Don't you just love summer ?

Didn't summer arrive in Canberra yesterday. What a stunning day it turned out to be. We scored 28 degrees. It was certainly warming up in the shopping centres on the second last shopping day till Xmas. I dragged the girls into Westfield Belconnen and we managed to get through things much quicker than I thought we would. There were a few long lines, but we managed to get to the end pretty quickly.

We were all done by 2 and I made the suggestion to the girls that we go for a swim at Dickson pool. They didn't take much convincing on that idea.

When you go to the pool or the beach, particularly early on in the season, tell me, do you just jump in first thing, or do you ease yourself into the water bit by bit. We were a little cautious yesterday but it didn't take long before we were fully submerged. We played some swimming pool chasy and even swam some laps together.

It didn't take long for this old man to be worn out. I got out after an hour or so and laid on the grass reading. I started reading the John Birmingham book 'After America'. I've made the call that it's my first book for the holiday season.

The girls joined me after a while and we laid back on our towels on the grass watching the clouds and talking about life, boys and Christmas. I felt like I was already holidays. Bring more of that in the next 3 weeks.

Securing your home

I grew up in a little country town in Western Australia. It was a time and a place where people just didn't tend to lock their cars or their homes. I can so remember that on a Friday night when my Dad went to Castle Hotel after work, I used to wander into town as a 12 year old and find his car in the Castle Hotel car park. I'd get in it and wait for him because it was never locked..

This isn't York and it's not the 1970's. I'm told though, by ACT Policing that still today in this city, many Canberrans just don't lock their homes. The Police are trying to hammer home the home security message to all Canberrans. One of the things their pushing is for people to not leave garden tools laying around the house, not so much to protect them from being stolen, but rather because they are often used to break the lounge room window.

They've also suggested that, if you get big ticket items for Christmas, don't leave the empty boxes laying around outside. The cops are also suggesting that you never ever leave spare keys outside. Think about using laminated glass or shatter resistant windows. Keep all of the gates locked. Leave a radio or a TV on and keep your letterbox secure.

Happy holidays.

Animal holidays

Only a couple of nearly normal days left in the year. The silly season has arrived. The shopping centres in Canberra still haven't seemed as crazy to me as they have in past years. Our retailers are whingeing and whining about the lack of sales and based on what I've seen, I think they've got a right to have long faces.

What are you having at your place Xmas day...hot or cold ? It's going to be hot for us. Unless it's like 35 degrees, I'll always go traditional hot Xmas lunch. That's just who I am. It's one of the reasons I could never live in Darwin, or Brisbane or Manila.

And never mind the day itself....what are you up to after that ? We're told Batemans Bay is a ghost town at the moment and that forward bookings are not looking flash. So what the hell are Canberrans going to do. Are you all going to sit and home and watch the cricket ?

That's pretty much what I'm going to do. Looking forward to the Boxing Day test match like nobodies business. I'll miss parts of it, cos I'm calling the races at Queanbeyan on Boxing Day. I've already started learning the colours.

Tell me, if you're going away, what do you do with your pets ?

Do you have a friendly neighbour who comes in to feed them ?

Big piece on the front page of the Canberra Times about the various pet hotels in our town. They of course do a roaring trade in the festive season.

They mention places like Paw Paws urban retreat in Sydney where your dog can stay for like $80 a night. Dead set the dogs can even have a spa treatment while they're there.

What do you do with your four legged friends ? Let us know.

NBN Business Plan

So the National Broadband Network...the entire business plan is on the table. Are you sold yet ? Did Julia and Stephen convince you that this $35 billion expenditure was worthwhile ?

They didn't convince me at all.

I thought this was supposed to be a whole new world as far as affordable broadband. The household plans revealed yesterday weren't all that much different than what's on offer now....and I know that Julia keeps on telling us that this is going to be so much faster than what we've got now.

I'm happy with my internet speed. Are you happy with yours ?

I still say that so much of this money....such a big chunk of the $35 billion will be all about entertainment and video gaming.

And so we're supposed to have 70 percent of Australian homes and businesses hooked up by 2025, and then we'll get out money back. To believe that I.T. will be the same as it is now in 15 years from now seems somewhat naive to me. 15 years ago, we didn't even have the net. Who knows how we're going to be communicating with each other in 2025.

