Personal Reflections

I haven't quite known what to think of Mr Rudd's UN bid, nor indeed what attitude the Australian Government should take towards ...

It is with regret that I report that the Sydney Morning Herald and I have separated. It's been a long and sometimes troubled relationshi...

Just snippets this Sunday, Monday, Tuesday , Wednesday. Interesting piece in Past Horizons: 40,000 year old mammoth ivory rope-making to...

A friend commented after the news from Nice and then the attempted Turkey coup: "The news is really all worrying". While I have ...

In a post on 29 June 2016, Train Reading - Shogun: William Adams, Ieyasu and the rise and fall of the Shogunate , I mentioned that my presen...

This map from the BBC sets out China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. Now the Permanent Court for Arbitration has ruled  f...

I have been watching Australia's ABC's   Cleverman . IMDb descibes the plot in this way: In the very near future, creatures fro...

I'm on broadband via ADSL connection and it's really frustrating. For ordinary purposes its okay, but uploading can sometimes be dif...

One of the really interesting features of current Australian political debate lies in the concern about the rise of minority parties. Implic...

Sadly, while there was a cake stand, there was no sausage sizzle where I voted. I wasn't the only one who noted the absence. There wer...

It seems like a lifetime since this Australian election began. I'm glad that that it's over.  It's hard to remember just what st...

One of my favourite books was James Clavell's Shogun . I say was because I haven't read it for many years. I must buy another copy...