moon phases

Started this before change to "New Blogger", as backup in case of trouble with digiphoto blog "In a Small Dark Room", or rants & links blog "Hello Cruel World" . Useful - at one stage Dark Room was there, but like the astrophysical Dark Matter, we could't see it ... better now, but kept Just In Case.

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There is nothing. There is no God and no universe, there is only empty space, and in it a lost and homeless and wandering and companionless and indestructible Thought. And I am that thought. And God, and the Universe, and Time, and Life, and Death, and Joy and Sorrow and Pain only a grotesque and brutal dream, evolved from the frantic imagination of that same Thought.
Mark Twain (letter to Joseph Twichell after his wife's death)
[me, on a bad day]

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(and my Wish List)

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A different 9/11 remembrance  
Since the start of this blog, usually on this day, running up to Remembrance/Armistice Day on 11/11, I commemorate the 9/11/1938 Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht), also called the State Pogrom Night. Especially since, not only due remembrance for itself, it has examples of political and propaganda uses, twisted mendacity in language, an interlocking step-by-step spiral of violence and oppression, and breathtaking fraud (including monetary).

(2008) Crystalline: 9/11 (9th November)
(2007): It's 9/11 (9th November) again – Kristallnacht
(2006): Anniversary: The First 9/11 — Broken Glass & Ashes
(2004): The First 9/11 — Broken Glass & Ashes
(2003): Repeating the Kristallnacht 9/11 entry from 2002
(2002): Remember Kristallnacht – 9/11/38 [In Australia 9/11 is 9th November.]

One year, I remembered another sad incident associated with this date: (2005): 9/11 Returns: Stari Most at Mostar

There's a collection of historic German November 9ths at selenak's LiveJournal, Musings, originally from 2008, in the almost-immediate aftermath of Barack Obama's election as US President. (http://selenak.livejournal.com/429403.html)
(The Yorkshire Ranter added a couple more in comments.)

But this year has happier memories. It's the 20th Anniversary of the 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall. Perched on my grandmother's living room floor watching the B & W television showing coverage of the Building of The Wall in 1961 is one of my earliest datable memories. So reliving those days and nights 28 years after that and 51 after "the start of The Holocaust" — well within a human lifespan — it's good to celebrate its joy.

Here's some quick links to places where thoughts and memories were shared about this: It was twenty years ago today. As well as some in the Musings LJ post mentioned above, this year's 9/11 there is called Freiheit schöner Götterfunken... (a poem later altered to Freude schöner Götterfunken)

Labels: anniversaries, berlin, Germany, history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 4:18 am

 
This comes under "We Told You So"  
Women stretched to snapping point
Adele Horin
July 4, 2009

The 1.5-earner family became the predominant form between 1997 and 2006, from 35 per cent of all couples with children under five to 46 per cent. But life for parents grew harder and less equal. By 2006, all parents were more likely to report feeling stressed

"There was reduced gender equity and strikingly increased reported time pressure," the study found. Based on 772 families in 1997 and 652 families in 2006, and using Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the research will be presented at the Australian Social Policy Conference next week.

It shows part-time working mothers put in as many hours overall as full-time working mothers - when paid work, housework and child care were tallied - and worked longer than their 1997 counterparts.

The Howard government promoted the 1.5-earner model with family tax policies that provided most benefits to single-earner families and to couples with an 80:20 income split.

.

Labels: politics, society, statistics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 1:15 am

 
33-Year-Old Memories of an Australian November  
What is happening in Canada, from Yarn Harlot (3-Dec-2008)
www.yarnharlot.ca/ blog/ archives/ 2008/ 12/ 03/ what_is_happening_in_canada.html

There is confusion over what's happening in Canada's government. This is a primer for non-Canadians (and some Canadians) about this mess

I may, someday, put up some links about 'The Dismissal' of November 11, 1975, Gough Whitlam, Sir John Kerr, Malcolm Fraser, et al. There's a shedload of material on't, including at least one television mini-series.

But we tend to forget it's not completely sui generis in Australian history, there were incidents in 1932 and 1808, for instance. I'm grateful to Epacris putting links to some material about these over at Making Light. Here 'tis.