Gay marriage

Word online this morning is that the Catholic Church is instructing parishioners to lobby federal MPs against voting for gay marriage. Really ? Well that’s apparently what’s happening. They are suggesting that their parishioners base their arguments on the natural order and the importance of a biological relationship with children rather than on marriage being a religious institution.

Honestly, I’m over the whole thing. I really don’t think it changes the country all that much to just say yes….fine get married if you want, just shut the hell up about it. I’m sick of talking about it.

Pressure is mounting inside the Labor Party for a change in the party's policy officially banning such marriages. That’s led to both the gay lobby and now the Catholic Church intensifying their efforts to win the debate. Let’s just do it and then worry about important stuff.

MPs are consulting their constituents after a Greens motion urging politicians to seek the views of their electorates on changing marriage laws was passed last month in the House of Representatives with Labor's support.
In an open letter, the church tells its members that as "the Greens continue their assault on the culture of life . . . every Catholic should let federal legislators know that marriage and family, the cornerstone of society, must be protected at all costs."

Is it really an assault on the culture of life ? Let’s just let them do it and move on.

The "talking points" to be used by parishioners have been prepared by the Sydney Archdiocese, the Catholic Women's League and the Knights of the Southern Cross.
"Marriage between a man and a woman is not a religious construct but a natural institution found across all cultures and religions.

"Marriage is a unique kind of sexually complementary union with a natural orientation to life," reads the key argument.
To counter the argument used by the gay lobby that children are an optional extra for marriage and marriage is not connected to having children, the church suggests that heterosexual married couples that are infertile have a greater right to be married "because their lovemaking is designed to give life".

"Allowing two men or two women to marry would involve a fundamental change in our understanding of marriage, from a life-giving and sexually complementary union to a personal, romantic relationship with no true communion or connection to procreation," it says.
The church also said allowing gay marriage would trivialise the meaning and dignity of motherhood and fatherhood.

I think the Catholic Church should just concentrate on peace and goodwill between men and women and maybe celebrating the birth of christ

Tobacco related illness

Hey I was reading some of the stuff from the Preventative Health Taskforce over the weekend. This is the group that was set up by Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon to help save us from ourselves. It's supposed to help to make us the healthiest country on the planet by 2020. So it's targeting things like obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption. It all seems worthwhile doesn't it ? I was reading, in particular about the anti smoking push from the taskforce. They want to talk a million Australians out of their nicotine addiction...and that's a good thing....but.

It got me to thinking about the whole tobacco debate and how those on the anti smoking train continually bring up dollar figures pertaining to the money spent in the health system on smoking related illness. The figures are enormous. We spend billions of dollars trying to cure people and looking after people who have fallen victim to smoking related illness. If nobody smoked, we wouldn't be spending that money....right ?

Wrong.

Don't get me wrong because I'm one of those who backs the anti smoking push from all Government's including our own, but to base it all upon this premise that it's going to save us all of those medical bills is a little misleading.

All humans have a use by date. There comes a time in our lives when we fall victim to old age, which normally translates in the end to a debilitating illness. These Australians who stop smoking, may not fall to smoking related illness, but it's pretty certain that they'll fall victim to something. At some stage they'll require specialist medical care, perhaps for heart disease, stroke, dementia or non smoking related cancer. Just because they stop smoking doesn't mean they'll stay out of hospital forever. If anything, they may even end up costing the health system more because they may just hang around for a helluva lot longer. One of the reasons that our various health systems find themselves under so much economic pressure is because so many of us are living longer.

If ever we find the cure for cancer it could spell disaster for world health budgets. If we work out how to cure everything, what the hell is going to kill us ?

Canberra....going down.

I worry about the future of this town of ours. So much has changed regarding the way that we fund and run things in Canberra in the last couple of decades. Self government itself has been the biggest change, but as each year goes by, we seem to find a tighter squeeze on everything that makes us special, everything that defines us as the capital of the nation....everything from the grass and the trees, to the funding for our national institutions. The roads in the Capital are deteriorating, even the signs look shabby and the decline continues.

We've all heard about the funding stuggles being experienced by the Australian War Memorial. The AWM is not alone. Our other fine cultural insitutions are doing it tough as well.

Andrew Sayers is the Director of the National Museum, he says that museum has survived until now by stretching time frames and revising planned projects. There's only so long you can do that before the big picture has be scoped down.

