Time flies. It is now well over thirty years since, in History 101 (Medieval and Renaissance History), I first read Machiavelli. I not only read The Prince, but also an abridged version of The Discourses. I then wrote an essay on the cyclical nature of history in The Discourses, which got me a distinction, and …
Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta
Flow My Tears, The Crocodile Said
I am not usually inclined to watch the press conferences of politicians. I tend to regard politicians as a necessary evil – democracy being a better system than any of the alternatives, but still laden with insincerity and demagoguery. So why validate the individuals any more with attention than they already get? I did make …
Bitcoin is the new Tulip Mania
In the golden age of exploration, when Dutch ships came home to Europe laden with spices from the Far East, the Netherlands became a place of great and somewhat unexpected wealth. A large middle class, keen to enjoy its newfound riches, emerged. The recently introduced tulip, a beautiful and fascinating flower (I personally am more …
The Rapist Who Is Now A Cabinet Minister
Yesterday, I surmised in my posting that the alleged rapist who is now a Cabinet Minister was from NSW, given that the rape did occur in NSW in 1988. I conceded that it was a long shot that it might be someone visiting NSW. Information has now come to my attention that the long shot …
Sexual Predators in the Corridors of Power
Two major news stories over the past few days have gripped Canberra. The first is the alleged rape two years ago, in the office of a government minister in Parliament House, of Brittany Higgins, a junior press secretary, by another employee in the ministerial office, after some major social occasion. Since then, two other women …
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Home Separation Anxiety, or… Old is the New Normal
I have been working from home most of the time the past 10 1/2 months, with the occasional day each week in the office until the hard lockdown was suddenly imposed in late July, and not too many days back in the office since then. Now we are easing back into what semblance we can …
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Penfools
The news today that counterfeiters in Communist China are making fake bottles of Penfolds wines to rip off the gullible locals with more money than sense is unsurprising. It has been going on for ages. The cringeworthy new faux-premium labels based on the Penfolds font are named ‘Penfunils’ and ‘Benfords’. If I did not own …
Putting QAnon in its proper context….
This is way too funny not to share.
A Shout Out to Friendly Jordie
I have always been rather skeptical about Crikey, a subscriber only alternative news website which has been in existence since around 2000. It was originally started under the name ‘Jeffed’ (a verb which came into being in late 1992 to describe the various unpopular decisions newly elected Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett was taking) in late …
Meet Daisy Jones
Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keogh is an uberbabe. I first heard of her a few months ago when I first heard of an upcoming show she is to star in on Amazon Prime Video: Daisy Jones and the Six. She plays the eponymous character. Daisy Jones and the Six sounded to me like it is …
Lost For Words! 