In the Last Quarter of life (post-60), the purpose of life suddenly becomes unclear. Paid employment finishes. Children become independent and leave. You are free! …But to do what? And for what purpose?Read More »
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Penises, Vulvas/Vaginas and Breasts: Let’s Talk about Them!
At fringe festivals in Adelaide and Minneapolis over the last three years, I’ve seen entertaining and educational shows on these taboo topics. Yet, mentioning this to friends brings nervous laughter, uncomfortable reactions and a desire to avoid discussing the topics. These normal, small, but important parts of our bodies – we all have them – just can’t be discussed normally…and we are the poorer for it. Let’s talk about them.Read More »
Weddings, Marriage and #MeToo
Having attended some wonderful weddings recently, I’ve found myself reflecting on marriage – as it evolves – compared with the expectations expressed at a wedding ceremony and also whether #MeToo is impacting weddings and marriage expectations.Read More »
Announcing the Death of The Age. “Independent. Always.” (until December 2018)
On July 25, the impending death of Melbourne’s leading thinking newspaper was announced. The planned takeover of The Age by chequebook journalism, entertainment empire is such a clash of cultures that the death of independent journalism at The Age is certain. Why did this happen?Read More »
MyHealth: Centralised Health Records are Valuable. You Should ‘Opt-in’.
Australians are debating whether or not to opt out of the centralised electronic government health record system, MyHealth. If you don’t specifically opt out, you are ‘in’. In principle, this is a no-brainer, though there are practical issues and risks, as always. Here’s why you should do nothing…and therefore opt in.Read More »
The Plastics War? We’ve Barely Started
So we (Victorians) have just stopped using single-use plastic bags in supermarkets and we are feeling very good about ourselves. But this is just a drop in the ocean in our plastics use. Research shows that over 800 million – yes million – pieces of plastic enter Pt Phillip Bay from just its two main rivers each year. Research shows that plastics have infiltrated every ocean, every water supply and many food products. Films such as ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘The Plastic Ocean’ and TV series such as ‘The War on Waste’ show how badly our environment has been and is being damaged by our uncontrolled use of plastic. How can we address this environmental disaster?Read More »
Trump is a Success. Forget what he says. Look at what he does.
Liberals (including me) hate Trump. We look at what he says, his fallacies, inconsistencies, morals, the people he chooses, the processes he uses. But liberals fail to look at his amazingly successful achievements – what he does. He is on his way to being one of the most successful, influential US Presidents of all time, rather in the way that Reagan influenced world economics and politics for over 20 years.Read More »
Getting to a New Model for Being a Man
As #MeToo rumbles through society and radicalism infects disaffected young men, it seems clear that, while women are asserting themselves, many men are feeling increasingly emasculated. The old make roles of family breadwinner, provider of strength and protection, being unemotional, putting up with/sacrificing one’s life for the family are going or gone. #MeToo is a reaction to unequal power – physical power, sexual power, aggression. Men have more of these.
As horizons expand for women, they are seen to be contracting for men. Why will men accept equality, when men want to be aggressive, have the power to be aggressive? If we want social equality, how can we breed out, train out or control these innate male characteristics? What role does a man have when a woman is better educated, can earn as much, can hire strength, buy protection and live alone – with or without children, with or without a man, let alone a husband?Read More »
HOW GOOD IS YOUR WINE?: GRADE INFLATION IN WINE RATINGS
I love wine. But I am influenced by expert ratings and gold stars on the bottle – I can’t taste every wine before I drink it! Over time, I’ve felt that the number of wines receiving high ratings and gold stars has increased significantly – when was the last time you say a wine rated below 90? A bit of numerical analysis supports this: either wines are highly over-rated…or Australia has the best wines in the world.Read More »
The Silent Chinese Invasion of Australia
Respected thinker Clive Hamilton’s new book, ‘The Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia’, is very scary essential reading. This book’s deep research opened my eyes to China, especially now that Xi is President for life. It’s essential reading because it exposes so much that has long term impacts. If we don’t recognise these factors soon, it may be too late.Read More »
