So continuing on what I read today, about the breakdown of the intervention in Northern Territory and that seems the Rudd government has given up on. (I use Rudd government, as I believe there will be some Labor politicians that still want to support the work that was being done up there). An astounding figure i read today about the strategic housing program that seems to be incredibly mismanaged is that they have already spent $46 million dollars, and not one house has been built. Another figure I found out that they will be spending $700,000 to build each house, $700,000 you ask? it will cost $300,000 to build the ACTUAL house, and the rest, $400,000 into the pockets of the “bureaucrats”… most likely.

Kevin Rudd back in 2008 was more than happy to make himself look like a great guy by saying sorry for the stolen generation, which I believe has been an important step in reconciliation. But I believe behind all that Mr.Rudd was just trying to create I guess a “popular” figure for himself. I believe he is too washed up in keeping his profile higher than what it needs to be than actually worrying about what is actually happening. He has been calling himself a reformist to the likes of the Hawke/Keating era, he hasn’t even been the PM for 2 years yet. Back to the issue on hand, from the start it seemed he was all for the intervention in the handling in the Northern Territory but with the replacement of the man in charge back in March with a no-body from Canberra, how can things progress? To help what seems to a failed state in our own country.
A quote from Tony Abbot, opposition spokesman for indigenous affairs:
“If the Prime Minister were under internal political pressure and needed to appease the Labor Left, these actions would be understandable, if inexcusable. Instead, because he hasn’t yet worked out how to turn his political authority into change for the better, he’s pandering to the old gaurd in Aboriginal policy when he has no need to. He’s reinstating the old, failed order just when some of its most thoughtful and  former supporters have come to lament its disastrous consequences. The result of this surrender will be another lost generation of Aborigines condemned to live without decent education, employment, housing and personal security.”

The original planned intervention was meant to help these remote communities that are desperate need of help. And to stop the many different departments tripping over themselves, with an intervention, there was one mindset to the task. But removing the governing power that was already making progress just seems stupid, and show’s that Mr.Rudd doesn’t really care.
Another interesting note, is that 2 days before the 2007 election, Noel Pearson, one Australia’s most respected Aboriginal leader spoke of his dread of a Rudd prime ministership. Thoughts?

May Mix Tape 2009

In: mixtapes| music

15 Jul 2009

Ok, so this is way overdue, I’ve had this sitting in my iTunes for quite a while and have been quite lazy in getting this out to you guys. So finally here it is, hope you enjoy it. Please subscribe to my RSS feed and you won’t miss the upcoming ones. June will be up soon as well. And coming for July will be a special edition, as all the music for that mix tape will be music I’ve collected while traveling the US and Canada.

Enjoy!

  1. Friend – The Sleepover Disaster
  2. Just War (feat. Gruff Rhys) – Sparklehorse
  3. Sleepless – The Decemberists
  4. Slow Jet – The Dead Sea
  5. Sometimes I Realise – Engineers
  6. Feels Like Summer – Johnny Foreigner
  7. Tabasco Sole – The Voluntary Butler Scheme
  8. This Land Used To Be My Land, But Now I Hate This Land – Pomegranates
  9. Breathing Out – Doveman
  10. Start/Stop/Synchro – Rose Elinor Dougall
  11. Dog Days Are Over – Florence And The Machine
  12. Make Light – Passion Pit
  13. The Midnight Sun – The Warlocks
  14. To Boldly Go – The Seven Inches
  15. Laughing With – Regina Spektor
  16. Obviously Cold – The Answering Machine
  17. Eyes of Riot – Nokeys
  18. I Wanna Kill – Crocodiles

(Song title/Artist)

May Mix Tape 2009

Gowalla

In: iphone| travel

25 May 2009

Gowalla

Gowalla is a location based game for the iPhone made by the awesome guys at Alamofire. I first heard about it from the buzz on the net going around the time of SXSW Interactive. And when I found out that it was done by the same guys who had made PackRat (Addicting Facebook Game) I had to check it out.

As this is primarily an iPhone game, and a free download from the iTunes App Store I downloaded it straight away and started making places. As pretty much the ONLY person in Melbourne playing this, it is not as fun as it could be. But I’m being patient and waiting for my friends to realise how cool this is. I know a lot of people with iPhones, so it shouldn’t be that hard to get people involved. Read the rest of this entry »

So this is the first in a series that I’m going to be writing and posting. All songs I talk about will be available to download in a zip file. So I don’t want you all missing out on all this goodness that I’m getting! If you stumble across this, please have a read, download and share what you think with a comment! All opinions are welcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Fishing

In: travel| video

30 Apr 2009

iPods

In: photos

22 Dec 2008

Mercy Arms

In: music

12 Jun 2008

One band that I’ve been keeping my eye on over here is Mercy Arms, they’re a bunch of 20 somethings from Sydney and as their Myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/mercyarms) describes them as is: 2 Step/Showtunes. I first got exposure to them in 2005 when they supported The Strokes on their Australian tour. I really didn’t take much notice of them, but over the past year and a half, have made some waves that had put them on my radar. They’ve recorded an EP called Kept Low, if you can get it imported, get it!! And are about to give us their 1st full length record, they’re yet to be signed to a label, they were on Capitol but got out of that before they sold their souls. So I’m really looking forward to see how they distribute the record. Their myspace page has some tunes on there that you should have a listen, let me know what you think!
Read the rest of this entry »

Albums of 2007

In: music

3 Jan 2008

Well 2007 was another great year for music, come with me on this journey of a change in industry, 2nd albums, a reunited band and powerhouse dance acts! Here are my most favourite albums of 2007!
Read the rest of this entry »

About this blog

Hi, my name is Josh. I'm a self taught web developer/designer. I love music, and I love tech/web news. Sit back, have a read, comment on anything like or disagree with. I'll try and update with fresh content. So stick around.

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