- luv-talk - luv.asn.au

Victorian Liberals want to privatise ABC and SBS
by Petros 12 Jun '13

12 Jun '13

Hi all, This morning I thought it was a joke (I listened to PBS FM and they have the radio festival to attract subscribers - so they want to make up how important they are). Well, the Victorian Liberals really wants to discuss it this weekend: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/state-liberals-propose-priv… The Victorian Liberal Party's state conference this weekend will vote on a motion urging the federal Coalition to make a full-scale ''operational review'' of the ABC and SBS to ''look at the feasibility of partial or full privatisation of both''. I sent my comment to the State Liberals: Well, okay, who needs movies from the rest of the world, news of a world beyond Broadmeadows, programs that are not fit-in between ads, programs that can inspire thinking, intelligent programs about science or history, something kids can watch without getting bombed with ten ads per minutes? Keep your hands off ABC and SBS - the only TV stations worth watching here! Maybe you would like to do the same? I think they get crazier here by the day! http://vic.liberal.org.au/#Contact Regards Peter

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3 felonies a day makes everyone an easy target
by Tim Josling 12 Jun '13

12 Jun '13

This posting offers some interesting insight into why tech companies seem to have so easily rolled over and given the US government access to their customers' data. "We know what happened in the case of QWest before 9/11. They contacted the CEO/Chairman asking to wiretap all the customers. After he consulted with Legal, he refused. As a result, NSA canceled a bunch of unrelated billion dollar contracts that QWest was the top bidder for. And then the DoJ targeted him and prosecuted him and put him in prison for insider trading -- on the theory that he knew of anticipated income from secret programs that QWest was planning for the government, while the public didn't because it was classified and he couldn't legally tell them, and then he bought or sold QWest stock knowing those things. This CEO's name is Joseph P. Nacchio and TODAY he's still serving a trumped-up 6-year federal prison sentence today for quietly refusing an NSA demand to massively wiretap his customers." https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-June/008815.html Not too different to what happened to Elliot Spitzer after he went after Wall St bankers a little too enthusiastic ally. The authorities suddenly developed an intense interest in his activities. This is a non-partisan issue and goes back a long way. Kennedy went after his opponents using the IRS, as did Nixon.

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Re: [luv-talk] A "fairphone"
by Andrew McGlashan 11 Jun '13

11 Jun '13

On 11/06/2013 9:50 AM, Petros wrote: > Technically, it is an Android 4.2 dual SIM phone with root access for > €325,00 incl. tax. At the moment it takes pre-orders from Europe only. > According to the website they reached there goal of 5000 pre-orders to > start production. > > I don't need a phone just now but I would consider it if I had a need. > > I am not a "smartphone expert" so I cannot judge whether it is good > value for money. If the radio specs are "fixed", then this will only be good for those using Optus network in AU. It looks like reasonable value, but not outstanding. My own view is that it doesn't offer enough flexibility for the price and parts/repair might be a real issue too. Cheers A.

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Re: [luv-talk] be as generous as Bill Gates
by Petros 11 Jun '13

11 Jun '13

From: "Slav Pidgorny (GEUS)" <slav.pidgorny(a)anz.com> > Reductio ad absurdum, nice try. > > Check out work of Dambisa Moyo. This one is a good starting point: "Why > Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa " > (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123758895999200083.html) Good > intentions don't guarantee good outcomes, especially when the outcome is > not as immediate and tangible as that of eye surgery. Well, that is talking largely about government-run "aid" which is given from governments to governments. This "aid" is quite often decided by government and business priorities of the giving nation (think about Canberra's "aid budget" used for detaining asylum seekers, or giving aid coupled with political favours) and quite often just pocketed by corrupt governments in the receiving countries. Aid as coming from the Fred Hollows Foundation, Medicians Without Borders, Plan or UNHCR are examples of charity work that actually help. It needs a stretch of imagination to argue that they responsible for keeping people in poverty und hunger. The "lefties" are not responsible for misused government money, here and abroad. It's a cheap shot. Regards Peter

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Re: [luv-talk] be as generous as Bill Gates
by Petros 10 Jun '13

10 Jun '13

From: "Slav Pidgorny (GEUS)" <slav.pidgorny(a)anz.com> > I posted link to work of Dambisa Moyo (which should imply little > research) and none of catch phrases and dogma. Affixing labels and > arguing to straw man seems to be your style of dialogue. > -----Original Message----- > From: luv-talk-bounces(a)lists.luv.asn.au > [mailto:luv-talk-bounces@lists.luv.asn.au] On Behalf Of Russell Coker > > On Wed, 5 Jun 2013, Petros <Petros.Listig(a)fdrive.com.au> wrote: >> Aryan and Pidgorny, could you please do a little research before > replying in future. Just posting dogma and catch-phrases isn't useful. I did not write these words. The quoting is misleading. Regards Peter

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Re: [luv-talk] Fwd: Victorian Liberals want to privatise ABC and SBS
by Petros 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