From Australian Dictionary of Biography site:
Lang, John Thomas (Jack) (1876 - 1975)
Game, Sir Philip Woolcott (1876 - 1961)

Dismissal of a Premier - The Role of Governor Game (Dept of Education & Training)
Dismissal of Jack Lang (Interactive schooling, Year 10)

Dismissed From Office Lang Government (Original newspaper report, The Age, 14-May-1932)
Microphone, Reiss (Reisz) carbon granule, 1925 (not FDR's cigarette lighter … from Powerhouse Museum collection, explained on that page)

The Story of J T Lang by R. Dixon (1943) (somewhat partisan publication, from an interesting resource)
The Australian Republic Issue (Other Relevant Papers)
Library Catalogue record (1) Dismissal of a Premier - the Philip Game papers by Bethia Foott [sic]
Dismissal of a Premier: the Philip Game papers by Bethia Foote [sic] Library Catalogue record (2)

and the 'Rum Rebellion' of 1808

Captain Bligh's other mutiny (newspaper article)

'The Rum Rebellion' (same paper, multimedia piece with links elsewhere)

The Significance Of The Integrity System (Acessible by this page with link to PDF versions of speeches. Transcript also here or here) Or compare The coup of 1808 and the rule of law, an edited combination of two related speeches.

"The Governor's Man", a book by JHM Abbott ~1919 – historic fiction.

And this is one of the historic documents you can have a look at online — part of an exhibition IRL at the British Library: King Charles I's Death Warrant.

Labels: Australia, Canada, history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 11:16 am

 
In the Spiral of History  
From Lawyers, Guns & Money, on Israel, the USA and the Roman Republic:
Simply because something must happen does not mean that it will happen.
Settlements, Bailouts, and the Roman Republic
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
lefarkins.blogspot.com/ 2008/ 09/ simply-because-something-must-happen.html

The Roman Republic faced a series of internal crises that were evident to all and that desperately required political solution; moreover, the contours of such solution were evident to most of the relevant political players, and in the abstract were achievable ... The institutions of the Roman Republic, solid enough for five hundred years, were insufficient to actually achieving the necessary solutions. In the face of crises that demanded solution, the Roman Republic crumbled, because the institutional structure created vested interests and veto points that prevented the achievement of any solution. The Republic could not save itself because its very structure prevented it from doing the things that were necessary to reform. Almost no one wanted this outcome, but no one could stop it from happening. It's not that people are stupid (although many are) or dishonest (although many are); its that the institutions make certain outcomes difficult to achieve.

and in the comments

Rob good post and good summation of the political situation in the Roman Republic in its last years. One interpretation of Julius Caesar's motives for bringing down the Republic, was that he didn't believe the existing political system could continue administering the Roman provinces. A good part of his career was spent in various postings in different provinces, in Bithnyia, Spain, northern Italy, and of course Gaul. So he had a better grasp of what the situation was like in the provinces than his political opponents, many of whom (like Cicero) hardly ever set foot outside of Rome their whole lives.
Henry | 09.30.08 - 11:49 pm | #

You might also make an analogy to August 1914. The Great Men of Europe certainly knew what should have happened and they knew how to make it happen. But it did not happen.

James E. Powell | 10.01.08 - 12:25 am

Labels: history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 1:25 pm

 
Premier Iemma, the Member for Lakemba  
I always liked saying that little tongue-twister, whether or not I agreed with the man's policies. Won't apply from today.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma resigns
"Alexandra Smith and Brian Robins
September 5, 2008 - 11:45AM
www.smh.com.au/ axrticles/ 2008/ 09/ 05/ 1220121483704.html

Morris Iemma has resigned as NSW Premier.
It is understood Water Minister Nathan Rees will take over.

Mr Iemma faced a caucus revolt this morning and Mr Rees had the numbers to overthrow Mr Iemma.

It is understood that there is so much division within the dominant Right faction that Mr Iemma appeared to have lost a significant amount of support from once-loyal backers.

Iemma rolled amid Labor turmoil
www.abc.net.au/ news/ stories/ 2008/ 09/ 05/2356267.htm

Morris Iemma has been forced to resign as New South Wales Premier after sacking his colourful Treasurer Michael Costa.

