GST debate?

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Michelle Grattan , University of Canberra Scott Morrison has become a true believer in the cause of raising the GST, determined to drive a major switch in the tax mix. The big question is whether Malcolm Turnbull will end up in the same place as his treasurer. Turnbull is keeping his options open. “Changes to the GST are certainly part of the tax debate and certainly being actively considered by the government,” he said on Friday. If Turnbull agrees with Morrison, all will be well and good between them. On the other hand if Turnbull eventually opts for caution and doesn’t walk down the GST road, or in the shorter term feels Morrison is getting ahead of the game, that would be awkward for the gung-ho minister, who would the need to manage his retreat. Morrison wants a high profile and he seeks the limelight. But that carries risks. There is always that salutary tale from Labor days. Paul Keating was passionate about introducing a broad-based consumption tax. Bob Hawke let

The new political force - some strange influences of the internet on politics and other news and views

Donald Trump’s tantrums drive web traffic—helping him game the entire American media  - Traffic to stories about Trump, even if they contained no substantive new information or a comment from the candidate himself, was running some 10 times higher than that of any other candidate. ... In revenue terms, that 10x means if a website earns $20 for every thousand page views, it can make, say, $20,000 on a Trump story, but only $2,000 on an article about Cruz, Clinton, Sanders or Rubio. Given those dynamics and the pressure on many digital media outlets to come up with content that generates page views, more and more stories are likely to be written about Trump, giving him even greater leverage over the media. Thanks to his value on the web, even the smallest items of Trump-related news gets covered. This dynamic gets even more interesting when taking into account a digital media practice of republishing old material to boost traffic. The marginal cost of doing this is about zero; you don’t