I received my Grandparent School Report this week at the end of my second year of grandparenting. I was eager to see how the teachers assessed my performance for the year. Here’s what they said.Read More »
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Dear Bill (Shorten)
You’ll probably be Prime Minister next May, given the current Government rabble. Friends who know you tell me you’re a good man, but from what I see on TV and read, you’re very difficult to believe in. And your performance yesterday – in Parliament and on TV – was so disappointing. It was the last day of Parliament for the year (not your fault). Yet there you were, bickering over the optics, the politics, not discussing what your Party’s principles or policies would be if/when you are in government, not motivating or building credibility with a cynical electorate.
LAW 5 JUSTICE 0: The Predicted Score of the Royal Commission into Victorian Policy Informer 3838
So a Victorian police informer has been revealed, a(nother) Royal Commission announced and major gangland criminals are lining up to have their cases reviewed and decisions annulled, due to legal procedural errors by the Victorian Police. A whistleblower is struck down. The Police’s reputation is trashed. Criminals are likely to win. I predict the score will be Law 5 Justice 0 – a thrashing for Justice. We will all be losers. Here’s why.Read More »
How Can We Save Democracy?
It’s clear in many countries, particularly since 2016 events, that democracy itself is under threat. It’s clear why it is under threat. It is not clear what can be done to restore democracy. Here are some proposals for what we can do personally and in groups to restore democracy to being a trusted institutional fraemwork we can rely on.Read More »
Dear John Pesutto: Climate Change, the Liberal Party and the Victorian State Election
Dear John (Pesutto),
I went to a ‘Climate change: why should I care?’ meeting this week. You and the other candidates for the State electoral seat of Hawthorn were there to present your policies for this month’s election, along with experts talking about the current state of our reactions to climate change. Given the global importance and urgency of this issue, yours – and the Liberal – response was so disappointing. No wonder you were booed.Read More »
Dear Jacinda (Ardern)
What a wonderful breath of fresh air you are to world politics. If only we had leaders like you in this and other countries. I love you…and so does my wife! Here’s why.Read More »
Organisation/Industry Scandals: It’s the Regulators, Dummy!
It was the ‘fake honey’ story that finally got me. How could any organisation even conceive of ‘fake honey’, let alone produce it in their products? Each day as I read the news, the headlines are familiar. Another organisation, another industry fails to be ethical, fails to follow the rules. Each day we are shocked…by what is the same issue much of the time: it’s the lack of regulators or lack of regulators enforcing the rules. Here’s how to fix many of the organisation/industry scandals that arise from the lack of regulators.Read More »
Dear Shari*
This small event was a highlight of my day.
I saw you about 100m ahead of me on the walking/running/cycling trail. You were running towards me. Your gait suggested you were a runner, not just a jogger. Your head was steady, held high, looking ahead. Your stride was confident, even, straight legs, bouncing lightly on your toes, arms held high and close. It was a beautiful sight – athletic, nice body, feminine.
Dear Young Friends
Dear Agnes, Maggie, Sofia, Mike, Emily, Damien, Evan, Sam, Colin, Gina, Andy, Lauren, Caroline, Phil, Dan, Josh, Anna, Brooke, Stephen, Siobhan, Peter, Sarah, Oskar and more.
Thanks for letting an old fart like me into your world and treating me as an equal. It’s such a pleasure to learn about your world – which is so different from mine – and to be able to ask you challenging questions and get challenging answers back! Being included energises me to be included. Learning and understanding about things and situations you know little about is exciting, thought-provoking. You keep me young.
Dear Josh (Frydenberg)
I write to you as my local Federal member of Parliament. After the shambolic chaos of your party’s internal power plays last week that led to yet another new Prime Minister and you accidentally being elected Deputy Leader and Treasurer, I realised that the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) you had fought so hard for, though very flawed, was a genuine attempt to plot your way through the minefield of environment and energy policy.
Though I campaigned against it, and against you because of your support for coal mining, I realised that you almost achieved balancing a carbon emissions reductions target, an energy supply guarantee and some commitment to price reduction, in the face of the warring sections of your party. Here’s why I’m sorry now that you failed and what you need to do if you want to be the next leader of your party.Read More »