News that Mr Iemma was gone came in the wake of a press conference by Mr Costa, who said he did not consider that he had been sacked until the decision was ratified by a Caucus meeting.

Mr Iemma left a meeting of his Right faction without speaking to reporters, but is believed to have lost the support of the faction.

Labor heavyweight John Della Bosca confirmed Mr Iemma's resignation.

Quite a big day politically, as we are also acquiring our first female Governor-General today, Her name is Quentin Bryce. Some have wondered if her usually-male name confused the people appointing her.

Meanwhile, one of my cousins is going to the polls tomorrow, and sometime later as well. He's living in a place in New South Wales which currently doesn't have a Federal representative — Mark Vaile resigned and the by-election is tomorrow; a State representative — Ron Oakshott is contesting the Federal seat, and so had to resign as the State member; nor a local Council — they were sacked by the State government and replaced by administrators. Some have called this situation "paradise". The rest of NSW has local government elections the weekend after, on Saturday 13th September.

Labels: Australia, history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 1:07 pm

 
elisem: the day after Fourth Street happens to be Mammalversary  
Have been thinking again — dangerous, that — Chris and I were together some 6 years (after knowing each other about a year); he's been dead a bit more than 6 years now. (I'll be coming up to being 'widowed' longer than knowing him pretty soon.) He's been one of the most important things in much of my life for coming up to 13 years. It seems a long time.

Labels: politics, statistics, USA

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 1:10 am

 
USA Presidential Election statistics  

Nixonland - Rick Perlstein - Book Review - New York Times

Bring Us Apart
by George F. Will
Published: May 11, 2008

"Perlstein considers it significant that before the 1972 election, in which Nixon carried 49 states, James Reston wrote that “barely over one in four adult Americans will have voted for the winner in 1972. ... The consequences of that kind of a minority presidency are hard to foretell.” Actually, such “minority” presidents are not unusual. In 1980, when Ronald Reagan carried 44 states and defeated President Jimmy Carter 489-49 in electoral votes, Reagan won the votes of 26.9 percent of American adults. The winners of the 1996, 2000 and 2004 elections received 24 percent, 24.1 percent and 28.2 percent, respectively."
…
Perlstein’s thesis is that America became Nixonland because of “the rise of two American identities” in the 1960s — actually between 1964, when Johnson won 61.1 percent of the vote, and 1968, when the combined votes for Nixon and George Wallace were 56.9 percent. Perlstein says Nixon’s legacy is the “notion that there are two kinds of Americans. …”

Labels: books, politics, statistics, USA

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 11:57 pm

 
Federal Election 2007  
It was a wonderful, wonderful night. Started out watching SkyNews at gym, listened to radio coverage on the way home, almost crying with hope on the bus, surfed around the TV coverage while cooking 'n' stuff at home, then watched the concession & victory speeches "jointly" by phone with some nearly-hysterical friends. Greatly enjoyed the different stations' approaches. Did anyone else boggle at Jeff Kennett's mo, or find the Potplant of Destiny fascinating, or watching Kerry O'Brien's body language, &c, &c?

By midnight when they closed down, I was too excited to sleep, so walked up & down Oxford Street (near where I live at the moment) under the glorious full moon watching the celebrating crowds greeting whoever was in a Kevin07 t-shirt before joining my friends in their local club where we spent a couple of very mellow hours smiling, talking, laughing, and raising glasses in many toasts like "to Barnaby Joyce, the new Nowhere Man", "to John Howard's retirement" and so forth.

I'm not happy with the Blair-like far too 'conservative' Rudd style of Labor, but at least there's some hope of steering away from the fear, hate, regression to pre-democratic ways and appeal to all the worst tendencies in people and communities that have depressed me so much for so many years.

Labels: history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 6:52 pm

 
Big Day  
It's Election Day today.

Labels: history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 10:39 am

 
Back to the 'Fifties, again  

The path down which so many of us worry 'WorkChoices' leads — part of a story about working in the USA ('Tales From Kafka Station', below, from the Undulant Fever blog).

This is one of the reasons I get so croggled that there's an idea that one would vote for the Liberal Party (of Australia)'s policies "because I'm worried about my (grand)children". I actually saw someone write this in a printed newspaper during the previous election. His (yes, it was a male) whole argument in his letter led, as I read it, to one point; except the final sentence was the exact opposite of what I thought. The mental sensation was very like being abruptly spun around physically.

