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Last week I urged Barry O’Farrell (NSW Opposition Leader) to vote against the sale/privatization of the NSW Electricity industry and “to rock a bad government and to prove that the “business party” can plan for a greener future”. I was glad to see Barry do it but I don’t think he expected that within one week Michael Costa, the Treasurer-bully that was pushing the sale would be kicked out and Morris Iemma, the Labor Premier himself would resign. One week! From “just…one vote, Barry”!

Now the Labor parliamentarians are preparing to build a new government team but what will they have learnt from ex-Premier Iemma’s shipwreck? Will they see the need for an intelligent union-Labor Party strategy that actively transforms the electricity infrastructure of New South Wales and prepares for a greener future or will they see Iemma’s fall as a chance to reinforce the old status quo of an ever growing coal power industry that puts all its “green eggs” into the “waiting for Carbon Capture & Storage” basket?

In Germany this week at Schwarze Pumpe they’re opening a pilot CSS plant but the small amount of CO2 is being compressed into canisters and the expense is right off the chart. In Australia Tim Flannery just gave a speech explaining that growing trees and capturing CO2 in charcoal into the top soil will, for the next 10 years (& perhaps longer), be the only real way of CCS (Carbon Capture & Storage) and that worldwide the trees and charcoal could capture over 18 gigatonnes per year. That’s the scale of CO2 reduction that we need to be working on now. Will the new New South Wales government really face the facts and stop waiting for the tech CCS that will not come?

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On Sunday Australia saw Scorched a TV disaster movie set in Sydney. The political sub-plot was about the New South Wales government being involved in corruption surrounding the water supply for the city and a shortage of long term supplies. Early on reporter Susan Shapiro throws in the key line "There's something really wrong about ...water... in Sydney".

The fictional movie tells of disaster from bad plumbing (and corruption). But everyday in Sydney the "something really wrong about water" goes on and on. Sydney Water doesn't want to reduce usage - it keeps encouraging more water use by charging fixed fees for pipes in and pipes out (over 80% of my bill) and barely charging (like 18%) for the actual water people use. If I reduce my water use by 50% I'll reduce my bill by 9%. If you reduce your water use by 50% how much do you reduce your bill? With the future desalination plant there'll be a slight increase in usage charge but not much. Cheap water will keep being wasted. People get bugger all incentive to become water wise and to let Warragamba Dam build up to record levels and let the river system also be flushed out for the river's health.

Sydney Water could easily change its billing practice without reducing overall income by gradually reducing fixed fees and increasing its per kilolitre usage charge. This would reduce water use per head of population because the benefit would be tangible. As long as it announced such a gradual change and stuck to it people and businesses could adapt, install equipment and learn to save more water. The NSW Government and Sydney Water have had years to do this but they don't want to. They want more water use & more electricity use. They would rather spend money on advertising campaigns and water police in cars than actually solve the problem. This is what's really wrong about water in Sydney, not personal corruption, but the system that wants perpetual growth and doesn't want to change.

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In the last few days I have been researching a political organisation known as the nationalist alternative. From their ideologies it is not hard to jump from ultra conservative white-only party to radical neo-nazi party. I realised that many opposed to such racist groups are looking into a violent mirror. The nationalist alternative was attacked aggressively at an anti internet censorship rally in South Australia, a video on slackbastard depicted multicultural groups stomping the white only protestors heads, the lyrics to a song by Skarharrper called "nazi scum" has the lyrics "we gotta beat em in the street, there's a time to fight and that time has come, we're comin for ya nazi scum". How does one defend minorities by violently attacking one?
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4 mar

The HomepageDAILY community likes to co-create both content and process. What are you thinking right now about what we do and how we do it? Tell us about the news, videos and stories and anything else you see on HPD. What you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to see in future. Recommend a website, video or article; send us pix, new stories - share it with us and by so doing you are giving us permission to share it with the world.

