Showing all posts tagged: current affairs
Paris bans rental e-scooters after accidents, injuries
6 September 2023
The French capital, Paris, has become the first European city to ban the use of electric share scooters. The move follows a referendum earlier this year, where Parisians were asked to decide whether the e-scooters should remain or be removed.
Paris will this week become one of the only cities in Europe with an outright ban on rented e-scooters — as operators plan to ramp up their e-bike fleets to replace them ahead of the 2024 Olympics. Despite previously expressing hopes for a last-minute reprieve, the three firms with e-scooter operating licenses in the French capital, Lime, Dott and Tier, all confirmed to CNBC that they will have removed their scooters, or trottinettes, by the Sept. 1 deadline.
At first glance, e-scooters seem like a low-cost, convenient, and even environmentally friendly, way to travel short distances. But the sometimes dangerous conduct of some e-scooter users, resulting in injuries, and tragically, a fatality, drew wide condemnation in Paris.
E-scooter users are also causing similar problems in parts of Australia. A number of pedestrians have been hurt in collisions, and often have little legal recourse, or access to compensation.
While the e-scooters hire companies offer insurance to users, the policies are often voided if the e-scooter driver was not wearing a helmet, or breaking the law in some other way, leaving accident victims, who were doing nothing wrong, high and dry.
It seems like a no-brainer that the use of sustainable methods of travel, such as e-scooters, should be encouraged, but laws need to be in place to ensure pedestrians, and others in public spaces, are protected in the event something goes wrong.
RELATED CONTENT
current affairs, technology, trends
The perils of a cashless Australian society
23 August 2023
Image courtesy of Squirrel photos.
Just seven percent of Australians are “high cash” users according to Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia. Tap-to-pay contactless payment methods, which are simple and convenient to use, have dispensed with the need to carry wads of money in our bags and pockets.
In addition, the amount of cash in circulation is at an all-time low, down by a billion dollars in the last financial year, as people use other payment methods. That has some pundits already predicting Australia will become a cashless society sooner rather than later. That’s welcome news for those who don’t feel safe carrying cash, and means less cash handling hassle for people like shop-owners.
But a completely cashless Australia does not suit all. Not everyone has a smartphone, rendering tap-to-pay useless to them. Some people — including newly arrived immigrants — don’t even have a bank account. One or two people are still paid cash for their work, and would be put out if retailers refused to accept cash. Or, for that matter, should banks stop handling cash, as is the case in some places in Sweden, which is seen as one of the world’s most cashless societies.
These factors aside though, some don’t like the idea of government agencies, the tax office in particular, knowing exactly how much they earn. Other people meanwhile crave privacy. They don’t want all their spending recorded on a bank statement, that unwanted eyes might peruse. Mortgage applicants, for instance, may not want prospective lenders knowing how much they spend on, say, coffee, something that’s certainly open to scrutiny when using tap-to-pay.
Despite the gloomy outlook for cash, Australia certainly won’t become cashless overnight, and if there are plans to do away with cash, there would be plenty of warning. The future of cheques makes for a good road map here. According to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, cheques, which will be phased out in 2030, account for 0.2% of financial transactions.
That’s far less than cash, and there’s a generous seven year warning ahead of their demise. Implementing infrastructure allowing everyone to transact without cash is a process that could take decades. While I can’t see cash being around forever, it’s not going anywhere soon.
RELATED CONTENT
ABC streamlines Twitter/X activity, Musk calls it censorship
14 August 2023
Last week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reduced the number of active pages it has on Twitter/X to just four. The Triple J page, which I follow, was among accounts to be archived. David Anderson, managing director of the ABC, says the move follows a trial in February this year, when three accounts were shuttered:
“In February we closed three program accounts, for Insiders, News Breakfast and ABC Politics, and the results of that have been positive,” he said. Mr Anderson said the reduced activity will allow staff to focus “on the accounts that overwhelmingly provide the most value.”
The ABC has been the subject of a number of rounds of staff cuts in recent years, and doubtless archiving some of the Twitter/X pages will reduce staff workloads. Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, however hit back at the decision, labelling it censorship:
Well of course they prefer censorship-friendly social media. The Australian public does not.
