Tune into the vibe, ignore the opinion polls

Showing all posts tagged: current affairs

Tune into the vibe, ignore the opinion polls

7 November 2024

Tyler Cowen, writing at Marginal Revolution, last July:

Democrats and leftists are in fact less happy as people than conservatives are, on average. Americans noticed this, if only subconsciously.

Cowen made a whole heap of observations — I’ve quoted but one — about the then upcoming US Presidential election. But it’s tuning into the vibe that interests me. Opinion polls may say one thing, but it’s the mood on the street, if you can tap into it, understand it, that matters.

I can’t say the result was what I hoped for, but let’s keep an eye on the vibe, and see what it tells us going forward.

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America, current affairs, politics

New York Times publishes stinging rebuke of Donald Trump

5 November 2024

On the eve of the US Presidential election, The New York Times has published a strongly worded dis-endorsement of Republican candidate Donald Trump. It’s short, succinct, and well worth reading.

Unlike counterpart publications, including The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, The New York Times issued an endorsement of Democrat candidate Kamala Harris, at the end of September.

The result of the Presidential election is usually clear by early afternoon Wednesday, east coast of Australia time. In terms of the Electoral College numbers that is. I suspect there’ll be quite a number of eyes on the outcome here tomorrow afternoon.

American bloggers, personal website publishers, may be among ‘enemies within’

1 November 2024

American newspapers The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, have come under fire for declining to endorse US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Their refusal to endorse Harris does not, however, from stem from a desire to back Donald Trump. Rather, both publications had prepared endorsements for Harris, but were blocked from publishing them by their owners.

The suggestion is the proprietors of both outlets fear they may face retribution for endorsing Harris, should Trump be elected. For some time Trump has threatened reprisals against Americans he sees as being the “enemies from within”, should he assume the presidency. Those showing support for Harris — in what is an election in a democracy, no less — would appear to among these “enemies”.

But major news outlets are not the only publishers concerned by the prospect of a Trump presidency. Bloggers, and personal website publishers, are likewise worried that their writing may see them labelled as an enemy within. People, like you and me, who are exercising their right to the freedom of speech, the cornerstone of any democracy, are also fearful of the outcome of the election, as US blogger Tracey Durnell writes:

In the lead-up to the election, I’ve been thinking about this blog: how much it adds to my life to be able to write and think freely… but also, how a written record of my views could become a liability if Trump wins the election or commits insurrection 2.0. I chose years ago to blog under my real name — and my political views are pretty clear. To a Christian extremist, a vocal “porn-writing” leftist woman like me — a woman without children, no less — is “the enemy within.”

If voting in the US election, Australians would elect Kamala Harris

31 October 2024

A recent poll of voters in Australia and New Zealand has found most would prefer Democrat candidate Kamala Harris to win the upcoming American Presidential election, over her Republican rival Donald Trump:

“Fifty per cent of Australians say they’d vote for Harris compared to 26 per cent who say they’d vote for Trump,” says David Talbot, director Talbot Mills Research. Support for Harris among Kiwis is identical at 50 per cent while support for Trump is a little lower than in Australia at 22 per cent.

The same polling however revealed men aged under thirty would be more likely to back Trump than Harris. Support, meanwhile, for Trump among women in the same age group, is “minuscule”.

Interest in the US election is running high in Australia, as is often the case. This gives some weight to the notion that the election is not only national, but also global, a point Guardian writer Cas Mudde made four years ago:

US presidential elections are not just national elections; they are global elections, too. Although the US presidency is not as all-powerful as many people think, it is certainly, both inside and outside of the US, the most powerful elected position in the world.

The Peaky Blinders military unit helping to defend Ukraine

21 June 2024

Kathryn Diss and Mathew Marsic, writing for ABC News:

For Commander Anton, it’s difficult to imagine returning to his quiet life before the war. The 33-year-old former builder is now a battle-hardened soldier who risks his life every day, just kilometres from the Russian border. He is part of an elite squad of soldiers who call themselves the “Peaky Blinders”, after the violent British television drama.

What a remarkable story. I couldn’t conceive of being involved in a drawn out armed conflict to defend my homeland. But then neither of course did the brave Peaky Blinders unit members, until Russia invaded their country. More power to them, I say.

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current affairs, Ukraine

Six dead in knife attack at Westfield Bondi Junction

13 April 2024

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC):

A shopping centre in Sydney’s east has been evacuated amid reports of multiple stabbings and potentially a number of deaths. An eyewitnesses told the ABC shots were fired. NSW Police said emergency services were called to Westfield Bondi Junction just before 4pm after reports of multiple people being stabbed.

This is shocking. The centre would have been packed with weekend shoppers and young families.

I hotdesk there during the week when in Sydney. I’m trying to find out if the people I know who work there are OK, but ping me if you see this.

Update: sadly several people have died, and others were injured, as a result of the attack. The alleged perpetrator meanwhile was shot by a police officer, who was at the scene.

Update II: police are certain the attack was not terror related, nor motivated by any political or religious ideology.

Pre-production expenses: cost accounting for sex and drugs

6 April 2024

In this case, pre-production expenses would appear to relate to the costs associated with procuring illicit drugs, and the services of sex workers.

The term came to light during proceedings in the Australian Federal Court last week, in the course of a defamation case between a former federal parliamentary staffer, and an Australian TV broadcaster.

With “pre-production expenses”, have we witnessed the coining of a new euphemism? One that means to ask someone else to reimburse the costs another person incurred while obtaining sex and drugs? I’m not sure it’s entirely new, however. It could be accounting departments have been using the phrase to classify certain expenses for some time.

Still, as a possibly somewhat new euphemism, pre-production expenses can take its place in the vernacular along with the likes of assorted other terms, including “friends with benefits”, “pre-loved”, “wardrobe malfunction”, “between jobs”, and of course, “cook the books”.

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current affairs, language, trends

Screenwriters strike win seen as victory over generative AI

28 September 2023

The recent long running strike by members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in the United States, has ended. But the settlement secured by the WGA not only means fairer pay and conditions for screenwriters, it is also seen as a victory over Generative AI technologies, which were being used as a form of leverage against the striking writers.

At a moment when the prospect of executives and managers using software automation to undermine work in professions everywhere loomed large, the strike became something of a proxy battle of humans vs. AI. It was a battle that most of the public was eager to see the writers win.

Poison ivy to bloom, become more toxic, thanks to global warming

22 September 2023

Poison ivy, a noxious plant often found in North America, and parts of Asia, could become more common place as global warming creates an environment conducive to its growth.

Poison ivy is poised to be one of the big winners in this global, human-caused phenomenon. Scientists expect the dreaded three-leafed vine will take full advantage of warmer temperatures and rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to grow faster and bigger — and become even more toxic.

Once air conditioning was not needed during summers in Cairo, Egypt

20 September 2023

American journalist and cartoonist Malaka Gharib used to visit her father in Cairo, Egypt, during the summer school holidays, in the mid-nineties. It was hot, as anyone who’s been to Egypt in June or July (yours truly) could tell you.

Like many Egyptians though, her father’s home did not then have air conditioning. It was certainly warm, but somehow everyone managed. Thirty years later, Gharib wonders how Cairo residents get by when climate change is slowly pushing up temperatures, in a comic strip she drew.

While the use of air conditioning has become more widespread in Cairo, experts warn it alone is not a long term solution to the ever warmer summers parts of Egypt are presently experiencing. In some cases their operation can exasperate the problem, by placing stress on the power grid, and upping local temperatures through the heat the units themselves expend.

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