According to the Canberra Times thsi morning, the National Film and Sound Archive is also just learning to a little bit less of everything because the money isn't there. They've also reported that staffing at the National Library is set to fall in coming months. At the Library they've made significant cuts to some of it's collecting facilities. The expectation is that the staff will be cut by about 13 people next year.

You cut 13 people from a place as small as the National Library and it's going to make a significant difference.

Do you worry about the future of this town, cos I do.

Unlicenced shocker

Here's one of those Canberra stories that makes you shake your head and wonder. You wonder why we bother having laws and lawmakers in a community like ours.

There's a gentleman facing the ACT Magistrates Court today. He's not a boy. We're talking about a 25 year old Florey man who was in court on Tuesday facing a drink driving charge. Now I can tell you that this guy scored a three year disqualification. This guy has apparently never ever held a licence.

So he's been pinged for drink driving. He's walked out of the court and headed for car park. Got into his car and drove off.

What's going on there ?

Now, it's my understanding that the cops were alerted to the fact that he was driving. They located him on Southern Cross Drive at Scullin and hauled him into the ACT Watch House where he was released on bail.

So he'll be back in court this morning.

What do you do here aside from shake your head ?

I'm over it

Well it certainly feels like summer today in Canberra. We're heading for a top of around 30 degrees and we're 10 days or so from Christmas. I think I'm about over it for the year. As much as I love my job, I've gotta tell you, Matty and I were discussing this morning that we'd be more than happy to finishing up for the year or Friday. You just get to a point at which you need to be at the beach or sitting in front of the cricket with a beer and I think we've reached that point. You know that you're at that point when you start day dreaming during the day. I was actually day dreaming at my desk at work yesterday.

I so used to do that at school in the summer. I can so remember sitting in one of those de-mountable class rooms in York in country W.A. on hot summer's days. The ceiling fan would be pushing the hot air around the room. The windows open, but it would be deadly still and just bloody hot. So many days sitting in those class rooms with the mercury pushing 40 degrees outside. Your short and your legs sticking to the chair. The sound of the teachers voice just droning on in the background and always in York, the overwhelming smell of the leaves from the big gum trees.

You sit there and daydream about riding your bike, or jumping into the York pool that afternoon, or about whichever girly you had a crush on that day.

I'm pretty much over it for 2010...are you ?

Assange arguments

It easy to get into a fight, or at least an animated discussion if you choose to discuss the merits of Julian Assange's Wikileaks website. Opinion is divided and often passionate. There are those who see Julian Assange as a martyr for justice, and there are those who see him as a traitor.

I was a little surprised at how strongly the Prime Minister condemmed Assange and Wiki Leaks a few weeks ago. She really did put the boots in and she's confronting a growing backlash within her own party, with many Labor MPs attacking the Prime Minister's language and declaring their support for Sir Julian.

The Prime Minister said the latest WikiLeaks information dump was based on an illegal act, but her office has since insisted that was a reference to the original theft of the material by a junior US serviceman rather than any action by Mr Assange.

I still think that what Wikileaks does is wrong. People at every level of the community need to know that they can have confidential conversations. The leaking of those conversations and other communiques has and will create much tension between nations. The leaks regarding military intelligence pertaining to the war in Afghanistan were treasonous. Loose lips really do sink ships and I cannot condone for the sake of transperancy revealing all of this intelligence. I don't think it makes the world a better place.

Captains Flat clean-up

So the floodwaters were ravaging Captains Flat at around this time on Thursday morning. 5 days ago, the evacuation was on as the rising water made it's challenge against civilisation. There were moments when the water won and certainly in Captains Flat and Queanbeyan things got a little hairy for a while.

We've all seen the pictures and heard the reports from Queanbeyan. Captains Flat, although as badly effected didn't get as much coverage. For one reason or another, little Captains Flat didn't get as much attention on the ground either.

When do you think the first council clean up crew arrived at Captains Flat ? What do you reckon, Thursday arvo....maybe Friday morning ? Or maybe some time over the weekend ?

Wrong on all counts.

I can tell you that the first of the Palerang Council clean up crews arrived yesterday. The locals are, as you can understand, a bit miffed by the slow response.

It's not good enough by a long way. I think if you're paying your thousands of dollars in council rates you deserve to be looked a bit better than that.

Peter Bascomb from the council has admitted that their response was a bit slow.