What does he mean censorship, and since when has Musk had it down with the Australian public? The ABC is operating on plenty of other channels, including their website, television and radio, along with other social media services such as Facebook.
The ABC also have a number of active Threads accounts, and are looking into boosting their presence there further. Here’s hoping the page of the aforementioned Triple J is among them.
RELATED CONTENT
current affairs, social networks, Threads, Twitter
Ghosted World: An Uncanceled Asian American Literature Festival
31 July 2023
Partners and participants of this year’s abruptly cancelled Asian American Literature Festival (AALF) are staging a smaller version of the event from Friday 4 August 2023, through to Sunday 6 August. Like the original event, which was meant to take place in August, Ghosted World will be held in Washington D.C., the United States capital.
AALF partners and participants, some of whom have banded together as the Asian American LitFest Collective (AALC), remain upset by the sudden decision of the Smithsonian, producers and hosts of the biennial AALF festival, to cancel the 2023 event. Although the institution later apologised, AALC members say the apology failed to answer questions they had about the decision, while still suggesting it was their alleged lack of planning that resulted in the festival’s cancellation.
Ghosted World is clearly a scaled back form of the original AALF, but hopefully will be of some consolation to those who had been looking forward to attending the event. A program for Ghosted World can be seen here.
RELATED CONTENT
current affairs, events, literature
Rising humidity levels are making heatwaves unbearable
31 July 2023
Heatwaves, which have been experienced in a number of regions in the northern hemisphere in recent weeks, are being aggravated by increased levels of humidity, which is being precipitated by climate change. While it might be thought higher temperatures would cause moisture to evaporate, warmer air is capable of holding more water vapour than cooler air.
Sea surface temperatures have been steadily climbing globally, as the oceans absorb something like 90 percent of the excess heat that humans are adding to the atmosphere. But since March, global sea surface temperatures have been skyrocketing above the norm. The North Atlantic, in particular, remains super hot, loading Europe’s air with extra humidity.
Parts of the east coast of Australia saw higher levels of humidity last week, which had the effect of “taking the bite” out of otherwise relatively cooler temperatures. That’s about the only instance when high humidity has an upside. Those sorts of humidity levels will be far from welcome come summer.
RELATED CONTENT
climate change, current affairs, environment
2023 Emmy Awards postponed until January 2024
28 July 2023
Organisers of the annual Emmy Awards have postponed the 2023 ceremony, originally scheduled for Monday 18 September, until January 2024, citing the on-going WGA and SAG-AFTRA screenwriters’ strikes, according to a Variety report:
Vendors for the 75th Primetime Emmys have been told that the ceremony will not air on September 18 — the first time that there has been official word that the date has been pushed, Variety has learned exclusively.
RELATED CONTENT
Global boiling replaces global warming as world swelters through July
28 July 2023
The world has sweated through its hottest three weeks on record, as heatwaves continue to ravage parts of the northern hemisphere. Possibly the last time temperatures were this warm was one hundred thousand years ago.
Typically these records, which track the average air temperature across the entire world, are broken by hundredths of a degree. But the temperature for the first 23 days of July averaged 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 Fahrenheit), well above the previous record of 16.63 degrees Celsius (61.93 Fahrenheit) set in July 2019, according to the report.
I’m dreading the upcoming Australian summer. As I type, the forecast high today is 23° Celsius, in this part of the world the July (middle of winter) average is meant to be closer to about 16° Celsius.
RELATED CONTENT
climate change, current affairs, environment
Man apologises for social media threats against Yumi Stynes
27 July 2023
A man has apologised to Australian author Yumi Stynes after making threats against her through social media last week. Stynes has been subjected to a barrage of online hostility recently, amid a backlash against Welcome to Sex, a sex education book she co-authored with Melissa Kang. Some people have been angered by a selection of illustrations in the book that they perceive to be pornographic in nature.
A twenty-three year old man, Eli Engwicht, was arrested by police after being identified as one of the people making the threats, and appeared in court in Sydney yesterday. After his appearance, he issued an apology to Stynes:
“I apologise to Yumi Stynes and her direct family members for the inconvenience and the trouble and the threats that I have sent,” Mr Engwicht said outside court. “I’m sorry. This is a public and sincere apology (for) … my wrongdoing.”
The matter is expected to return to court in September, after Engwicht indicated he would plead guilty to the charges against him.
