The C.E.O of a government-owned power company jumped in front of a coming train and killed himself in 2004. It’s a tragic event which was the result of an investigation into his financial dealings. Continue reading
Year: 2008
You can’t legislate against stupidity
The latest obsession in the media is the number of young people who binge drink. It’s astounding how some old topics crop up from time to time. Nothing comes of the discussion. Nothing can come. Just a lot of hot air. Here’s more of it… Continue reading
Goodman Fielder- give us our daily bread!
if you visit New Zealand you must have a taste of the best bread I’ve ever eaten. It’s called Mackenzie High Country Bread and honestly, I wish I could bring it here to Australia. It is full of grain, nice and thick and very satisfying. Don’t I sound like a commercial? Continue reading
Up and Down in New Zealand
We have just spent ten days in New Zealand, which is a group of islands about three hours’ flight from Australia. Many Kiwis (that’s what they call themselves) have made Australia their home and interestingly, not many Aussies have reciprocated. Aussies do like to visit New Zealand, however, because it’s close to us, our dollar is worth more over there, and the language is almost intelligible to our ear. Continue reading
Oh no! Harry’s cover has been blown!
Your Royal Highness,
We regret to inform you that Harry’s cover has been blown and so we have to bring him back.
We realise that the mission was to have him “serve” in Afghanistan and be dispatched by the Taliban. He would thus have died a hero’s death in the defence of freedom.
There can be no greater way to go and Harry was most keen to do the soldier bit. Quite frankly, Your Highness , he seems to be a much braver man than Will and this would have served us well.
As you already know, there are not many tunnels and speeding cars over here, and we had intended that the combat take care of the problem. There was so much going for us since it is almost impossible to identify the Taliban individually. Seen one, seen them all. A bit like a white Fiat in France, actually.
Anyhow, the whole thing has gone up in smoke and so he will have to be repatriated. Expecting to convince everyone that the business was a tragic accident for the second time would be too much to ask. We simply can’t take that risk again.
Harry might have come up trumps and receive a hero’s welcome back home, but fingers crossed, sir, we will not let you down next time.
Your obedient servant.
More Chutzpah from Muslims
Somebody once asked a wise man for a definition of chutzpah. “Imagine,” he replied, “that a man murders both his parents and at his trial begs the jury to be lenient towards him because he is an orphan. That’s chutzpah.” The closest translation that the English language has of “chutzpah” is “hide.”
The Muslims here in Australia are demonstrating a humungous chutzpah when it comes to their education. You have to laugh… Continue reading
“Notes on a Scandal” by Zoë Heller- a review.
Popular travel writer and social commentator, Bill Bryson, said he had difficulty writing about Australia in his book “Downunder” because he likes this country. He said it was much easier to criticise than to praise. After you have said that something is good, that’s about it. As it turns out, Bryson’s admiration for Australia resulted in a book that was less humorous and certainly not as entertaining as his previous works.
In the same way that Bryson could not do his usual acerbic shtick in “Downunder”, I’m having trouble writing about “Notes on a Scandal”. I liked it too much to pick it to bits. Continue reading
A Sorry End to Sorry Day
For those of you who are not up with our Australian news, yesterday, the 13th February, was the day that our Prime Minister said sorry to the aborigines for past grievances that they had endured. Continue reading
Not the Best and Brightest after all
I know that I have made fun of the imminent Talkfest of 1000 of our best and brightest going to Canberra to discuss ideas for the future of Australia. I suggested that the date of the 2-day Talkfest should be changed to April the First.
It now looks as if that might have been a better date than the end of April. As it turns out, the Talkfest clashes with the first two days of Passover so it looks as if Jews will not be able to attend. That is a serious mistake on Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd’s, part.
Never mind. The Jews will simply have to miss out on this auspicious occasion and in a way, Australia will have to make do with the offerings of other citizens. Can’t help thinking, though, that had this error of judgement been directed at the Muslims there would have been a few Aussie flags burned and several effigies of our Prime Minister would have been cut to shreds in the streets of Lakemba.
The organisers of the Talkfest should regard themselves as being very lucky indeed. I also suspect that when it comes to Muslim sensitivities Kevin Rudd would have quickly changed the date.
The Truth about “Suite Française”
Last year I wrote a sceptical review of “Suite Française” by Irene Nemirovsky which was not well received by readers from Amazon.com. In it I questioned whether the novel had any value as an account of the Holocaust. I am sticking to my claim and now I have support from a new publication about Nemirovsky. So it is with some vindication and a feeling of “I told you so” that I am now posting the original review which sparked an outrage in some circles. Continue reading
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