I'm old enough to know that I don't have any answers, but that won't stop me talking
The Olympics are over, and I hope that we as a nation-state have sated our gluttony for gold medals for a few months at least. After all, we did win 18 of those at these Olympics, the most we have ever won in history, coming fourth in the tally behind the USA, China, and Japan …
Continue reading “The Australian Olympic Team – Where Too Much Ain’t Enough”
The American Dream is a phrase which was first articulated in that form in 1931, at the heart of the Great Depression. I suppose that there are some parallels between that time and now. James Truslow Adams, the populariser of the phrase, defined the American Dream as ‘a land in which life should be better …
Continue reading “The Great American Nightmare? The Ongoing Relevance of Sinclair Lewis”
The decision last week by Western Australian first term Senator Fatima Payman to resign from the Labor Party two years into her six year term and sit (for now) on the cross benches as a result of her stance on the Palestinian state issue has caused a problem for the Labor Party and an ironic …
Continue reading “Secularism, Sectarianism, and Australian Democracy”
I doubt many people are familiar with the movie Scott Pilgrim Versus The World. Dorky guy who likes video games meets a suitable girl (vaguely goth, likes comic books and video games), but to win her, he must defeat each of her formidable seven ex boyfriends. It is like a series of challenges in a …
About 8 months ago I rather reluctantly joined Facebook, mostly because it was a relatively painfree way to make contact with an intricate web of second cousins in Reggio Calabria during my imminent visit. Since then, the number of fake profiles and would be scammers I have encountered have given me renewed cause to lament …
Continue reading “Reflections on being a Footscray / Western Bulldogs Supporter”
I initially started my share portfolio in mid 1996 with 110 shares in Mayne Nickless. I had just bought my first home, read a book about share market investing for the first time, and saw an ad in the Australian Financial Review about endowment warrants. I made an enquiry with a stockbroking firm trying to …
Lost For Words!