RELATED CONTENT
books, current affairs, Melissa Kang, Yumi Stynes
Customer abuse sees Welcome to Sex removed from Big W shops
20 July 2023
Australian discount chain store Big W has withdrawn copies of Welcome to Sex from bookshelves, following repeated instances of staff being abused by customers angry that they stock the book.
Co-written by Melissa Kang, a doctor and associate professor at the University of Sydney, and Australian writer and broadcaster Yumi Stynes, Welcome to Sex, is, according to publisher Hardie Grant, a frank, age-appropriate introductory guide to sex and sexuality for teens of all genders.
Critics of the sex education book claim Welcome to Sex strays well beyond being a guide to reproductive sex, by discussing of a number of other sexual activities, even if only briefly.
Having concerns about certain of the merchandise a shop sells is one thing, but being hostile to retail staff, who are only doing their jobs, is unacceptable. While no longer available in store, the title remains available for purchase through the Big W website.
Update: 9NEWS reports that Welcome to Sex has topped the Amazon Best Sellers list, and sold out in some bookshops, since the controversy surrounding the title’s content flared up last week.
RELATED CONTENT
books, current affairs, Melissa Kang, Yumi Stynes
2023 Asian American Literature Festival abruptly cancelled
19 July 2023
A biennial event, the Asian American Literature Festival (AALF) was first held in Washington D. C., capital city of the United States, in 2017, and then again in 2019. After Covid lockdowns put paid to the 2021 event, organisers and participants were keenly anticipating the 2023 festival, scheduled to take place in August.
But two weeks ago, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), producers of the AALF, abruptly cancelled the 2023 event, citing “unforeseen circumstances”, says Sophia Nguyen, writing for The Washington Post:
The event, produced by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), was relatively new. But it had already gained a loyal following for its intimate feel and experimental bent, hosting themed escape rooms and calligraphy tutorials alongside the more standard literary fare of readings by best-selling authors. The 2023 iteration was expected to draw thousands of attendees to Washington in early August. But just weeks before writers from across the world were due to land, the Smithsonian abruptly canceled the event, citing “unforeseen circumstances.”
Unforeseen circumstances.
It defies belief an event of this scale, with many people travelling a distance to attend — including a number from Australia and New Zealand — were offered, at least initially, such a feeble line. I can’t imagine anyone not expecting better of an institution such as the Smithsonian.
When contacted for further clarification by WTOP News about the “unforeseen circumstances” resulting in the festival’s cancellation, an APAC spokesperson appeared to imply preparations for the festival were behind schedule:
Linda St. Thomas, chief spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution, said the event planning process “did not meet Smithsonian expectations” and the institution’s “goals for an in-person event.”
But AALF partners and participants rejected the suggestions, in an open letter sent to the Smithsonian, written on Monday 17 July 2023:
On July 14, The Washington Post reported on the cancellation, including an official statement from the Smithsonian alleging that the festival was canceled due to failures in preparation by the planning team. We must rebut this immediately: from the partners’ perspective, everything was on track; we had no concerns with putting on our programs in a month’s time. In fact, many of us have participated in AALF in years past and have returned due to our confidence in working with this planning team. The article itself confirms that the allegations are false.
The letter goes on identify what AALF partners and participants see as the actual cause of the 2023 event being cancelled: concerns the Smithsonian have with what they see as “potentially sensitive or controversial content”. In particular, a program exploring the work of trans and nonbinary authors:
Additionally, we are deeply troubled to discover that a driving factor behind the festival’s cancellation might have been the Smithsonian’s desire to censor trans and nonbinary programming. A program intended to celebrate trans and nonbinary authors, as they face unprecedented levels of violence, book bans, and anti-trans legislation, was set to take place at the festival. The Washington Post article reported that the Acting Director instructed the planning team to submit a report under Smithsonian Directive 603 to identify potentially sensitive or controversial content, which she received on July 5.
If correct, this is a disturbing development, at a time when civil liberties are increasingly being questioned, and some minority groups are experiencing elevated levels of vilification. While it is unlikely the cancellation of the 2023 festival can be overturned at this stage, if you feel strongly about the Smithsonian’s decision, you can add your signature to the open letter here.
RELATED CONTENT