Enlighten

OK, Andy Barr, I'll admit it. When I first heard you selling this whole Englight festival thingo for the Autumn, I did roll my eyes. Turning coloured lights on as a concept didn't really grab me. Of course that's not what it's all about. Enlighten will be based around musical performance but extend to hopefully show our city in a different light to visitors...and to us as well.

In a sure fire sign that the festival has some chance of success, it's been savaged on the local public stoning website the Riot Act.

So how's it going to work ? Well we're talking about a festival based at the much under utilised Commonwealth Park. The first one will be next year in the middle of March. As well as front line peformers George Benson, Chris Isaak and Franki Valli there'll be roving performers, food and wine and other entertainment. Our major cultural attractions will, as a part of the festival, open their doors after dark....so we're talking the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Australian Deomcracy and Parliament House....maybe even the Australian War Memorial if it hasn't been sold off to a private company by then.

I think it may just work.

I think there's a chance of it encouraging a stack of Sydney people to do a weekend in Canberra in March and I guess that's what its' all about.

What do you think

Fun permit

Quick show of hands who's ever spent time in the festive season looking at Xmas light at Bissenberger Crescent in Kambah ? I know people who diarise the day that they're intending to go to Bissenberger as a part of their Christmas experience.

The lights were shining again in Kambah last night, but they have been under threat. The jackboot of ACT bureaucracy has threatened to come down hard on the spirit of Christmas in Kambah. Officers from the Department of Territory and Municipal Services have been flexing their bureaucratic muscles on Bissenberger Crescent in recent days, telling home owners there that they may have to take all of their lights down cos they don't have a permit.

Furthermore, I do know that Phil Jensen one of those responsible for lighting up Bissenberger was ordered on Friday to stop telling people that Santa was coming and to stop advertising the lights display online. There was also apparently a suggestion that he should remove Santa's chair and a charity collection box....and while they were on it, he was told that his letterbox was in the wrong place.

Can you believe this ?

What sort of permit do you think he would have to get.

I'm thinking it may well be a fun permit. Certainly it makes TAMS look very much like the fun police.

This is Xmas for Gods sake. This is about community. It's about people getting together and sharing the spirit that makes this time of year.

The young guns

It was a good week for a couple of former ACT cricketers. The former Wests player, former Radford College boy Ryan Carters played for a Victoria eleven against England as an opening bat. He top scored for Victoria in the first innings in a game that ended up being washed out. Cannot remember what he got, but it was over 50.

Late last week Jason Floros, the former Tuggeranong player got a guernsey in the Queensland team for their one day game against Austrlalia. He batted down the order at 6 or 7 and he too came up with the top score for his side which was, again over the half century and it was scored at a little under a run a ball.

I'm thinking that, as we get closer to Prime Minister's XI on January 10, I'm thinking there's a serious chance that one or both of these former young Canberrans could find themselves coming home for run against the Poms at Manuka Oval.

Both of these players have the talent to take their cricket all the way. Do not be surprised if you see one or both of them playing for Australia in the next few years.

The other thing in Jason's favour is that Greg Chappell is being touted as the man to take control of the direction of Australian cricket. Chappell has been a very vocal supporter of Jase Floros and was instrumental in getting him to Queensland to play for the Bulls.

Good luck to both of them.

Roller Derby

Hey, have I been living under a rock or something ? Thousands of fans packed out the AIS Arena to cheer the local team home in a sport that I've never even really heard of before. Well, I've seen it mentioned on the Riot Act, but a part of me thought they'd made the whole thing up. It's called Roller Derby. It involves teams of young women on roller skates and it looks a bit brutal. Aside from that, I don't know much about it. I'm assuming it's related in some way to that futuristic movie of 30 or so years ago called Roller Derby.

Who can tell me more about roller derby ? Who are these women ? How did they manage to pack out the AIS ? Help me.

Queanbeyan Floods

Good morning and welcome to Friday morning in the capital. What a day it was yesterday. Queanbeyan will always remember December 9 2010. It was the day that the city was cut in half by flood. Plenty of stories on the radio this morning from the day for drama in Qbn.



I can tell you that water levels in the Queanbeyan River are now slowly receding. Some areas of the CBD are still flooded.
There’s a lot of wood and other debris laying around pretty much everywhere in the centre of town. It looks like a warzone. The clean up is going to take until well into the new year.


The Queanbeyan SES are urging everyone to stay away from flooded waterways and areas of water build cos it’s very dangerous. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t drive or walk through floodwater.