Apart from the harmful things that those policies (or sometimes the lack of any policy) do to the environment, which will detrimentally effect those following generations, they affect society in a way that is of detriment to the majority of people in it, in things like working conditions for instance. Again, I'll repeat that it's not the 1950s that John Howard is reviving, it's the 1850s.

undulantfever.blogspot.com/ 2007/ 10/ tales-from-kafka-station.html

Tales From Kafka Station
10/20/2007
But I think the major part of it may be that this is part of a tendency among Big Business (not just the Postal Service) that's been growing for years, to deliver -- subtly or blatantly -- a message to employees that "Your Life Belongs To US!"

Forced overtime. Cancelled days off. Restrictions on use of leave time. And all growing more and more frequent, more and more the "standard" model of a working environment, more and more what American workers expect to find in the workplace, more and more what's considered normal.

What I was told in that office was just a step away from actually being forbidden to see a doctor on my day off, because in the eyes of management, every day of an employee's life belongs to them.

That's not an employee/management situation.

The name for that is slavery.

In Australia, following the British law, most official employment in the nineteenth century, gradually changing through the twentieth, was under the Master & Servant Act. Many of the concepts were very similar to so-called 'modern' work ideas; stripping away the 'playing-field-levelling' and protections built up with so much time & struggle.

"Much of the labour law which has evolved in the 20th century … stems from an experience-based perception that the market constraint is not a sufficient protection." – Keith Hancock, senior deputy president (1992-1997), Australian Industrial Relations Commission

Labels: history, industrial relations, IR, politics, society, USA

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 9:59 am

 
Not Donne with Inquisitors yet  

From slacktivist: Inquisitors: Aug 16, 2007
slacktivist.typepad.com/ slacktivist/ 2007 /08/ inquisitors.html

.. let me direct your attention to a post from Harper's Scott Horton: 'John Donne and the Outlawing of Torture.' (harpers.org/ archive/ 2007/ 08/ hbc-90000907)

Donne's sermon "Against the Abomination of Torture" for Easter Sunday, 17 April 1625 at St Pauls, online: (www.lib.byu.edu/ dlib/ donne [PDF] or see Harpers copy)

Only three years after this sermon, following the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham, the lawyers and judges of England assembled in the Inns of Court in London to consider a special question put to them by the king. Was the practice of torture to be permitted by the common law?

And the judges met, deliberated and declared “upon their sacred honour, and the honour of England” that the answer was “no.” That marked the end of legalized torture in the English-speaking world &hellip

Related Links
www.csmonitor.com/ 2007/ 0814/ p11s01-usju.html (Warren Richey) August 14, 2007 "US Gov't broke Padilla through intense isolation, say experts"
www.atlanticfreepress.com/ content/ view/ 2188/ 1/ (Chris Floyd) 15 August 2007 "Monsters Among Us: Living in a Torture State"
www.newyorker.com/ reporting/ 2007/ 08/ 13/ 070813fa_fact_mayer (Jane Mayer) August 13, 2007 "The Black Sites"

Labels: history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 1:44 pm

 
Annihilation: Black Hole  
'Annihilation', from the Latin word nihil, meaning nothingness, nothing, absence, zero.

Utter destruction: eradication, extermination, extinction, extinguishment, extirpation, liquidation, obliteration.
putting an end to: abolishment, abolition, abrogation, annulment, cancellation, defeasance, invalidation, negation, nullification, voidance.

In law: avoidance, extinguishment.

Images

www.spaceref.com/ news/ viewpr.html?pid=10345
www.djspiral.com/ images/ graphics/ BlackHole.html
www.spaceref.com/ news/ viewpr.html?pid=10290
www.bbc.co.uk/ derby/ unexplained/ unexplained_websites.shtml
www.cosmographica.com/ gallery/ portfolio/ portfolio101/ pages/ 131-BlackHole.htm
www.spaceprime.com/ blackhole.htm
www.thestarsareout.com
www.exn.net/ Stories/ 2000/ 01/ 13/ 57.asp

Sheer joy that Liberal Party is worried. I'm not sanguine about the result, though; many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, as the old saying goes. I do like the use of the word they so freely and without feeling or care liked to use to wipe out people from consideration being used repeatedly in the dictionary/thesaurus entries for the word they are worried about for themselves. (I used to carp and say they should use 'extinction' rather than 'extinguishment', because that might bring people up a little short and get them to think.)

