The news today that Ben Roberts-Smith VC has been arrested on charges of murder relating to war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan whilst serving with the Australian Army has triggered a wave of outrage from some supposed patriots. My own views on this, particularly given that the matter is now sub judice, are more nuanced. …
Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta
Treasury Wine Estates Continues To Spiral
The more I look at the news around Treasury Wine Estates, the more I am grateful that I sold 90% of my shares last year, leaving only sufficient to get me an invitation to the Annual General Meeting. The announcement in mid-February that TWE was not going to pay a dividend this half year was …
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The Latest Twist In The Moira Saga….
I was premature in my predictions about Moira Deeming and Western Metropolitan. There was another twist I did not see coming. It has been known for several years that Dinesh Gourisetty, the endorsed candidate for 18 hours for that seat, had been fined heavily over health code violations at a restaurant he owned. This issue …
What Will Moira Do Next?
Last Friday I hosted one of my former colleagues for luncheon at the Savage Club. Whilst waiting for my guest to arrive, I grabbed a cup of coffee and settled down in the Social Room (the large downstairs bar) with a copy of the Australian Financial Review to update myself on business news. As soon …
Goodbye Len Deighton
There’s a somewhat irreverent website I like to visit for some dark amusement. It’s called Deathlist. It’s a British website run by people of approximately my age, and probably started off as a game played in a university cafe in the late 1980s, where a circle of friends would come up with a list of …
A Sociopath’s Guide To A Successful Marriage
I still buy and read books, although I much prefer to idle a few hours away on the iPad with the Kindle app, reading what is on offer via Kindle Unlimited (my preference is for Sharpe and Hornblower imitations about the Napoleonic War). Browsing physical books in an actual bookshop is still a simple and …
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Iran – Will Anything Actually Change?
AI creates some very weird and wonderful fake videos these days. One which brought a chuckle to me (despite the gravity of the situation) was an AI revision of the Flock Of Seagulls hit (their only hit FYI) ‘I ran’. Trump, with his distinctively wild hair, takes the place of the lead singer of that …
Apocalocyntosis Redux
Last summer, I wrote about trying to grow pumpkins. I ended up successfully producing two. They were butternut variety. This year, I tried again. Put in a few seeds of a variety which grows best in pots. So I have a few tennis ball sized (so far) yellow fruits in vines growing in pots. I …
More Fun With Business Cards….
It is going to be a while before I run out of the business cards I ordered in late 2024. I did, after all, order 500 at that time. But when I do, I need to work out what sort of outrageous claims I can make on the card, beyond calling myself by the post …
Off With His Head! How To Best Resolve The Problem That Is The Andrew Formerly Known As Prince
I am fond of the plays written by Shakespeare, and by extension, those written by his near contemporary (and alleged ghostwriter) Kit Marlowe. The audiences at the time enjoyed a bit of gore, for instance, and so Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare’s equivalent of a Road Runner cartoon), with its rapes, dismemberments, murders, and cannibalism, is particularly …
Lost For Words! 