First the LNP confirms their downgrade of the NBN to FTTN rather than FTTP, now the entire board of the NBN is offering their resignations (jumping before they’re pushed)?
What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?
As usual for media circus threads, please share your bouquets and brickbats for particular items in the mass media, or highlight cogent analysis or pointed twitterstorms etc in new media. Discuss any current sociopolitical issue (the theme of each edition is merely for discussion-starter purposes – all current news items are on topic!).
Categories: media, parties and factions
QOTD: on the blaming of progressive scolds/shamers for the rise of Trumpists 
Media Circus: 4chan meltdown has begun #electionday edition 
QOTD: @DigbyParton on who Americans trust less than politicians 
Media Circus: Parliament Resumes Edition 
Hoyden About Town 
Excellent op-ed from Annabel Crabb about the child-rearing double standard for women in politics: Women in politics face the ugliest of juggles
In the aftermath of the election, I’ve decided to start treating news stories about (what I consider) political or government stupidity in the same way I treat troll posts. Instead of getting annoyed, I’m putting 5c per irritation into a jar. The plan is to use the proceeds of this to either buy booze, or to donate to the election campaigns of those politicians I wish to encourage.
(At present, the plan is booze. I figure if the government – either state or federal – is going to make me want to cry into my beer, it can damn well buy me the beer to cry into).
In the past two weeks, it’s up to $2.65. At this rate, I should have the cost of a box of Chateau Cardboard by about the end of the Abbott government’s first month in office.
I’m just trying to avoid the news and papers altogether. I had three nightmares featuring Tony Abbott in the week of the election.
tigtog @ 1 – Good article – it shows how federal politics is pretty much a FIFO job. Technology could help in restructuring how often politicians need to be in Canberra but I’d imagine there would be a lot of resistance to change. And short of decentralising some of the government departments to where senior ministers live, some MPs are going to have to spend a large portion of their time away (or they do what the PM does and just move to Canberra).
Tony Abbott made himself the Minister for Women. How far do we have to slide before we hit bottom?
NewsCorp’s Sunday Telegraph national political editor Samantha Maiden proves herself a disgrace to journalism.
Unfortunately it might take one or two really bad summers – and their associated human costs – to decisively turn people back to supporting action on climate change.
For the benefit of your RFFOs, can someone CTFP the TLAs and FLAs?
RFFO = reader(s) far from Oz
CTFP = convert to full phrase
TLA = three letter acronyms
FLA = four letter acronyms.
Apologies AMM!
LNP = Liberal/National Party, the 2-party coalition recently elected to form Australia’s federal government
NBN = National Broadband Network (optical fibre infrastructure replacing aging copper communications network)
FTTP = Fibre To The Premise (optical fibre all the way to residence or business location)
FTTN = Fibre To The Node (optical fibre only connecting the telecom exchanges, still copper from exchange to premises)
FIFO = Fly In Fly Out (employment model much used in Australia’s mining industry and arguably applicable to our federal parliamentarians)
Science discovers that open comment sections are bad for science
(found at Whatever)
The study referenced by PopSci came out in January, and made a limited splash at the time. I’m pretty sure that open comment sections in journals of record such as broadsheets and major broadcasters are bad for public affairs, too.
Comments on independently operated blogs are more like special interest groups. Their readership/commentariat is already self-selected along certain consensus lines on most of them, and those consensus views tend to evolve very slowly in comparison to the vagaries of “popular opinion”.
@AusElectoralCom is tweeting the final Senate results. The final two WA seats went to PUP and ALP, rather than Australian Sports Party and Greens, thus Scott Ludlam has not been elected to another term. Disappointing for me and I think many interested in digital rights and liberties. (Note: I am not a WA voter though.)
I’m enjoying Peter Reith’s expansive expenses logic, at least as quoted by Fairfax:
In particular, note the slide from ministerial business in particular to political business in general. I wonder if Reith believes that businesspeople maintaining/managing business relationships at social events should be able to tax deduct or expense the travel for them? It’s not that different from the demands on politicians. I guess it’s possible he does!