Part 59 A new age.

 (Written 2023 but not published until now)

  Hi all.

A long time since my last post and boy have things changed in that time.

Firstly, I turned 70 and decided to retire. It's now been a year and as much as I enjoy not going to work, I am a little bored.

So, how to get around that? I know, take up yet another hobby.

This time it's flying. Real aeroplanes not models...

I looked at ultralights because a normal pilot license was well beyond my financial reach and, to my surprise,  found that the rules have changed. There is now the Light sports aircraft category which changed the whole perspective. 

We even build a lot of these planes in Australia:

So  cool.

You can even buy your own LSA for the price of a car..... 

LSA aeroplanes are around the size of a small Cessna but are much cheaper to buy and you can do your own maintenance which removes a huge cost factor.

Once you get the restricted Recreational Pilots Certificate you can then do navigation and fly anywhere in Australia outside of controlled air space. Something I am looking forward to, as touring this great country is something I have always wanted to do.

All at a fraction of the cost and hassle of going through the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA, the Aussie equivalent of the US FAA).

Now that I found that I can afford to learn to fly, I did.

15.3 air hours later and I am landing and taking of regularly and looking at my first solo flight. 

 Update... January 2026.

 Things did not go as planned. Then, when do they ever. 

Man plans, God laughs, so they say.

 Well he had a belly laugh at my expense. The rules changed so the training plane I was using could no longer be used so there was  a considerable delay in getting a new one. Eventually (six months) training recommenced. 

Problems with the aircraft and it was decided to install a new engine, another delay of several months. The owner gave me a call while waiting and invited me to go for a joyflight in his private plane, A legend 600.

 Obviously I jumped at the chance and off we went for a nice scenic flight along Perth Western Australia southern coastline. Beautiful day, smooth air, one of those days that it's great to be alive.

Queue the heavenly background laughter. 

 We were flying along nicely at 2000 feet in smooth air when the plane began to shudder and the rudder pedal started jumping for a few seconds, Somewhat surprised we put it down to turbulence and climbed to 2600 feet to clear it. Suddenly it happened again but more severe and the whole plane shook. It stopped after a few seconds before we could react it started again followed by a loud bang and the rudder pedals sank to the floor, immediately the plane went into a tight spin. 

Normally at this point the tale would end as the only way to recover from a spin id by applying rudder but we no longer had one. This usually end with a big hole in the ground and scattered bits and pieces including the crew but the owners' forward planning paid off. He had installed a ballistic parachute on the plane. He quickly hit that and a rocket blew out the back window dragging a parachute behind it. A sudden shock and we were suspended nose down in a somewhat slower descent. After we shut of the engine and all electrics it was actually a very pleasant trip down but the we saw the trees below us and had a discussion about whether we would land softly or hit a tree. Queue heavenly laughter again. 

We hit a tree about 30 feet above the ground. The chute collapsed and the sudden weight increase was too great for the tree and we fell the rest of the way to the ground. 

What should have happened was this .

 

But what happened was this.

 

A $200,000 plus aircraft reduced to rubble. Fortunately both of those on board were OK. The owner had nothing but bruises and I had bruises plus a cut on my finger that needed nine stitches from a cosmetic surgeon.

A small price to pay when you consider the alternatives.

Several hours later I rolled up to hospital to get the finger stitched. That was something else. I went to the Triage window and when asked what was the problem I said I had a cut on my finger. She asked me how it happened and I told her I had been in a plane crash. Well.. It hit the fan then. A quick call on the PA and I was rushed to the resuscitation unit, basically the only person there that was conscious. Word got around and I had doctors and nurse from all over the hospital coming in to see the photos. I ended up spending the night there and had Cat scans and all sorts of tests before being released. I finally got the finger stitched at a private clinic.

 

Not the best day of my life but certainly one of the most memorable, one I won't forget in a hurry. 

You know the worst part of the whole thing, The West Australian newspaper published the story about two elderly men. Now that hurt more than the cras... 

See next chapter for follow up. 

 

Part 58 - Let the sun shine in.

 The war in the Ukraine and Rusian sanctions is creating power shortages and rising prices throughout the world for oil, gas and coal, not to mention food.

Here in Australia, at least on the east coast, gas prices are soaring and the fossil fuel power grid is on the verge of shutdown. Not that there is a shortage of power generation but the coal price for export is so high that they lose money by running the generators. 

Old technology is causing increasing breakdowns and many coal fired stations are bring forward their shutdown dates. 

Years of neglect of the screamingly obvious need to move to renewables by the previous federal government has left most of Australia in this position. Except for Western Australia.

The government here is running trials of community batteries to "smooth" the grid and we have the highest uptakes of solar and wind power in Australia. So much so that the state government has just announced the closing dates for the last two coal power stations.

Now, with the new federal government we have a commitment to reach climate change targets for real, not just by fudging the figures. They are also looking at a full renewables program, hopefully subsidising elecrtric vehicles as well.

