Dave's Archives

AI-generated (stable diffusion) ge of "cyclon writing with a pen".

The sporadic blog of David J A Cooper. I write sci-fi, teach software engineering, and occasionally say related (or not related) things.

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  • Glossary of politics

    I thought I’d iron out some common appropriations of English words and phrases as used by politicians and journalists. Let me know if you have any more suggestions. accountability. 1. (n.) The state of being duly sniped at while virtuously refraining from voicing any counterargument that would draw attention to the ridiculousness of the snipes. 2. hold to account (v.)…

  • The land of marking

    Those less fortunate among us are, on occasion, forcibly sent to a distant (and somewhat two-dimensional) realm of existence to undertake grueling mental labour: the marking of student submissions. I have mapped this land from what little remains of my mind after many hours crossing its ragged terrain, with naught but a red pen and…

  • A traveller’s guide to CHOGM Security Area

    I had a nice lunch today in a little place called CHOGM Security Area. This is, in fact, a microstate similar to the Vatican City, though it requires a little explanation. CHOGM Security Area (CSA) is an Indeterminocracy; it has many different leaders (including both Prime Ministers and Presidents), none of whom have any power…

  • Unhinging the Bolt

    I’m going to contradict myself on Andrew Bolt. In a previous post, I defended Bolt’s right to free speech, as have so many others, in the face of his court case. At the time, my esteemed nemesis, the Slightly Disgruntled Scientist, came to a different view. Since the judgement, I find myself changing my mind, and…

  • Manoeuvring the boats

    In a previous post, I described Labor as the “architects of unconscionable incompetence”, specifically with respect to the Malaysian Solution, at least temporarily defeated by the High Court. This post is motivated by the latest political manoeuvring on the issue. I was about to declare myself wrong over the “incompetence” tag (but certainly not the “unconscionable”…

  • Trolling atheists

    Scott Stephens has a good heart, and is refreshingly well acquainted with the absurdities of politics. However, in his capacity as an antagonist of atheists, I find his arguments rather inadequate. While Stephens propounds his notion of “chic” and “fashionable” atheism, I sense that his own lines of reasoning are sculpted by the vacuous fashions of…

  • Inconvenient sanity

    The judicial arm of government has taken the executive’s asylum seeker policy out the back and had it shot, such was the extent of its mutilation and suffering. The Labor Party is busy saving whatever face it can, but this is really very hard to spin. I fervently hope its strategists are even now exchanging…

  • The Galileo gambit movement

    I’ve had another sudden fit of pseudo-artistic buffoonery. I stumbled across the Galileo Movement largely by way of Wendy Carlisle’s Background Briefing report: In February this year a new group emerged: the Galileo movement. Its scientific advisers are the who’s who of the international climate sceptics movement. Its patron is the powerful Sydney radio personality Alan…

  • Qualifications required to debate AGW

    Until recently, I was a little confused by some of the standards being applied to the protagonists of the political debate on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). However, I’ve now drawn up a handy flow chart to help resolve the confusion. (Click on the image for a slightly larger version.)

  • No satire or ridicule please – this is parliament

    I had not previously been aware that the rules of parliamentary broadcasting preclude “satire and ridicule”. Annabel Crabb raises the issue at the ABC, and reports that many politicians themselves are unaware of this. First, prohibiting ridicule does seem a little redundant. One may well decree that there shalt be no ridicule, but it’s meaningless when…