The PR Blog

Yesterday, I read something online and it struck me as significant.

We are in a cultural war. We are in a war of the minds. It was about Artificial Intelligence. 

I find AI incredibly helpful for research. I recently watched the old film " All the President's Men " and saw the two young journalists pouring over telephone books and electoral rolls and old newspaper articles... the voyage of discovery was long and arduous before computers.

Then it became easy to " google it. "  We are now in an era of AI. Instant information, articles seemingly written in a nano second. How lazy we could become. How quickly our brains would simply have a nana nap and let the robot do the hard yards or hard yakka.  AI is a tool. Like the computer I am using now.

Nothing can replace the power of critical thinking or the joy in writing something and knowing that it reflects who I am and what I believe.
I am a great friend of the wise men ; " Who" What? " Where? When" and Why? "

My feeling on AI, has taught me a great deal. It is merely a tool. Like a book, an encyclopedia of old or a google search. Nothing can replace critical thinking.

So it was with great interest that I read this today. it was written by a University lecturer who is concerned about her relationship with AI and that of her students. 

The Queensland Government recently placed a ban on pumping and dumping carbon dioxide into the rocks of the Great Artesian Basin.

This was an event rarely seen – politicians have stumbled onto a sensible energy policy. Burying CO2 would achieve nothing useful – just more futile green waste.

But their ban on Carbon Capture and Underground Storage (CCUS) should be extended to all areas of Queensland, not just this one basin.

Even the blinkered Greens and the TikTok generation should recognise that today’s low levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are too close to the red line of death, where all plant life will die (followed by animal life).

The Troubles, a term used to describe a period of conflict in Northern Ireland, spanned from the late 1960s to 1998. This conflict was characterised by violent confrontations between different communities and a struggle for political and national identity. It is one of the most tumultuous and complex episodes in modern European history.

Until perhaps today.....  as Migrants flood Ireland, I wonder if the British will pale into insignificance in comparison? 

It led me to research and try and put together an essay to discover the deep rooted nationalistic love the Irish people have for their country. 

After all, Ireland has a long history of being betrayed and let down by migration. Forced, when they were faced with the loss of their homes and trekked to places like America, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. 

While it is fair to remind ourselves of the African American slaves who lamented " No one knows the troubles I've seen " it is also fair to say that the Irish have seen their fair of troubles. 

In 2011, British Illusionist Derren Brown conducted an experiment that I have never forgotten.

In Remote Control, audience members for a game show are asked to wear anonymous masks and dictate the ongoing fate of an unsuspecting, secretly filmed member of the public.

The show takes a look at the horror that emerges when people are allowed to make anonymous decisions as part of a crowd.

It caused a degree of shock and horror at the time and was designed to show us how being anonymous in a crowd can, in his words, “turn perfectly nice people into internet bullies, or rioters, or hooligans”.

What the hell do I have to do to wake up from this nightmare? Gay Pride MONTH? Seriously? 1/12^th of a year dedicated to people who want to boldly go where no man should ever go? Sorry, Star Trek, but Captain Kirk would never have navigated to the Gay Galaxy.

Sometimes, you just have to say no. Enough. I am all out of sympathy, all out of hugs and all out of embraces for men who do not want to be a blokie bloke. 

A bloke is Aussie speak for a man.  To be a blokie bloke means a man who is a real man. And I for one have a great deal of respect and admiration for men who still proudly proclaim their blokeiness. You know the kind of thing: being hardworking, masculine and protective. And he sure as hell doesn't wear a tutu or drive an e-scooter to save the planet. 

Gay Pride Month is, in my very not humble opinion, a month too long.In  fact, I would abolish all bloody recognition days. 

But if we are stuck with them, is there any way that I can get a month for Bloke Month? You know, the idea of a whole month where men can – with their mates – drink beer, cuss, scratch their balls and ogle big-breasted women and fart in bed? 'OK, I am not a male. But I get the vibe. I was married to one and I know what a blokie bloke is. Yet, in spite of these things, they still manage to go to work, pay the bills and generally make life better for all those they know.