Of those evacuated, I’m not sure at this stage about the numbers who have been allowed to return to their homes. If that’s you, we’d love to hear from you. It is my understanding that a number of people remained overnight in the evacuation centres at the Qbn Tafe and Karabar High School.

What’s the road situation in the Qbn CBD. Do we still have roads closed this morning. We’ll find out as soon as we can. If you’ve got us on in the centre of QBN, get on the phone and let us know.


Oaks Estate residents can access their homes via Uriarra and Henderson Roads. Wamboin and Sutton remain unaffected at this time.
Captains Flat Road is open. Bombay Bridge, on the Farington Road, near Braidwood is closed.


Now, if you’re in Qbn and you’ve got things that have been damaged in the flood. You don’t have to worry about doing a run to the dump. Just leave the damaged items on the curbside for collection. The SES will be doing that in the next 48 hours.

Queanbeyan Flood

Thanks to Sarah Gallagher from Riverside Plaza for this pic




And this one came through on the email from Brendan. The Qbn River at 7:20 this morning.


Here's another of the Qbn River posted on Twitter by @loquacities



This footage was posted on Twitter by Nicole Murphy.



@subwaybelconnen gave us this


and Rod from Burra this of Burra Creek

Assange

Another day is coming to a close in England. It'll be another day behind bars for Julian Assange. Assange has received a glimmer of hope in his legal battle overnight. A British judge said that the WikiLeaks founder may be released from jail next week unless Swedish prosecutors produce evidence in London to back up their allegations. The ball is in Stockholm's court.

Senior district judge Howard Riddle said Swedish authorities would need to show some convincing evidence if they wanted to oppose bail for the 39-year-old Australian when he appears in court next Tuesday to oppose extradition to Sweden.

Mr Assange was yesterday refused bail and sent to Wandsworth prison when he appeared before Judge Riddle to answer a Swedish extradition application.

His lawyers are arguing that if he remains behind bars, it will be much harder for them to defend the Swedish sex charges and to stop what they believe is a US government plan to charge him with espionage-related crimes over the publication of thousands of secret American cables.

I think what Julian Assange has done is dispicable, but I still don't understand how he can be charged for espionage when he didn't actually steal any of the information. I bet they wish he was an American citizen. If he was American, they could put him away.

And isn't it fascinating to see how big this monster known as Wiki Leaks has become. Wiki Leaks feeds on every controversy. Every attack by a politician, by a journalist and ultimately by police and the courts makes it stronger. The was a time when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's voluntary surrender to the British authorities might have put an end to Wiki Leaks. But in this brave new internet world, Assanges arrest is actually a win for his organisation. The longer he stays in the news cycle the more hits his website will get. The more Assange is set up by world powers, the more powerful his own movement becomes.

The Oprah Juggernaut

There has to be somebody out there who knows when Oprah is coming to Canberra. We know that her 300+ strong entourage are coming to the capital. Surely the big O comes as well.

What a truly amazing phenomenon has been the Oprah juggernaut to Australia. Can you believe the hype ?

How about this crazy situation yesterday in Sydney. A crowd of people gathered at the airport to welcome hundreds of no-name Americans to Australia. We took pictures of them...they took pictures of us and the press took pictures of both groups taking pictures. All this action and there was no Oprah to be seen anywhere...but that didn't seem to matter.

There's gotta be someone who knows when they're coming to Canberra. Let the cat out of bag and share it with us.

Waiting for the rain

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences seems like a mighty big mouthful. Surely they could come up with a shorter name. Maybe they could just call themselves 'Weeds and Seeds'.

ABARES has just released their forecast for crop yields for our agriculture sector. It was laid on the table yesterday and it's already out of date. The official report suggested that this years winter crop harvest would be a record. Unofficially they're saying that's already out of date because of this month's deluge.

It never rains, it pours.

Weather forecasters are suggesting we'll get in excess of 50 mm from the rain cells heading our way at the moment. Some may get as much as 100 mm. There's much concern over the Namoi River at Wee Waa and of course Wagga Wagga is still under the pump....literally.

At some stage later in the month when the floodwaters recede, farmer will count the cost and it will be in the billions. There will be massive reductions in yield. Many crops just won't be harvested at all.

You wouldn't be a farmer would you ?