Labels: astronomy, language, pix, politics, space

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 12:19 pm

 
Alternative History (What might have been)  

September, 2001

"There are people who are willing to commit heinous acts to change what we do, who we are, and how we act.

We are not the only nation to face such problems, the Basque separatists in Spain, the Tigers in Sri Lanka, the IRA in Ireland; and the UK, all have afflicted those nations.

Like them we will remain true to our ideals. We will mobilise our police, streamline out intelligence. See where our failures were and close our vulnerabilities, but we will not cower.

As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself," if we give in to fear we grant them a victory, in a struggle which will never end; just as poverty can only be ameliorated, not eliminated, so too will those who feel marginilised magnify their greivances, while those who are marginal will manufacture them.

If we overreact, and give up our liberties, villianize those who share nothing more than nation, language or religion with those who have attacked us, be they Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Jew; Nationalist or religious fanatic, then we not only grant them a minor victory in a skirmish, but cede to them the field of battle. For if we let them make us demonize those with whom we have no quarrel, we will forfeit allies.

No, rather we shall affirm what we have always been. We have made mistakes; and for those we must own up, but nothing we have done justifies the targetting, the killing, the terrorising of a nation, much less the random killing of those who were not Americans, but merely victims of circumstance.

The FBI, the CIA, Interpol, and all those who are willing to aid us in the search will bring the investigative powers of the offended to bear. Make no mistake, the people who did this will be found. The case will be solid, and they will be brought to justice.

We will persevere. We will find them. We will show the world, in open court, that they did this.

And they will be punished."

                — Terry Karney

Labels: history, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 2:02 am

 
Similar to the USSR too?  


Not without application to the current Australian government

Integrity, by Digby (Sat, 30th June, 2007)
digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/integrity-by-digby-watergate.html
...
I remember after the 2000 election debacle, a rather exasperated acquaintance explained to me that Americans respect winners and it didn't matter how Bush took office, all that mattered was that he did. Even at my advanced age I was a bit shocked by such cynicism. But as I watched the way the media and the political establishment treated Bush, I had to admit that, at least as far as the leadership class of America was concerned, he was right. But it was even worse than what he said. There was a distinct undercurrent of special respect for the fact that Bush had not only won, but that he'd done it in such a way that everybody knew he'd manipulated the system and there was nothing they could do about it. That audaciousness made people bow down. On some level he wanted people to know he cheated and he wanted them to recognize that he got away with it. That's real power.
...
The founders understood how power can corrupt, which is why they designed a clunky system of government that would impede its application. But nothing can stop it when so many people are working in tandem to do so. The answer then, is not to depend upon personal integrity but to insure that our systems are working properly and that those who corrupt it are held accountable for what they have done when they lose institutional power at the hands of the people ...
So, as much as I value it as a personal virtue, personal integrity is beside the point. There have always been crooks and liars in politics. It's the failure of our institutions to properly guard their prerogatives and police the political system that is the true failure. And that is something that we can fix. ... to ensure that these crimes are not covered up and that the people of this country are reminded that corruption and cheating have negative consequences...

Labels: politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 9:00 am

 
Worry for us dependent on plastic bags  
War declared on plastic bags
Saturday June 2, 04:19 PM
au.news.yahoo.com/070602/2/13n3o.html

State and territory governments will work together to eliminate one-use plastic shopping bags, says ACT Environment Minister Jon Stanhope.

The announcement followed a meeting between state and territory environment ministers in Cairns on Saturday.

- Yahoo!7 News (AAP)

Labels: medical, politics, sustainability

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 8:45 am

 
Shielded with smoke, bedazzled by mirrors  

Budget puts tax burden on average workers
Matt Wade Economics Writer
May 15, 2007
www.smh.com.au/ news/ national/ budget-puts-tax-burden-on-average-workers/ 2007/ 05/ 14/ 1178995079809.htmlor
www.smh.com.au/ articles/ 2007/ 05/ 14/ 1178995079809.html
or
www.smh.com.au/ text/ articles/ 2007/ 05/ 14/ 1178995079809.html (text-only version)

Labels: money, politics, society

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 10:38 pm

 
Science seeking Truthiness  
I am putting here Charlie Stross' post and its links on the subject, with a link to it and its numerous comments. I can barely coherently frame my thoughts on the subject.

