The Australian elections have been and gone and the Labor party has been sworn into Government. That’s fine. Our country is a democracy and the winner, as they say, takes all. But I don’t think I’m the only one with serious doubts about our electoral system. We have a preferential voting system which means the…
The war in Ukraine no longer has centre stage in our nation’s news media. It has been replaced with the heart-breaking images of nineteen little kids and two teachers senselessly gunned down in a Texas elementary school. Here’s an account by an 11 year old girl who survived the latest tragedy Don’t forget your tissues.Thoughts…
It’s a little over a week now since I had my cataract operations – left eye on Wednesday, right eye on Thursday. It has been an interesting experience. Cataract surgery is commonplace these days (in first world countries, anyway). The optometrist explained that pretty much everybody develops cataracts as they age, yet another proof that…
I’m a baby boomer, born in that particularly fecund period after Word War II and before The Pill made its impact in the 1960s. As such, I’ve more than once been critical of articles in the news criticising me and my compatriots for the apparent largesse of government policy with regard to pension entitlements, health…
I’m in my seventies now. That’s not a complaint. It’s a privilege to get so many years under the belt, lots of people never get a chance. Mind you, it helps to live in a First Word country with good healthcare. Even so, looking back, I can think of at least one occasion when, if…
The war in Ukraine continues and it seems to me Mister Putin is becoming increasingly belligerent (and, I suspect, worried), warning the West of dire consequences if he doesn’t get his way. I’m hoping the West realises that if this thing is not ended now it will simply get worse. There’s an election on in…
The next federal election in Australia is coming up in May and we voters have a Big Decision to make. It has been a tumultous several years since the last election, won by a whisker by the incumbent Liberal National Party coalition. Like most people, I was expecting that the Labor party would win that…
Up in the Northern Hemisphere it’s all crocuses, snow drops, tulips, daffodils, frolicking lambs, and cute little Easter bunnies. Winter is over and nature bursts forth with new life. Down here in the south, we’re heaving a sigh of relief that summer is finally over. We’re welcoming Autumn and the advent of cooler, less humid…
I’m in an introspective space today as I follow the on-going war in Ukraine. Putin’s generals (the ones still alive) don’t seem to have any smarts. A 65km convoy of tanks stuck on a road? What a target for an ambush. Putin’s last century tanks clearly can’t compete with modern weapons coming to the heavily…
While the conflict drags on in Ukraine, we have our own problems in the South Pacific. Here at home, we need to toughen up our defence capability if we’re going to dissuade the Chinese from invading. But that’s obvious and the government of the day can do something about it. We hope. Many of us…