Assange arrested

So is this what Julian Assange wanted ? Did he want the notoriety ? Did he want to be known as great martyr, the great defender of the truth...as sort of Jesus of transparency who paid a big price for keeping the bastards honest ?

The WikiLeaks founder surrendered to London police overnight. Now in theory this has got nothing to do with Wikileaks and the search for the truth. This is all a part of a Swedish sex-crimes investigation but it's certainly a big blow Wikileaks. Julian Assange's organisation faces legal, financial and technological challenges after releasing hundreds of secret U.S. diplomatic cables.

There has been a court apperance overnight. Julian Assange has been refused bail and remanded in custody in Britain.

There's something about this man that turns my stomach. Something about the way he carries himself, about the self righteousness of the whole Wikileaks concept.

The courtroom this morning was packed with members of the media. Assange was remanded in custody ahead of a full extradition hearing next week.

Assange told the court he would fight an extradition to Sweden.

The Australian High Commission is providing assistance to Assange, who provided a Victorian address to the court.

Since beginning to release the diplomatic cables last week, WikiLeaks has seen its bank accounts canceled and its web sites attacked. The U.S. government has launched a criminal investigation, saying the group has jeopardized U.S. national security and diplomatic efforts around the world.

WikiLeaks has also seen an online army of supporters come to its aid, sending donations, fighting off computer attacks and setting up over 500 mirror sites around the world to make sure that the secret documents are published regardless of what happens to Assange.

Julian Assange has provided an editorial piece to The Australian. It makes for interesting reading. He says.....I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. They distrusted big government as something that could be corrupted if not watched carefully. The dark days of corruption in the Queensland government before the Fitzgerald inquiry are testimony to what happens when the politicians gag the media from reporting the truth.

These things have stayed with me. WikiLeaks was created around these core values. The idea, conceived in Australia , was to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth.

WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?

Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.

People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars. But there is nothing more wrong than a government lying to its people about those wars, then asking these same citizens to put their lives and their taxes on the line for those lies. If a war is justified, then tell the truth and the people will decide whether to support it.

Chasing the draw

I don't think the rain is going to save us at the Adelaide Oval today. They've had some rain overnight, but the weather radar suggests to me that we may well get 3 full sessions today. That points towards a English victory. We've only got 6 wickets in hand. The deficit is still substantial. And Swann will be even more dangerous today than he was yesterday.

It was wonderful to see the much maligned Australians stand up and fight yesterday. I feared after the debacle that was day one....I feared that they would surrender meekly yesterday. I could see us being bundled out before tea for like 120. It wasn't to be.

The injured warrior Simon Katich got off to a flying start along with Shane Watson. They attacked the bowling as if they were genuinely trying to overhaul the total. It was a joy to watch. It's a worry for Ricky Ponting that he went cheaply and we certainly could have done without that last ball slip up from Michael Clarke, but where there is life there is hope.

This morning it'll be Hussey and Marcus North who is in cricketing terms, a dead man walking. He's as good as out for the next test in Perth. History would show that this is perfect situation for Marcus North. On a number of occasions in the past, North has avoided a bullet at the last possible moment and saved his international career with a stunning performance on the day he was set to be dropped.

It would be a sporting miracle if somehow the Australians can eek out a draw, but you just never know in this game of cricket.

Interest rates

So did the Reserve Bank move to early with interest rate rises. I know a few homeowners with sizeable mortgages who think they may have.

The RBA Board will meet today. They will almost certainly make the decision to leave things exactly as they are.

The latest BIS Shrapnel economic analysis argues that the November rise shouldn't have happened. Richard Robinson is with BIS Shrapnel. He says that the economy will face pressures from the commodity boom, but that much of that will be felt later on in the piece.

It all gets down to this two speed economy concept. We've got the mining sector booming but the rest of the country struggling somewhat. Unfortunately the RBA can't install one interest for the mining sector and one another for everyone else.

They will definately stay on hold today.

I-phone

I can remember when the I-phone burst onto the telecommunications marketplace here in Australia....I can remember wondering out aloud what all of the fuss was about. I didn't really get it. Back then, I'd just about never accessed the internet with a mobile phone. I couldn't see the point. As far as I was concerned a phone was for making and recieving phone calls. I made the big call that I would never succumb to this yuppie phenomenon of I-phones and everything associated with them. I was wrong.

I got onto my I-phone a couple of weeks ago. I'm no addicted.

