Bad comms
"It’s been one week since the initial fire in Harcourt. I live nearby, out of town, by myself on a rural property. On the Friday afternoon of the fire, the radio stopped. I use the BOM and Vic Emergency to make decisions with no radio as the band that the station (ABC) has moved to is not available here. I have not been able to make a phone call effectively for a week and have to drive to town where there is reception. In previous emergencies here, the internet has gone down completely and the only way to get emergency information is to leg it and go talk to someone. I am paying a company for this complete lack of "service" whilst not receiving communication from "service" providers about what has even happened or how long this will last."
Name withheld 

Pressure point
"The rush to introduce hate speech legislation without proper consideration of longer term consequences in order to placate an influential minority is bad policy reflecting poor and weak leadership. When pressure groups shout ‘jump’ our leaders ask 'how high?'. The times demand strong governance in the national interest not jumping at shadows for fear of retribution from vested interests. Prime Minister Albanese might try it sometime, and might be surprised that most of the country will support him."
Doug Cadioli

Beyond the coffee cup
“For the last fifty-odd years, whenever someone has suggested some reform that might help someone or other, the inevitable response has been "social engineering". However, this article on takeaway coffee cups and microplastics makes the point that the oil industry and the plastics industry - joined at the hip - have been engaging in a real-life biological experiment with their customers and the entire biosphere for over fifty years, ever since plastics became the "wonder material" and became used for nearly everything. And nobody knows what the outcome will be.”
Wesley Parish

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