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Why has homepage started running so many nameless 100 word eds? Names are good for intellectual continuity, honesty and non-hypocrisy. - Terry McGee

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Re: Bale de Rua

We thought the Bale de Rua was aweful. Choreography was terrible - set design, music and costumes were lacklustre. The dancers however were very athletic and graceful. - Jules

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Re: In Praise of Mediocrity

I just wonder who decides if what ever you chose to do in life, is mediocre or not. Sounds like with standards like yours, this article with its poor structure and soap box appeal may also be considered by many as, in-fact, mediocre. - Khedra

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Re: The Assassins of Langley

Yes, Mr. Neville. Odious, heinous assassins sold body and soul to Luciferian entities who pull the strings (the last of them, I want to believe) from the shadows. Philip Aggeee and John Stockwell portrayed them quite well. They are NOT heroes, nor are the gangbangers of East Los Angeles who spray grafitti in Iraq, where they most certainly train for urban warfare on our streets. Good riddance to them all!

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Re: Hairy Legs: A Study of Female Art, Feminism and Femininity

 Looking forward to more of her articles. Hope she does plenty of Art Theory at SCA. Barbara Kruger and Judy Chicago are certainly powerful artists and it would be interesting to see what they are doing now.

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A hero's welcome for the famous Iraqi shoe thrower

Terrorist! Please do your research first before writing such dangerous things, we was insulting Bush by throwing the shoe as he was disgraced with him, not trying to topple the largest super power in the world by throwing a shoe. I cant believe you have put those words up. Ashamed

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Re: How to Report the News

Having worked as a TV news reporter I found Charlie's piece very amusing - some of us have long believed reporting like this is a rubbish way to do things! But even if a journalist wants to tell stories in a more authentic and engaging way, the constraints of the so-called "house style" in many news organisations make it difficult to achieve. What's needed is a massive culture shift and a complete re-think of what we understand quality broadcast news reporting is. And guess what? That's exactly what's happening, though you'd never believe it from what we're still mostly seeing on TV. Anyway, the new digital technologies, and shake up of "old school/old mainstream" journalism means new platforms and styles of "news" storytelling can now emerge. Let's hope fresh and appropriate ways of funding appear too, so we can kill off this dreadful formulaic reporting and delivery, and clear the way for more natural and interesting ways to treat stories and content.

Much love, Ian Aspin.
www.twitter.com/ianaspin

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Re: Pushing 60 With Pot

You're pushing 60, well I'm pushing 70 and still having to scrounge around for my pot. It's tragic that when I first came to Australia it was $30 an ounce, and now I have to pay nearly $350 - Peter

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Re: Textbook publishers dream of the tablet

Why can't this just be a program for PC and Windows? Why do they have to make us buy more hardware that's just going to disappoint? - Tyler J. Wilson

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Re: Killing Indian Students: Australia's Favourite New Sport!- by Sean Maguire

How about the indian guy who slashed his wife's throat, is still australia to blame for?..may be , for accenpting them to move over!I am an immigrant myself but I love this country, there is no perfect place on Earth but australia is one of the best! - Michael

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This entire fiasco is an incredible over reaction. Australia is an easy target. Why? because we are honest, transperant and we talk about our failings. Is there aggression and iolence in Australia? Sure, like any country. But we face it head on and we work to eliminate it. What about the stories of the 100’s of thousands of Indian workers who are treated as slaves in the middle east and nobody says anything? What about the fact that India still has entrenched pedophilia in terms of child brides? What about the crushing poverty embraced by more than 60% of the Indian people while this nation runs around building nuclear warheads? A storm in a teacup, an over reaction, and a diversion from some the really bad issues facing India. What is really happening here is that students are being unnecessarily frightened. meaning they will miss out on what could be the opportunity of their lifetime. - Daryl
 
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I couldn't agree with Sean Maguire's article more on the recent Indian attacks. For all those who like the pretend the attacks are merely based on coincidence, try to imagine how we would react if the boot were on the other foot and an uncharacteristic number of Australia's had been murdered in India. Would you push for a travel ban? Would you be scared for your children in a seemingly hostile environment so many miles away?  - Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

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