Have you heard of Lawrence Lessig? He's articulate and brainy. He embraces big ideas in tiny shells like pistachios and his audiences clap and cheer. Have you heard of Greta Thunberg? She's small and shy-looking but with anger like a burning stick and surprisingly fearless. Her audiences are often in trouble. Have you heard of … Continue reading Comparing Steps
If my name were Donald and I liked golf I too would find a good shadowy cap and arm myself with a 3 iron and walk over the greens authoritatively It's a maelstrom out there; a swampy suckhole and, without being hysterical about it, I feel safer letting my lawyer do the talking. Who knew?
Four glittering Cartier watch faces, keeping the time in executive spaces, handed by Holgate to high-flying wanglers who did a good deal and wrangled the bankers. $20,000 of wrist-wrapping bling to ensure these fine workers continue their thing. She came from big business where bonuses are blousy, not in the service where gifts mark you … Continue reading PM Quietly Goes Postal on CEO
A gaseous cloud balloons above the rows of flagpoles whose stays clang ominously in a wing-fed breeze. The sky domes expectantly - a pregnant pause. A change is coming. Thunder barrel-rolls the valley floor. Cockatoos screech - a thousand of them wheeling in and encircling the house. In The House, in the sumptuously upholstered room … Continue reading Tomorrow… in The House on The Hill
Even the straightest can bust a move, I mean she's one square peg, or so we thought, but now old Sandilands is comparing notches, tit for tat, no pun intended, I swear. We all thought that woman is beat, whipped and stiff as eggs and sugar. Then badda-bing... and Mr Murdoch's taken her in, has … Continue reading The Rising…
Blow on a dandelion - is he? isn't he? is he? isn't he? - until it begins to look like him in a fuzzy, funny way. Nobody knows when he caught the bug. Nobody knows if it's let him go. The secrets swirl mistily around that great, white house and the man - his irate … Continue reading Waiting for Election Day
You are that proud yacht: sails full, wind-tilted facing the waves with confidence and grace Your bow wave - that iridescent 'V' - presses outward meeting other ripples, going (it seems) for miles. I don't know if anybody heard you coming - so young and so clean - but you're going to sail around a … Continue reading For Jacinda Ardern
This idea of a gas lead recovery... put your money on a drill bit and watch it sink spinning into the dark earth beneath the dark sea. It augers well. We're spiraling, Australia, into this gassy pit... Back in black, just as they promised.
The political slogans with blue borders on the road side read "Lower Taxes, Better Services". That's like saying "Throw out your brush & grow your hair!" or "Cheaper Shoes, Smaller Sizes" or "More roosters, less crowing." It SOUNDS enticing but when you think about it... Anyway, I say to them "More egg cartons, less apples." … Continue reading Girt by Campaigning
In the lush green foliage of the avocado tree a pair of gerygones are building a nest. Their cascading notes are light and clear as they busily flit and hover and pause their little yellow breasts like tiny flags of hope. ** I silently wish them every success against the very valid appetites of the … Continue reading A Planet in the Avocado Tree
The PM, bless his buttocks, believes in gas. But a few people (well quite a lot) are wrinkling their noses and trying to get out of Scotty's lift. ** What problem is he solving? ** Not price we Aussies are paying through the nose. ** Not supply. 1000megawatts? (Gezundheit) That's what he wants on tap, … Continue reading Beaten by a nose…
we have all watched that expert flick as the doctor levels the serum in the syringe and then holds it at eye-level to the light before carefully adjusting for the perfect airless dose. We have all seen that little squirt (or dribble) of precious liquid that signifies "safe to proceed". But now as COVID sweeps … Continue reading The Irony of =
sitting at lunch i say 'he's as dodgy as a ship made of cheese graters' and i won't unsay it he really does treat people badly a stunning example of money-made power i can say that because i'm a nobody (yes, being a nobody has a few valuable privileges) but if a State Premier said … Continue reading Palmer
Mask up and sell a face. The opposition can't knock it off like they do by roadsides... so many horizontal pollies sleeping faces in their red borders. Cover your nose with the unmasked face of your favourite candidate. Let them catch your sneezes and the aerosol threats of all around you. Truly useful highly caring … Continue reading I will protect you…
the phone rings it's a survey i actually don't mind a survey i guess it's sadly validating but the problem is you can only answer in the way the survey lets you and some surveys are two party preferred which is like multiple choice but skewed. sure, survey person, the Greens haven't hit the lead … Continue reading who gets to be a star?