So what's the point here? Well, it shows that sticking your head in the sand and hoping that technology won't change is a fools game. 

The biggest problem with having your head in the sand is that when things come back to bite you on the bum, you don't see them coming.

Part 57 A brave new world (for many reasons)

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. That was a quote I used when I retired last week.

I have finally turned 70 (going on 30 in my head) and decided that I was sick of what I was doing so I retired.

whether that's a good move or not I have yet to decide. I love not getting up in the cold and fighting traffic. My time is now my own... But there's so much of it!

Like everything else, there is a need to readjust and work out what I want to do, but I must admit, that's not a bad problem to have.

This is my first blog in quite a while and what a lot of history has passed in that time. 

Trump gone (hopefully for ever), Covid, changing the world in so many ways. The horrific war in the Ukraine and food and fuel shortages because of it.

The winding back of globalisation. Automation due to lack of employees due to covid.

On the other hand, in Australia we now have a new government that seems to actually be in the 21st century which makes a nice change from the Morrison spin party.

They want to use technology rather than deny it exists and actually do something about climate change other than talk around it.

As with all new governments, the talk is good but the actions that come from it speak the loudest.

Lets hope reality does have a very loud voice.

Part 56 To be or not to be, that is the question.

To be or not to be, that is the question. 

This could well be the catch phrase of the Australian government at the moment.

With a spin doctor as PM we get nothing but vague statements with no substance.

The whole world has seen Australia's (Morrison's) non policy that encourages coal and gas production at full speed with the hope of undeveloped "Green" hydrogen as the lynchpin for our salvation. The world has reacted accordingly with Australia rated at zero for climate policy.

Add to that the fact that instead of encouraging electric vehicles by increasing emission standards or giving incentives to buy electric vehicles, Morrison has pulled another spin. Lets give subsidies for 50,000 charging stations in homes.

This is a win win for Morrison. There are only 20,000 electric vehicles in Australia and most of those will already have worked out charging systems. With no incentive to buy electric cars , then this is a very safe policy with minimal cost. 

Great spin, zero result for climate change and car buyers but terrific PR.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (before it gets sold out under us) is the fact that car manufacturers won't bring electric cars here as they can't compete on cost and don't have a large market so it's easier to dump their older, polluting models as we have minimal emission standards. Hell even our fuel is polluting because we don't have decent standards for that either.  

So what can we do? 

We need to create an outcry!

Australia has been a leader in technology development and uptake for generations, until now.

This clip is old, but remember it when it comes time to vote.

States are working hand over fist to get to zero emissions despite the federal government and it's showing results.

So if we do nothing then we will get nothing. Now is the time to get involved, help to get Australia back where it belongs by getting everyone from every party involved and get us moving in the right direction.

As I always say, technology, once it's out there it won't go away. If we don't adapt it to our needs and use it to our advantage then it will adapt us and that most likely will not be a good thing.

Part 55 - Alternate facts, fake news, propaganda is thy name

 Propaganda is a latin term that means to disseminate or spread information.

In modern times this has been abused so much that it now has the meaning of pushing a specific view, these days referred to simply as fake news. However, fake news is quite often taken as fact by those that don't want to question or simply want to believe, which makes it very difficult to actually get reality as some media tend to push these stories as fact. With the mass of competing media today, may "Journalists" grab stories straight off the internet with no or minimal fact checking.

Political leaders in modern times have capitalised on that to to the extent of threatening their own countries political structure in attempts to retain power at all cost. 

But lets keep it simple and call it misinformation.

These days we hear fact free announcements about 5G causing everything from birth defects to Corona Virus, wind power generators causing cancer and vaccinations causing autism or being used to implant microchips for mind control.

Even Covid is touted as a man made disease to control population growth or a fake disease no worse that a cold.

The fact that some governments have been actively supporting these stories because it works to their advantage, means that they are now between a rock and a hard place trying to overcome what has been accepted as the new normal.

Even here in Australia we have federal member of parliament, Craig Kelly, still pushing anti vax propaganda and that hydroxychloriquine is a cure for Covid despite the lack of any evidence. He has now been hit  with a one week ban by Facebook for just that. As we all know, that's a very harsh punishment (sarcasm).

Hopefully, with the world starting to swing back from populism we may have a chance with the grownups back in the room. 

But then again, it could be a long battle as there are still a lot of people out there that still think the US election was rigged and a pedophile ring run by the Clintons still exists in a New York Pizza shop.

Hopefully, what will come out of this is a much better understanding and control of social media.

In Australia, you have a right to say a lot of things, but if you slander or libel anyone then you have to be able to prove it. It's not a given that you can say anything just because it's your opinion. We actually don't have an enshrined right of free speech, just common law acceptance, so you can't hide behind the law.

Here's how fake news works.

Interestingly, you can create a Wiki page with fake facts, post it everywhere on the internet, hope media picks it up then use it as a citation for the wiki page!