February 4, 2007
The definition of contempt
The American Enterprise Institute, a think tank largely funded by Exxon-Mobil is offering to pay climatologists $10,000 for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (www.ipcc.ch).

This is not surprising: lacking any real defense, it's only logical for them to seek men of straw to argue the case for them. The surprise is that they expect climatologists to be willing to trash their professional reputations — in a manner that will come back to haunt them whenever they subsequently apply for a job — for a mere ten thousand dollars. For a professional lobbyist that's a couple of billable hours; yet they suppose it's the measure of a working scientist's life's work.

Seldom has it been so easy to put an exact price on contempt.

Addendum: I note with interest that the American Enterprise Institute are Ayaan Hirsi Ali's current employers. More on this rather creepy body of unelected would-be architects of your future here (en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ American_Enterprise_Institute).

Posted by Charlie Stross at 12:36 PM

(Guardian article linked at beginning: www.guardian.co.uk/ international/ story/ 0,,2004230,00.html

From the comments:
Regarding the economics of AGW, there's an interesting discussion at (www.realclimate.org/index.php/ archives/ 2007/ 01/ stern-science). I particularly like this comment:

"Question: If we could save the world from a 100% certain total destruction of the whole infrastructure in 2057 in a way that would cost 10% of its total value, would it be profitable to do the investment and save the world?
If we use a moderate 5% interest rate in our calculation, the answer is clearly no! We should not save the world infrastructure 0f 2057, it costs too much today. The present day discounted value of the world infrastucture in 2057 (when I am 100 years old and probably in my grave), is only 8.72% of its total value in 2057 and less than the calculated 10% (of the total value) required investment today. So we decide not to save the world infrastructure.
If the doom was about in 2107, using the same calculations, it would not be "profitable" to use even 1% of the total value of the future infrastructure to save it today. I hope you check my calculations, discounting is relatively easy and fundamental to profitability analysis the economists regularly use to give their expert opinions."

The ensuing discussion shows that the arguments can be more complicated than that (as one would expect). But this does give an insight into what sort of questions we should be asking if someone says that dealing with climate change now would be "too expensive".

Posted by: Dave Berry

Labels: climate, politics, science

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 2:35 pm

 
Election Day — NSW State Election 2007  
Whatever happens, it's been nice to be able to (try and) say "Premier Iemma, the Member for Lakemba", simply from a tongue-twisting perspective

Labels: events, language, politics

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 11:40 am

 
Taxes: Building Our Future  
Taxation for the Future
Australia is living off two great sources of capital laid down earlier, but we are not renewing or building them up - a bad sign for the future. These sorts of "public goods" have, in history, been badly served by private investment, and taxes are needed so they can be invested in these, to help tide us over future difficulties.

One type of capital is our natural resources: fertile topsoil, clean fresh water, fisheries, etc, etc, etc. Recently there was an estimate of $10 Billion to restore them to function on a long-term, sustainable basis. (We have only begun to recognise how important some of the unseen supports like this are once we'd knocked a few out, eg, the multiple causes and effects of salination.)

The other is the massive public (& private) investment in our urban and rural infrastructure: water & sewerage systems, transport (not just roads) for goods & people, energy generation & distribution, communications, as well as health systems, education, firefighting services, etc, etc. Many were developed over the century from mid-Victorian times to the middle of the 20th Century, & haven't been maintained much since.

Now we have a chance to repair and, indeed, *improve* these, learning from earlier mistakes and using more efficient, less toxic methods. This will give a good basis for our descendants to improve their lives, instead of scraping by, slowly getting worse, regretting lost opportunity.

Most of these projects, public or private will need some sort of support from public funds, either directly or through rebates or deductions. Now every tax rebate or deduction has to be made up from somewhere; either cutting someone elses' services or raising their tax (that's why I don't claim my charitable donations). Thus anything attracting such support should be really making a contribution outweighing that if you use "triple bottom line" accounting which takes into account the usually-hidden impacts on those two capital resources, and on the social structure.

