So much for the impregnable economy and the iron-man solid aussie dollar. Perhaps our rocks are coming home to roost, as the world’s biggest investors (not you or I, dear reader) scramble for more secure positions by juggling their baskets of world currencies. What does this volatility portend? No crystal ball here, but Blind Freddie […]

Visiting San Francisco after too many years, I wonder why I ever left. This gorgeous, urbane city has become even more beautiful over the years. The old Embarcadero expressway has been torn down, to open up the harbour side of the city for markets, parks, and housing. Ah yes, I left because I thought it […]

I was present at both meetings in Canberra this past Sunday of the Wilderness Society. The flurry of emails and media coverage about the looming stouch implied it was important. They do good work, and are one of the best known environmental groups in Australia. At the meeting it was announced that there are 45,000 members; […]

The newspapers report that there are more mobile phones than toilets in India. Hardly surprising, given the number of times a bush was the best we could do for a ‘comfort stop’ on my recent tour, and the number of men along side the road as the bus pulled out of Agra in the morning. […]

One of my hobbies is photographing ladies’ loos from around he world. I’ve got some doosies from India, both beautiful and horrible. Another of my globalised frivolities is the observation of ‘good hats’, mostly associated with religious masters. Notably, there are few really great hats for female religious leaders. If you recall Felini’s Roma, a […]

Lunatics with guns is not the kind of democracy the founding fathers of the US had in mind. The number of militias has increased in recent years, and probably the number of serious death threats to elected officials as well. One man convicted of murdering an abortion doctor was unrepentant on TV. Some of the […]

It was confusing. The India I saw before my eyes had little in common with the India that I’ve been reading about or the India on Indian TV.  Even the faces were paler, and the ads showed westernised, middle class situations and settings. Outside my tour bus, rubbish along the roads, nonexistent public facilities in […]

A few years back playwright David Williamson wrote about Cruise Ship Australia. He found his fellow travellers somewhat pompous and demanding, preoccupied with their status and consumerism. I think I’m pleased to report that on a recent bus tour of India my impressions of my compatriots were rather more positive. In what seemed like a […]

Some campaigns have their iconic moments. In the 2004 federal campaign it was Mark Latham’s overly muscular handshake with John Howard. It summed up all the risk inherent in Latham. For the South Australian election it was probably Liberal shadow treasurer Steven Griffiths’ claim that his own figures for savings on the Royal Adelaide Hospital […]