Our extended family have always been inveterate coin collectors (and stamps but that’s another story). Oh not collectors in the sense of joining clubs, and shopping for rarities online, and having every Australian threepence, or a 1930 Australian penny; but collectors in the sense of putting in a jar unusual coins picked up here there [...]
Archive for the ‘politics’ Category
Three coins in a fountain
Posted in politics, tagged australia, coins, commemorative coins, history, old coins on February 19, 2012 | 5 Comments »
To be hanged with the bible
Posted in Atheism, politics, tagged Climate Change, science, religion, Evolution, health, Atheism, tony abbott, australia, media, richard dawkins, law, steve fielding, creationism, history, America on February 12, 2012 | 53 Comments »
When the bible was written humans* didn’t know: About bacteria and viruses and parasites Blood circulation Earth going around sun More than 5 planets About galaxies There was a southern hemisphere Earth round What lightning is That whales aren’t fish What mental illness involves About genes and inheritance About Chinese, Aztecs, Zulus, Aborigines, Navaho, Japanese, [...]
Back to Methuselah
Posted in Economics, politics, tagged America, australia, bobby kennedy, economy, George Bernard Shaw, global warming, health, iraq, Robert Kennedy, science on February 10, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Bit of serendipity other day. As I was planning this post I was taken to task by a right wing tweeter unhappy, for some reason, that I had repeated the obvious truism that conservatives are much dumber than progressives. Progressivism, in fact, has an intelligence bias. Anyway, left him to his own world after a [...]
Fiddling while Rome burns
Posted in Media, politics, tagged history, media, Syria, television on February 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »
It’s one of those “what-ifs” of history. You know – what if the Japanese in World War 2 had modern fighter planes, what if the Romans had tanks, what if the Spanish Armada was composed of steamships. But another version involves communications. What if the internet, mobile phones, twitter and email, digital still and video [...]
Give the order
Posted in Climate Change, Media, politics, tagged America, australian election, Carbon Tax, Climate Change, conservation, environment, global warming, history, king canute, monarchy, Sarah Palin, tony abbott on February 2, 2012 | 2 Comments »
You all remember Old King Canute taking his throne down to the beach, right – “Cnut set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. Yet “continuing to rise as usual [the tide] dashed over his feet and legs without respect to his royal [...]
Ignorance is strength
Posted in Education, Media, politics, tagged australia, australian election, Climate Change, conservation, creationism, education, elections, george orwell, history, media, public schools, religion, science, television on January 30, 2012 | 21 Comments »
How can every human being on the planet not spend their days being puzzled about pretty much everything? Every day I ask myself questions like: How does that work? Why did that happen? Who was responsible for that? What was the purpose of that? Where did that come from? Constantly, one or more of the [...]
La même chose
Posted in Economics, politics, tagged America, australia, David Cameron, economy, elections, Maggie Thatcher, monarchy, Republicans, tony abbott on January 22, 2012 | 9 Comments »
It’s one of those historic events that still, 630 years on, resonate with modern times and make your blood run cold. In 1381 the so-called “Peasant’s Revolt” led by Wat Tyler massed tens of thousands of poor people protesting the new “Poll Tax” which, like our GST, made poor people pay as much tax as [...]
Extraordinary
Posted in Atheism, Climate Change, Media, politics, tagged alpine environment, America, Atheism, australia, carl sagan, Climate Change, creationism, environment, faster than light, guns, health, libertarian, media, religion, think tanks on January 19, 2012 | 30 Comments »
When I put in a complaint the other day regarding an extraordinarily biased tv report about cattle in national parks a twitter follower asked if I would have complained if the bias had been the other way. Made me consider the question for a moment. The answer of course is “no”, but why? Remember Carl [...]
Through early morning fog I see
Posted in politics, tagged America, australia, death penalty, history, mandatory sentencing, prison, stolen children, suicide on January 13, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Don’t know if you remember, but last year there was a lovely story about a long ago failed suicide attempt. A young woman’s fiance had died (I think, or jilted her) and in her despair she threw herself off the Gap in Sydney. I forget the precise details but she missed the rocks below, landed [...]