Isn't the internet great?

How can you recognise fake news?

Australia starts covid injections.

Part 55 - I have a dream...

Research and polling by Australia's ABC has shown a significant commonality in what people are most concerned with in Australia and it is probably fair to say that this would be similar in most comparable countries.

The most common concerns are:

• Household debt
• Cost of living
• Ageing
• Poverty
• Wealth inequity
• The economy
• Unemployment
• Drug and alcohol abuse and water also figure prominently

Most of the issues are related to money in one way or another and when you take into consideration  the future of work from a perspective of automation and AI then at first glance the outlook appears to be much bleaker.

AI and automation will change the workforce and reduce jobs, that's a given.

But the outlook doesn't have to be negative.

If the government chooses to look at Australia from a realistic view instead of a political one, then we may have a chance of addressing our concerns and turn automation to our advantage.

But when government's main focus is to take us back to a rose coloured 1950's then we're all in strife. 

If we don't have jobs and have to rely on $40 a day, be abused as not wanting to work and have to compete fiercely for those that are available, then "Houston, we have a problem".

And it won't get better.

An aging population will create labour shortages in the short term which will be filled by automation. 

This will produce less jobs and those that are available will require a higher skill set which many people won't have or be able to get through a lack of education or ability. Not everyone has the potential to become highly educated, that's a fact of nature not laziness or lack of application.

We are what we are.

So if you have a go, it doesn't mean that you will get a go, the real world doesn't work that way, it just looks good on a campaign slogan.

So how do we fix this?

Not easily and not quickly but we do need to get the ball rolling by firstly getting engagement from politicians and industry and acceptance of the fact that world is changing rapidly and we need to change with it.

That is probably the biggest hurdle, dragging politicians into the 21st century.

Industry should be easier as they know the impact of technology on their business and that if they don't have customers with money then they don't have a market.

Once people are on board we need to look at the welfare systems and how to change the thinking in this area to reflect reality.

$40 a day wont cut it when we have a large percentage of the population relying on public income to live when there is little prospect of getting a job in the foreseeable future.

Universal basic income has to be an option and the best way of doing that has to be determined in a fair and equable way not by political consideration.

However to do nothing will condemn a large part of the population to a life of poverty and despair.

In a simplistic view we must use technology to produce output faster at lower cost and use the savings to fund UBI, obvious much more involved than that, but the point is we have to get the conversation started.

We can be a prosperous country in the new age and share it for all people not just a few as the time for having our collective heads buried in sand is long past.

If we don't exploit change to our advantage then we will become victims of it.
#votepirate
#BasicIncome

  

    

Part 54 - Australia, the future is in your hands

Australia and much of the world is at a crossroads that most people don't even realise exists.

We have an ageing population which means that as the older generations retire we have less people left in the workforce.

Combine that with the fact that most people today in Australia don't leave school until year 12 and many go on to university so we have a higher educated group entering the workforce.
Higher education and being born into an age where their parents are usually reasonably well off means that job expectations are quite high.

So, we are approaching a point where there will be less people to fill jobs and those left have high expectations and can pick and choose.

Therein lies a problem.

Who fills the low paid repetitive jobs?

A few solutions:

• Bring in cheaper foreign workers
• Outsource the jobs overseas
• Automate the jobs and keep them in Australia

Given the current world of politics, the first two choices would not go down well, so automation and keeping it in the country would be the logical choice.

OK so now we have a solution, but it pushes even bigger problems down the track. 

When the baby boomers are out of the work system, they will live longer but won't live forever. Then we get the new generations becoming the majority and looking for work, but by then we have very high levels of automation.

Now what?

  

This is when we get the real impact where there are more people than jobs and less and less jobs being created.

This is where social systems have to change.

Being unemployed will no longer be considered as a liability but the new normal for many people, particularly those that don't have high tech capability and don't have the ability to get there.  

As a responsible society we have an obligation to ensure everyone has the right to an income and can choose how they live their lives.

So, do we wait until we reach that point and tackle it then? 

NO. 

The time to act is now. 

Government must begin to address it now while we have the time to do it properly.

If we wait, then it will become a knee jerk reaction for short term political gain ....  and we all know how well that works in the real world. 

So we need to act now and plan it out so it becomes a win win situation.

Any other way and we run the very real risk of becoming victims of technology.

This is the major platform I am standing on for the Australian Senate and very much want to get involved in making this work for Australia.

Your support can help.

#VotePirate - New idea for a new world

#BasicIncome - the right to choice

Important note.

The vicious attacks on the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch yesterday are 

wholeheartedly condemned by the Pirate Party Australia.

We send our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families, and to the Muslim communities 

of Australia and New Zealand.

This atrocity will not go unanswered and the Pirate Party will continue to fight to remove far right 

extremists like Fraser Anning and Pauline Hanson from our Parliament.