Bali

I'm shocked but not that surprised.

In some respects I'm only surprised that it didn't happen earlier, during the lead up to independence for East Timor.

After all if you want to hit westerners, where better to do it? And if they're godless, intoxicated and immoral (from any fundamentalist perspective) all the better.

I don't think many tourists will be going to Bali for a while. NZ and Malaysia are looking better and better. And the South Pacific... well, bits of it.

It will be interesting to see what effect this has on stability within Indonesia. Probably about as much as the recurrent violence in Ambon... but then again, Ambon doesn't earn that much from tourism whereas Bali's primary industry at times seemed to be centred around tourists.

The world remains as unsafe as it ever was. It's just helpful to realise that yes, you are a target too

(no subject)

DFAT got more than 15,000 calls yesterday apparently.

Well that would explain why my brother was working so late...

I'll have to see if he makes it on the TV like the back of his head did on 12/09/01!

More car things

I got my car back after two days driving on a lean. It was the master cylinder apparently. I really need to learn more car parts and terms rather than the obvious ones like "boot", "bonnet", "door", "steering wheel", "idiot light", "clutch" and "brake" that I already know. Now it's going beautifully which is really nice.

In unrelated news the State Government released their 30 year plan for Melbourne last week. What was missing? My bloody train line to Monash dammit! (Although they are replacing the train line to Whittlesea, which I think is a good move). I think I will have to start agitating somehow. Not sure whom or when but I'm sure there's enough people out there who think it would be a good idea and then we could go and harrass the transport ministers. Apart from anything else it could be fun. :-)

Unfortunately though I'm beginning to think it's a "not in my lifetime" proposal. The former train line to Whittlesea was closed in the early 60s. This is an entirely new train line involving lots of building and underground bits and - essentially - cost. But it would be so good! And useful! Especially if you combine it with a ring trainline running around the city connecting up the trains... yes, I have public transport plans. I don't quite spend my days poring over Melways working out where to put the new trains, trams and buses (I'm still writing this bloody assignment for starters) but I do have a few moments of "we could extend the East Malvern tram all the way to Jells Park!" every now and then.

Interestingly, the day after the State Government's report RMIT released a report basically saying that they didn't think public transport usage would increase in the next 30 years without the system being given a massive cash injection and being totally improved. So maybe there is hope. And all us sad transport geeks can dream.

While the Minister for Public Transport is given a car to get to work nothing will change. In fact while all State Pollies are given cars nothing will change. I say make them use those Gold Public Transport Passes! Force them to attend late sittings by tram, train or bus! (Good luck, the buses finish by about 9pm mostly). And then we'll see how bloody quickly the system gets funded...

Oh yeah, in case anyone from the Victorian State Government happens to be reading this, I also want a dedicated bike lane down the middle of Wellington Rd to Monash University. Like the one on St Georges Rd. Please?