I'm old enough to know that I don't have any answers, but that won't stop me talking
The Commonwealth Police, predecessor to the current Australian Federal Police, had an almost ridiculous raison d’être for coming into existence. It was during the First World War, and the then Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes, was speaking to a crowd in Queensland, in the presence of the premier, who was not an ally. Someone threw …
Continue reading “Has Political Discourse Become Less Civil?”
‘Do you think that the faith has conquered the world, and that lions no longer need keepers?’ – TS Eliot It’s Halloween again, and we go further and further down the rabbit hole of trick-or-treating, costumes, decorating the front garden, and boozy halloween parties attended by women in sexy witch costumes (or at least I …
Continue reading “Halloween Again – Some Sober Reflections On The Real Monsters”
I am not really into superhero movies. The only superhero I like is the Phantom, and his only superpower are his moral certainty and his mystique (ie Ghost Who Walks, Man Who Can Never Die). [I will of course make an exception for Wonder Woman. And Black Widow. And Alison Brie as Captain Marvel.] Hence …
Continue reading “Money Can’t Buy You Class, But It Can Make You Crass”
My father was my more adventurous parent. At 17, he rode his bicycle from Treviso to Turin to go and live with his eldest brother and look for work. In the eleven intervening years before he boarded a Fokker Friendship for a long haul flight to Australia, he worked as a coal miner in Switzerland …
Continue reading “What to do with 14700 Frequent Flyer Points and Similar First World Problems”
Still very jet lagged last Monday, my first public appearance after visiting my elderly mother was to attend the Treasury Wine Estate AGM with one of my close friends and fellow shareholder. I don’t usually make a point of attending AGMs but now that I am retired this will change. Back in the good old …
During my recent trip to Italy I met one of my first cousins for the first time and he illuminated me on some aspects of our family history. I always vaguely knew that we were remotely related to nobility on my maternal grandmother’s side. But I always thought it was quite far back. As it …
Continue reading “In Which I Discover I Am Descended From A Count”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-15/israel-gaza-war-hunt-for-hamas-commanders/102961912 I was not aware that the Qatari government harbours senior leaders of Hamas. That it does so is cause for sanctions. And yet another reason to banish their airline from Australian skies.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/05/minister-linked-qatar-airways-decision-to-treatment-of-australian-women-at-doha-airport-foi-reveals As I have said before, the only problem I have with Minister King rebuffing Qatar Airways on the basis of the Doha airport incident is that she should have proudly declared it as a reason upfront.
Just as well I am on the far side of the world at the moment.
Lost For Words!