As you know, I do get into twitter and I've got tweet deck now on my phone. It's as easy to interact on the phone as it is on the PC. In fact it's probably easier because your phone is always with you. The same with Facebook.

I've downloaded the Cricket Australia application which instantly updates the score and gives other related options like an instant transcript of commentary and video replays.

I've got the Bureau of Meteorology pocket weather application, which is one of the few apps that I've actually paid for. It gives you pretty much everything you can get on the BOM website.

Yesterday I downloaded the cycle watch application which maps your progress everytime you get on the bike. Of course I had to go for a ride yesterday to test it out. I rode a 15 km circuit around Lake Ginninderra yesterday afternoon. According to my I-phone, it took me 40 minutes to complete the circuit. My average speed was 22 km/ph and my top speed was 42 km/ph. How cool.

What I really like about the phone is the messaging features and how easy it is to attach pictures to your messages. I love it. It's only been a fortnight, but I'd struggle now without my I-phone.

Zero blood alcohol limit

How about this absurd idea to go with a legal blood alcohol limit of zero ? What rubbish ! This is one of a raft of ideas from the the National Transport Commission who are inviting interested parties to register their interest in upcoming reviews of the Australian road rules and Australian vehicle standards rules.

They want to find ways to cut the road toll steadily in coming decades and the argument is that if we went with a blood alochol limit of .02 or even zero then we would save lives. Those who are pushing for this are of the opinion that it could change the whole drink drive culture in Australia. They're argument is that it's easier to stop people from having the first drink than it is to stop them from having the 4th or 5th.

Would we save lives with this approach ? Yes, I'm sure we would...as we would if we went with a national speed limit of 5 kms an hour. If nobody in the country was allowed to drive in excess of 5 kms an hour the road toll would become virtually nil overnight. Does that mean we'll head down that path ? I don't think so.

This is Australia. We like a drink. I know that there is a certain section of this country, namely generation Y who have a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol, but I don't see why the rest of us should be penalised for their stupidity. I'm smart enough to know how much I can drink and then drive and still be well under the .05. Most Australian adults are responsible enough to do just the same. Can you imagine launching into the festive season when there are work drinkies and all sorts of other events around town and drivers are not to even have a single drink. It's unAustralian.

If ever we get closer to going down this path, I'll be very loud in voicing my opposition. What do you think ?

Optimism

I fancy that I'm a optimist. I like to find the positive side of things. There's a reason that I play that Monty Python song at the end of every radio shift, cos I genuinely believe that we are best served by looking up rather than down. We were talking about this at a barbecue over the weekend. I was asked to define my status as an optimist with a practical example....I went with this.

If I were wrongly convicted of murder. If was framed and arrested for a brutal killing. Despite the best efforts of my legal team, I was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 25 years in jail, that would be a bit of a shit. But.....on the upside, there are around 50 books sitting in my bookcase at home that I'd love to have time to read.

The optimist in me would be pleased that with 25 years in jail, I would finally have time to read them all. That's not to say that I wouldn't be angry about being locked away for a quarter of a century for something I didn't do. Yeah, that'd frustrate the hell out of me, but there are things in life that you can't change. You may as well embrace them.

Ashes

I didn't sleep well last night...and I don't know why. I think it must be the Ashes. I'm serious. This cricket series is giving me grief. Imagine if we lose this series to poms here. I can't come to terms with it. I tossed and turned last night and tried to find a way that we can take 20 wickets in Adelaide. I don't know what it is.

In the time that I've been watching the cricket, there were so many series in which we played serious mind games with the poms. We convinced them that they were athletically challenged. We sowed the seeds of doubt. We made them believe that we were cricketing Gods and they were struggling mortals. That magic is gone now. They realise that Australian cricketers are just human and their capitalising on the new found equality.

So what would you do selection wise in Adelaide ?

I think Johnson's gotta go. He is so badly out of form that he must be struggling to tie his shoe laces. He needs to go away and find the cricketer inside him again. I'd be happy to give Hilfy a rest as well. Bollinger and Harris would change the shape of that attack and most importantly, they would come into the teqam chock full of confidence. If you believe you're going to knock over middle stump, you're a much bigger chance of doing it.

I'd be more than happy to go White for North while we're at it, but I don't believe that change is on the cards.

I'm trying to be positive about Adelaide. Let's hope we can get the campaign back on track.