Quoting "Peter Ross" <petros(a)fdrive.com.au>: > In spite of > this Cuba is competing well with the US and I think we should look carefully > at their example for ideas that are worth copying. Well, compare it with Haiti which had similar starting points in the late 50ies. I lived with a "Cuba-style" health care system in Communist East Germany, and it worked quite well. I never had to deal with any "where to go/how to spend money/where to claim/what can I afford" problems I am having now. When I was ill I went to a hospital which had all needed facilities under one roof. I saw a specialist in less than hour. My first "Western" experience after unification was an Odyssey of errors. It took three days until I saw an orthopedian to see what was wrong with my knee. I worked in West Berlin and had my flat in the East - the accident happened at work so I was treated (and not even properly diagnosed) in the West. The proper treatment happened after I was released there and still had problems and went to the doctor in the former Communist East - two hours later I had an operation in the hospital in the East. The teeth of the Big Issue seller in Clifton Hill are absolutely rotten, he has frequent toothaches and cannot afford to go to the dentist. He saves for a trip to Malaysia to get it fixed.. BTW: I read once that in old China the doctor was paid money when the patient was healthy (not when he was sick).. Sounds like a good idea in principle but I don't know whether it would be feasible to implement in modern society. Regards Peter

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Re: [luv-talk] Victorian Liberals want to privatise ABC and SBS
by Petros 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

Quoting "Craig Sanders" <cas(a)taz.net.au> > profit is an inherent inefficiency, one that is acceptable for many > things (especially where there is significant *real* competition to > offset that ineffeciency or for luxuries and frivolous things), but is > completely unacceptable for either natural monopolies (like water, gas, > electricity, and wired telecommmunications supply) or essential services > like public transport (also a natural monopoly) and hospitals. Everybody who worked for a consultancy knows that you are having two masters to please, the customer and the employer. Similar things happen in every privatised business serving public interests. E.g. Metro: They get money if they are punctual. So they run late trains as express now - and I have to wait for another train that serves my station (so instead of late I'm later). That is not in the customer's, the public interest but in Metro's. There are many examples, e.g. toll ways that get tweaked during the planning process to increase profit (improving traffic flows comes second) and others. BTW: I lived in Hanover. They built innercity freeways in the 60/70ies - and knocked them down 30 years later. They realised that innercity freeways don't improve traffic. Berlin, after unification, did not build many free-ways - they renovated, expanded and unified the railways. As a result you do not hurry to a railway station fearing to miss a train - you know that the next train comes in three or four minutes. If I miss my train here, I have to wait 20 minutes. and the train from Macauley station to Southern Cross (two stops, less than 5 km) takes usually more than 10, most times up to 20 minutes, parking before reaching North Melbourne and then at Southern Cross again, giving me 5 or 10 minutes to marvel at the Etihad Stadium (Not that I would be faster by car, there are already two level-crossings in Kensington less than a km apart..) Nope, we do not need any better ways to get the trains from North and West into town. We don't need the railway tunnel. Just dig up the Royal Park instead, for another congested freeway to get stuck in. And the world is flat. So far my "lefties' bias". Wondering why it is actually anything is "left" about thinking about solving infrastructure problems. Or learning from other places. This ostrich-like head in the sand attitude of the Liberals cannot be in their genes. AFAIK Liberal governments were around before, and Australia is a well developed place. I think this "left" vs. "right" is just intellectual laziness. Regards Peter

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Re: [luv-talk] Victorian Liberals want to privatise ABC and SBS
by Tim Josling 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

This discussion would be good fodder for a case study in logically invalid arguments. E.g. Labelling: that argument is "extreme" Meaningless assertions with no evidence: the ABC is "right wing". Ad hominem: "Is there no woman at all who you care about?" http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by+Subject/4125.0~Jan+2012~M… Market failures exist. The market does not capture all the relevant costs and benefits. Externalities, imperfect information, information asymmetries, short termism, agency problems, oligopolies. Government failures also exist: Capture by powerful interest groups, capture by the staff of the agencies, weakening of incentives to be efficient, the rule of power hungry liars. Both are subject to the problems of fending off parastitism. The worst is what we often end up with: crony capitalism which seems to combine the worst of both worlds. The ABC is a hard problem. I personally listen almost exclusively to the ABC (Radio National in the car, Classic FM at home). I prefer intelligent "lefties" (eg Phillp Adams) and diluted classical music to full-on populism, but the ABC is going down market at a terrific pace. At present trends it will not be worth preserving within a generation. Tim

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Re: [luv-talk] Fwd: be as generous as Bill Gates
by Petros 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

From: "Aryan Ameri" <info(a)ameri.me> > charity creates dependency and stifles innovation and development. > If you ask me, one of the major reasons why we still have poverty > and hunger in this world is due to the left's need to "save the > world". http://www.hollows.org.au/our-work Please explain your approach to overcome the problem, and why donating money for eye operations preserves poverty and hunger. Regards Peter

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free E2160 system
by Russell Coker 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

I have a NEC E2160 mini-tower system that's free. The only down-side is that it only takes IDE disks not SATA. Let me know off-list if you are interested. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

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