Over the years I've written a few pieces (e.g., Australia's Carbon Price Legislation: Climate Responsibility with Social Justice (2011)) and given a few public presentations (e.g., The Future of Planet Earth (2007), The End Is Nigh: Failed Stewardship of Planet Earth (2018)). It is therefore unsurprising that I am pleased to see so many young ( Read more... )

It was a pretty gaming intensive weekend; on Saturday I needed to get over three thousand words written for RPG Review 34, a special issue on game design, which has now been released - there was about 1,000 words on Friday and Sunday as well, as well as the layout. Later on session ran a game of Eclipse Phase which has arced up with as the ( Read more... )

In the global village, the local council election of the United States of America is certainly the most important. Like many others I was rather surprised (and quite horrified) by the election of Donald Trump this week. The psephologists were universally wrong. But at least they're doing the right thing and working out why. There has been a lot of ( Read more... )

Tonight we leave for Europe for a month (it took me a few minutes to pack). Our wonderful housesitter, Janie G., has arrived and familiarised herself with the environment. She has already proven her weight in gold by a timely discover of a resisentialist event; a water pipe on the second floor has burst, dripping through the ceiling plaster. That's ( Read more... )

This week I wrote or submitted three contributions to various government agencies. The first was a draft for Linux Users Victoria, on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with particular attention drawn to intellectual property issues. The second was for the Victorian Secular Lobby, which was submitted to the Victorian parliamentary committee on end-of- ( Read more... )

Spent much of Saturday stomping around Ikea for semi-disposable Swedish furniture. Having purchased an "almost new" queen-sized mattress from a neighbour earlier in the week, we also purchased a new queen sized bed frame, which didn't fit in our nook so back to the store it goes. So the old futon frame has been restored and that fits just snugly. ( Read more... )

Pat Robertson has recently asked whether people who have sex with ducks are protected by hate crimes legislation; two young women engage take a satirical take with "sex with ducks". Both at Feminist Law Professors. It does remind me of a South Australian MP several years ago who argued that the decriminalisation of prostitution would lead to sex ( Read more... )

The South-East Australian bushfires continued to rage during the week. Estimates of the dead are now around three hundred, although the official toll has stood at 181 for some time. The number of animals that have died is estimated to be in the millions. Apparently one needs to be university researcher to blame trees and the Greens, and divine ( Read more... )