Two Conferences, Cisco Studies Update
Aug. 3rd, 2005 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipNow We The People 2005 conference was worthwhile. Not quite as exciting as the first conference, but a lot tighter in its analysis. Andrew Wilkie's political perspective has notably matured significantly. Guy Rundle is trying to push the left into accepting "neoliberalism" and "globalisation" and redirecting it for the purpose of social justice. Challenging, but I agree with him. Rob Watts followed on a similar theme by criticising the left for being conservative, and missing the agenda. Fair call.
The first of the two workshops I went to were "Women, GLBT and the rise of the Christian Right" and was quite honoured to see that my article on said issue was marked as background reading. For the second, I started to attend Community Organising and Mobilisation but left as it became quite clear that my area of interest (infrasture that creates communities in the first instance) was not on the agenda. Instead, I went to Pamela Curr et al., "Reignating hope for asylum seekers and refugees" which was a small but excellent presentation. Pamela also passed the torch to me towards the end as the scribe to engage in my relentlessly pragmatic agenda of achieving results.
Second conference was the symposium on Equity in Sourcing Revenue. Was the sort of quality that you would expect from three professors, an economics editor and a valuer. John Freebairn gave an excellent overview of tax options, examples, and why some systems simply don't work (either for equity or efficiency purposes). Julian Disney gave examples on how our tax system punishes the poor, assists the rich, and provides benefits when we don't need them and takes money away when we do. Tim Colebatch showed why this happens and used John Howard as an example on how to drive policy. Bryan Kavanagh concluded with long-term comparisons between land prices and GDP, noting that sudden increases in land prices will lead to a crash in the economy. Pay attention.
Currently writing this from my third Cisco session at NMIT. As one should expect, I'm doing OK with the module exams (average 84% so far), but haven't really gotten into it so far - have been too busy! Instructor is much, much better that the previous experience and has even organised for me to sit the exams outside normal times because it clashes with my presentation for the SAGE-AU conference. Certification, here we come! About time too!
The first of the two workshops I went to were "Women, GLBT and the rise of the Christian Right" and was quite honoured to see that my article on said issue was marked as background reading. For the second, I started to attend Community Organising and Mobilisation but left as it became quite clear that my area of interest (infrasture that creates communities in the first instance) was not on the agenda. Instead, I went to Pamela Curr et al., "Reignating hope for asylum seekers and refugees" which was a small but excellent presentation. Pamela also passed the torch to me towards the end as the scribe to engage in my relentlessly pragmatic agenda of achieving results.
Second conference was the symposium on Equity in Sourcing Revenue. Was the sort of quality that you would expect from three professors, an economics editor and a valuer. John Freebairn gave an excellent overview of tax options, examples, and why some systems simply don't work (either for equity or efficiency purposes). Julian Disney gave examples on how our tax system punishes the poor, assists the rich, and provides benefits when we don't need them and takes money away when we do. Tim Colebatch showed why this happens and used John Howard as an example on how to drive policy. Bryan Kavanagh concluded with long-term comparisons between land prices and GDP, noting that sudden increases in land prices will lead to a crash in the economy. Pay attention.
Currently writing this from my third Cisco session at NMIT. As one should expect, I'm doing OK with the module exams (average 84% so far), but haven't really gotten into it so far - have been too busy! Instructor is much, much better that the previous experience and has even organised for me to sit the exams outside normal times because it clashes with my presentation for the SAGE-AU conference. Certification, here we come! About time too!
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Date: 2005-08-03 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 04:16 am (UTC)Transcripts aren't available yet, but (for both conferences) they are planned and I promise to keep bothering them until they do... ;-)
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Date: 2005-08-03 07:55 pm (UTC)Pseudo-transcript article from The Age;
Bid to scrap housing stamp duty
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 04:27 am (UTC)Yeah, but at arm's length. It's rather like watching Rome burn and saying "You guys really need a fire brigade". I've found that the power-brokers listen to me on average 18 months after I raise a suggestion ;-)
On that note however, I still think there's something to gained from the Vic ALP govt. With a bit of a push and shove some good may come from the State Govts proposal for a Charter of Human Rights for example. Also, it's *highly* improbable that they'll lose the next election or even the one after that (the margin of seats is just stupidly enormous).
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 06:44 am (UTC)Email me at lev_lafayette AT speedymail.org - I have a contact who knows a *lot* about this topic.
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:45 am (UTC)Yeah, start with the federation of individuals and you start having a "state" that's worth supporting.
I do have a paper for you.. Will find it when I get home..
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Date: 2005-08-03 05:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 07:00 am (UTC)Ah ha! Here it is...
Universal Rights, Common Wealth and Confederacy
http://au.geocities.com/lev_lafayette/0507shedatier.html
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Date: 2005-08-03 02:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 04:29 pm (UTC)Would you believe... Rob Hulls?
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:30 am (UTC)I often feel anti-smart when I read your stuff, but boy howdy do I appreciate your appetite for life, and I so admire your passion, drive and achievements.
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:35 am (UTC)Thanks for the kind words. However being so busy does have its cost. Sometimes I even like to spend an evening on the sauce just to destress. This often requires the following a day recuperating.
I think I may join a meditation class or something...
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Date: 2005-08-03 03:40 pm (UTC)It was an invaluable experience.
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:26 pm (UTC)I like Zen, although I imagine I'd also quite like something with a bit of movement. Maybe Tai Chi...
I must investigate further.
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Date: 2005-08-03 03:41 pm (UTC)I like to think of Lev's stuff as "bootstrapping my brain" :)
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Date: 2005-08-03 04:28 pm (UTC)*beams*
My life is a success!