Particular Interest

  World leaders at the UN National Summit for Climate Change watched on as the newly appointed UN Messenger of Peace, Leonardo DiCaprio, presented his urgent message. “I stand before you not as an expert but as a concerned citizen” DiCaprio said.  “One of the 400,000 people who marched on the streets of New York on Sunday, and the billions of others around the world who want to solve our climate crisis”  DiCaprio used the opportunity to speak to the over 900 world leaders to encourage them to work together, reminding them of the immediacy of the climate change threat. “The chief of the US Navy’s Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, recently said that climate change is our single greatest security threat.”  “It is a question of our own survival” DiCaprio said.  DiCaprio reminded the world leaders of the abundance of scientific evidence that proved climate change existed and how global warming was damaging the planet. “Every week, we’re...

Leonardo DiCaprio gave the opening address to the Climate Change Summit at the UN Headquarters.  The newly appointed UN Messenger of Peace urged the over 900 world leaders in government and business, as well as the broader public to take greater action on climate change policy. “Now is our moment for action” he said. “We need to put a price tag on carbon and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas and oil companies.” “It is a question of our survival.” DiCaprio said.   DiCaprio, called on the influential attendees to work together, reminding them of the abundance of scientific evidence regarding climate change. “Every week, we’re seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate change is here now.” DiCaprio compared how public and government apathy towards climate change was similar to his own acting profession. “I believe humankind has looked at climate change in the same way: as if it were fiction, happening to som...

As you scroll through your YouTube subscriptions, through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr - or whatever social media sharing site you use - you will see an accumulation of people pouring buckets of ice and water over their heads, with a few substituting the water with things such as money. Everyone is doing it, from your friends to billionaires to actors; they all seem to be jumping on board this train. The last time there was this many people doing something on this scale was when the Harlem Shake, Gangnam Style or Nek Nominate haunted our screens. To put it simply, the Ice Bucket Challenge is a form of Slacktivism. It is, as Wikipedia calls it, “usually considered a pejorative term that describes “feel-good” measures, support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it take satisfaction from the feeling that they have contributed. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.  Tr...

The political right has called upon Australian citizens to stand up and share the burden of government expenses, in a move they call the "debt levy". It is true however, that we are entering a crisis, following countries like the US, Greece, and Italy with our massive debt. That is, debt that is less than 30% of our G.D.P. whereas debts for the U.S. are over 80% of their G.D.P. and Greece and Italy had their debts over 120% of their G.D.P.. Yeah, sure, we are in a very big crisis. This so called "crisis" has been exaggerated by misinformed federal politicians who would rather see their pockets being filled after an agreed upon raise in their income by over $195,130, instead of supporting cuts. These cuts could be in the form of cuts towards paying the ever growing list of ex-prime ministers and ex-premiers, the superannuation fund for politicians or even a change in the Paid Parental Scheme. I'm not saying that the debt should not being reduced, but a direct t...