A skilled population, whether it's tradespeople, engineers, doctors or nurses, is a valuable resource in itself, and an investment for the future. Yet the present PM, reported in Hansard introducing a training bill, actually described the training part of a person's time as not "productive". Doesn't bode well for his government's support of improving our workforce.

A well-built sustainable water collection, distribution & purification system will take some maintenance over time, but will last without huge extra investment. The same for energy or transport systems (eg fixing/rebuilding bridges or taking freight off roads, thereby reducing road damage bills). A big push into reforming (in the genuine use of the word) agricultural practices & land-use, or ways of building cities can lay a good foundation for centuries of advance instead of continuing decline.

Labels: money, politics, society, tax, Taxation, thoughts

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 3:37 am

 
A Persistent Taxation Myth (sorta repeated)  
A Persistent Taxation Myth

I keep hearing this myth of "they're taking away half my income" once you move into the highest tax bracket, in fact Sally Loane's finacial person this morning alluded to it. The only people who ever "lose half their money in tax" are very low earners who may lose large amounts of benefits by earning a small amount.

You only pay the marginal rate on **the money you get _above_ the limit**.

Last year I did this calculation, using the ATO figures in the table below, to show you need to be earning well up in the multiple $100,000s per annum to get close to 50%.

For 2003-2004, you'll pay a total of $16,182 tax at $62,500 -- that's 25.9% -- then start paying 47 cents of any dollar above that (not counting fancy bits off or on).

To get close to paying 47% of your total income you have to be getting much, much more, e.g. 42% tax on $262,500; 46% tax on $962,500.

Of course the "average" (i.e. the Mean) income is a bit over $50,000 pa, while the "average" that's closer to the one earned by most people (i.e. the Mode) is several thousand lower than that, so there's a very tiny group earning even only $100,000, or more. [Of course if a couple is earning that much combined, they each get the advantage of a tax-free zone and lower brackets, greatly reducing the amount of tax taken out compared to the same amount earned by one person.]

The total of ALL the people -- not just those *very* high earners -- who are in the highest bracket is only 12% of the whole population (not just taxpayers) meaning that 88% of Australians are on lower rates -- virtually all of whom would be using government supplied infrastructure & services.

Without the structures and services funded by taxes, the cost of living would be very much higher, and that 80-90% would find life considerably harder. I suspect even fairly wealthy people would find themselves with less truly-disposable income without the kind of often-forgotten foundation that public works & service provide.

The majority of us know that if we strike trouble - like my recent medical crises - we will need social support. Not just trustworthy & affordable health care, but, say, someone for the aged mother I care for, community nurses who aided my convalescence, meals on wheels, etc.

Even when you have help from family or friends, that support stops the total ruination that too often you see in both the third world & the US when a crisis hits. That fellow in the news tonight with a nail in his head just got a $US80,000 medical bill, and, being a self-employed building worker, he naturally can't afford full medical insurance. There's a big health-lending market there. That family has decades in unexpected debt that will drag them back in very many ways.

____________________________________________________________
Tax rates 2001-02 and 2002-03
Taxable Tax on
income this income
$0 - $6,000 .............. Nil
$6,001 - $20,000 .... 17c for each $1 over $6,000
$20,001 - $50,000 .. $2,380 plus 30c for each $1 over $20,000
$50,001 - $60,000 .. $11,380 plus 42c for each $1 over $50,000
Over $60,000 .......... $15,580 plus 47c for each $1 over $60,000

Tax rates 2003-04
Taxable Tax on
income this income
$0 – $6,000 ............. Nil
$6,001 – $21,600 ... 17c for each $1 over $6,000
$21,601 - $52,000 .. $2,652 plus 30c for each $1 over $21,600
$52,001 – $62,500.. $11,772 plus 42c for each $1 over $52,000
Over $62,500 ........... $16,182 plus 47c for each $1 over $62,500

None of these include assorted general rebates to deduct, nor the Medicare levy to add.

Source: the Australian Taxation Office web site at www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/12333.htm&mnu=5053&mfp=001
( www.ato.gov.au/ in general)

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