I’ve recently gone from being a PAYG taxpayer (pay tax quarterly, generally get an interest free loan from the tax office for six months for your tax, but in charge of making sure you pay the right amount of tax) to being a PAYE taxpayer (tax is deducted from myContinue Reading
I went to a fantastic playground on the weekend that I’d not been to before, which made me wonder – what do you need in an ideal playground? For me, you need: a pretty big space for running around with a ball either a fence, or a big area whichContinue Reading
The world press has faithfully reported another milestone in older mothers – Britain’s oldest mother at the age of 63. She’s 7 months pregnant with a donor egg. The articles are all full of disapproval of how someone can become a mother at that age – a small section onContinue Reading
I’d really like to write a thoughtful post about healthcare. I’m too tired, tonight, though. So I’ll just point you to a few US links. Stayin’ Alive has an excellent series on what health insurance is, and why it’s a misnomer to call it insurance. Half Changed World has aContinue Reading
I was watching re-runs of The West Wing last night, and much of the plot revolved around Toby Ziegler, and the fact that he was born in 1954. My uncle Richard was born in 1954. He was only half a generation older than me – my mother’s much younger brother.Continue Reading
This week’s book review is The Men who Stare at Goats, by Jon Ronson. It’s hard to tell what to think about this book. Ronson is a UK journalist (for the Guardian), who investigates the US military’s dabblings in alternative culture and the paranormal over the years; or at leastContinue Reading
There has been a rash of articles this year talking about Anzac Day and how it has become Australia’s national day. My grandfather was an Anzac (a New Zealander – this has never been just about Australians). He wasn’t at Gallipolli, but he spent a few pretty horrible years inContinue Reading
50% of Kathmandu, the clothing company, has just been sold by the founder, Jan Cameron. It made me ponder, in fashion week, just how snobby the fashion press is. Fashion week press is usually accompanied by articles about how Australian designers are just about to make it overseas, and isn’tContinue Reading
I’ve just had another idyllic Sydney day – a bushwalk by the harbour this morning, followed by a relaxing coffee in the sunshine – all brought to you by global warming. It used to be that this time of year in Sydney was colder and wetter than the average now.Continue Reading
This week’s book review is Nowhere People, by Henry Reynolds. Henry Reynolds is probably Australia’s most prominent exponent of what its opponents call the “Black Armband” school of colonial history. The Black Armband school of history (as contrasted by its originator, Geoffrey Blainey, with the “three cheers” school of history)Continue Reading