In an effort to let me sit and also keep the puppy happy I pick him up and feed him the Liberal Party propaganda flyer which has been sitting ignored in the letterbox for two weeks. (When you have to step between puppy poos and then stick your hand between wire teeth to get your … Continue reading Puppy preferencing
I ask "Is there anything you want for Fathers' Day?" He turns "If you could please just remove Scott Morrison from power. I would appreciate that." I look out on the driveway where some detritus from the fencing is still in evidence - a small pile of pruned book-leaf pine boughs. I say "Well at … Continue reading Fathers’ Day Gift
Mug, coffee plunger, steam and my morning ritual of The Signal on the ABC. It's called "Surviving a poor, dangerous, disorderly world". There's an image of two military aircraft flying over a mountainous landscape. I plug in my ear buds and press play. The PM's voice pipes through talking about future-proofing our safety in a … Continue reading Read the Coffee Grounds
270 billion on the ADF to save our food? Pardon me for being so rude but WTF are you thinking, dude? What if you saved the ABC and thereby preserved democracy. Oh and neighbourly diplomacy. Instead you play along with Trump who later on will surely dump us in favour of some other … Continue reading Gotta go where the anger takes you…
Balance on one toe on the tip an iceberg "the arctic is on fire" on the tipping point tippy toe tip slipping "Global GDP to fall 25 per cent without more climate action, banks warn" precarious not falling but feeling the feeling "the most severe physical and economic impacts of climate change." the dizzy wait … Continue reading #beamusupscotty
We started with fires and then muddy mires, then a lockdown of worldwide trade Then Scomo's spat with China, well that's nothing minor when your economy needs First Aid. And now... what the blazes? So many malaises! It's that incorrigible school house pot. Most of the nation in enforced isolation but it seems the … Continue reading Living in 2020
In the paper I learn that the PM wants to discourage Arts degrees. It’s an old reason. He says they don’t lead to jobs. So Arts degrees are getting more expensive if he has his way. I did an arts degree and he’s right. No job was waiting, waving its arms at me. But I … Continue reading A Circular Discussion that Got me Confused…
Labor, you losers, you're losing your lovers. You're losing the labourers of Labor-history fame. You're losing the respect of the principled loyalists and you're losing every election in every game. Your branch-stacking members are making a bonfire stacking the branches to get air in the flames. Your gas-guzzling cronies are adding some liquid to … Continue reading A poem of grief…
Mr Morrison, the one thing that has salvaged my opinion of you and your gas-loving cronies is that you DIDN'T copy America in your approach to COVID19. At last I saw a man who was more than just a puppet to the big guys (Trump, coal, oil & gas). And now, I read on the … Continue reading Open Letter II
If two months of lockdown due to pandemic and a week of unrest in the USA have proven anything at all, it's that the stock market has nothing at all to do with reality. The stock market has continued to boom, with the full support of the Federal Reserve. It shows a supreme disconnect between … Continue reading The Stockmarket of Extreme Politics
Words are like glass jars, my friend. At some point, their being empty becomes blatantly obvious.
I am fascinated by the dispute between Australia and China. China doesn't want the origins of COVID19 investigated by foreign nations. They are flexing their (not insignificant) economic muscles and threatening tariffs on some Australian goods. Australia doesn't need extra threats to its economy right now. But even I, who tries very hard not to … Continue reading A little dabble with Winnie
I am not a sailor. I get seasick pretty easily and am quite terrified of big weather on land, let alone at sea. But I have heard that one threat to the sea-faring sailor, is the existence of submerged shipping containers, floating invisibly beneath the waves. Imagine the shock of running into one! The thing … Continue reading Submerged Containers
Dear Prime Minister Morrison, I am not a supporter of yours but I have been pretty impressed with how you have dealt with COVID19. And for me, the big difference is that you have listened to experts. It seems to be a common malfunction among Australian managers in general (and politicians in particular) that they … Continue reading An Open Letter
Two days ago I was reasonably comfortable that the Australian Government was trying pretty hard to do the right thing. Now I just don't know anymore. So many mixed messages and a PM who has almost no patience to answer questions. You can see it in his face. He's irritated almost at the thought of … Continue reading ScoMo the Super Confuser
Out of the Cave 