Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
Are many Australians woefully ignorant of what income levels currently sit within reasonable definitions of “normal” and “top end?”
Are the leaders of both of our major political parties deliberately furthering our ignorance?
According to Peter Martin’s solidly evidence-based article, the answer to both questions is a resounding “yes”.
Comments closed…as chosen by other famous musos.
In most cases, the article will take you directly to Dylan’s performance of the relevant song.
Would Mick Jagger make an interesting choice?
What about Gillian Welch, Tom Jones, Marianne Faithful, Billy Bragg or Judy Collins?
Would some/none/all have anything interesting to say about his or her choice?
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Direct quote from Indian Prime Minister Modi, crowing, in January 2021:
Friends, it would not be advisable to judge India’s success with that of another country. In a country which is home to 18% of the world population, that country has saved humanity from a big disaster by containing corona effectively.
Arundhati Roy, describing India’s ghastly pandemic reality in April 2021:
The system hasn’t collapsed. The government has failed. Perhaps “failed” is an inaccurate word, because what we are witnessing is not criminal negligence, but an outright crime against humanity.
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Soil restoration can be expensive, and impractical across vast areas of land. Soil disturbance by echidnas offers a cost-effective restoration option, and this potential should be harnessed.
The rodent pictured above – well-rounded, petite, and “out in the wild” – quite probably strikes you as “cute”, maybe even “adorable”.
But how about the longer-toothed, urban-invading ranks of Rattus norvegicus?
Allegedly, they are currently making themselves ever more “at home” inside our cities’ offices, shops and homes…
Comments closedOn 22 October 2019, in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai, China, I met an obviously-ambitious sheep-owner.
Clearly, he was “improving” his flock, probably with help from Australia.
Some of his sheep greatly surprised me – very evidently, some of their “bloodlines” were merino.
The prosperous grazier’s mask was entirely appropriate to his dusty task.
However, wearing it would have been expressly forbidden in some other places/contexts, even in the much more open/democratic land of Oz…
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It’s presumed that the author starts with an intention and if the book’s published they’ve succeeded in it. But successful books are ones that have escaped the author’s intentions and become something else. Novels when they succeed are incoherent and contradictory and mysterious. Nothing is more secondary to a writer’s achievements than their original ambition.
One CommentThe “outlandish” claim:
Neoliberalism is spreading coronavirus faster than any “reckless teenager” ever could.
One CommentThis post alerts you to two provocative essays about Australian governments’ approach to “public spending”.
One looks at general home truths, facts, fictions and illusions, with particular reference to our “post-pandemic” economic & social well-being.
The other addresses Australia’s response to “the threat from China”.
According to Richard Dennis, we Australians are reluctant to look into the simple truth hidden in plain sight:
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Make sure you first see/read (and listen to) #56 in this series – this post is a sequel to that.
Same New Zealand place, same North American song…very different results.
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