On:
In: Work and life

I went to the soccer last night. It was fantastic. I am so glad I was there. I made a vow after the Sydney Olympics that I would go to world class sport if it was ever in Sydney. Almost immediately, I got pregnant, and changed focus. But it’s remindedContinue Reading

On:
In: Parenting

Jody at Raising WEG has a great post about the relationship between children and society as a whole (sparked by a storm in a coffee cup in Chicago). It prompted me to try to find some research I’d read a while back about cultural differences in society’s attitude to children.Continue Reading

On:
In: Book Reviews

This week’s book review is The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki. I remember a friend getting very annoyed with one of those “management training” exercises designed to prove that eight headsContinue Reading

On:
In: Education

There’s an opinion piece in the SMH today from Michael Duffy that really has my blood boiling. The thrust of his piece is that the combination of the last 20 years of emphasis in our immigration intake of Asians, and the much greater educational ability and aspirations of those AsiansContinue Reading

On:
In: Feminism, Parenting

I’m the main breadwinner in our family. My husband, E, takes care of our boys, and is also on our local council (which is a part-time, mainly evening, role). I’ve been wondering what impact that has on our boys’ understanding of the role of gender in our society. Neither ofContinue Reading

On:
In: Economics, Feminism, Parenting

Rebel Dad loves to collect statistics on stay at home dads (in the US of course). Elizabeth at Half Changed World joined in with some income analysis. I found an interesting Australian survey, mostly about childcare. A table at the back shows the hours of work of mothers and fathers,Continue Reading

On:
In: Health care

Atul Gawande recently wrote in the New Yorker about standards of medical care, in an article entitled the Bell Curve. I couldn’t find the article on line, but here is some Q&A about it. The thrust of the article is grappling with the issue that some doctors and care centresContinue Reading

On:
In: Feminism, Work and life

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m the breadwinner in our family. My husband stays at home and looks after the kids. So while I’ve got an impressive corporate job, I sometimes wonder whether I am advancing the cause of women and families generally in the workplace. Have I just bought intoContinue Reading

On:
In: Work and life

I’ve been too depressed about the new anti-terror laws to seriously read them and try and understand them (not to mention not being a lawyer). But as far as I can tell, the main arguments boil down to: Government – trust us we will only ever use these laws againstContinue Reading