words matter
ON SALE AT APPLE BOOKS &
GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS
AUDIOBOOKS
Most movies I watch these days are disappointing. The Penguin Lessons is a rare exception. Set in Argentina in the 1970s, it tells a story of human pathos worthy of an association with an animal – a penguin in this case. Animals are far more trustworthy, I find, and deserving of greater respect than human beings in the majority of instances. The struggle for power by humans inside nation states is directly responsible for the deaths and damage done to millions of people. Argentina, back in the 1970s was in the grip of a fascist regime following the collapse of the Peronist government. Hyper inflation was rife and a police state existed, with anyone suspected of dissent being disappeared by bad men employed by the regime.
Book Review Culture Democracy Fresh Movie Politics
The Sydney Swans playing group, obviously, lack belief in what they are doing. Whatever head coach Dean Cox has been selling, they aint buying! It has been awful, as a longtime supporter, to watch the crumbling of this once great team. This rendition of the Swans AFL side has almost made it to the pinnacle twice. We all know about the disastrous grand final fails of 2022 and 2024. Now, however, the 2025 Cox coached Swans are sinking and will not even make the finals. So, what has gone so dreadfully wrong after the bright hopes at season beginning of a fresh start under longtime apprentice, the big fella, Dean Cox? Why is the team going backwards at a rate of knots?
Fresh Sport
Do you know why more people who go to universities, like Harvard and other higher education institutions, support things like diversity and human rights? It is because it is the more intelligent path forward for human beings. It is not smart to hang onto old enmities related to skin colour and religious differences. The consensus among academics and the majority of students at these places of learning is that the progressive political camp has the better ideas for humanity. Nationalism and starting trade wars are not going to be better for the planet. In fact, historically, they increase the likelihood of actual war breaking out, as it did following the introduction of US tariffs in the 1930s. People take stuff being done to them around money personally. It grates on them a great deal. Tariffs are an insult to the nation they are imposed upon.
Culture Democracy Economics Fresh Politics
AI is coming for your job. As someone who has just been replaced by an automated program this is real, let me tell you. In light of this it is pertinent to remember that Australia punishes the unemployed economically. It is bipartisan policy of Australian governments to provide below the poverty line welfare payments to the unemployed. This has been going on for decades and is one of the reasons why we have a substantial number of older Australians living in poverty. These folk cannot afford to visit the dentist to get treatment because it is too expensive and dental is not included in Medicare. This in one of the wealthiest nations on earth.
Do you find reading stuff to be a bit of a drag? Are you always on the look out for an easy hack? The bad news is that if you don’t exercise your brain function you will pay for it later on. Use it or lose it! Technology may seem great and so convenient, but it is dumbing us down and charging us for the service at the same time. Reading utilises different parts of the brain than watching videos. Processing the meaning of words and sentences makes you smarter and not the machine. Ruminating on important stuff via reading essays will make you wiser. Here are 5 good reasons why reading will save your brain.
There are those that blog and those that don’t. I would posit that there are many more non-bloggers out there than the dedicated and diligent keyboard artists. Here are 5 top reasons to blog. Writing is for many an undiscovered joy and a challenging chore, when they are forced to record their thoughts on screen in print. Many owners of websites outsource all the boring bits to poorly paid writers, who are, often, located in the third world. Now, of course AI can do all that too. Communication via the written word is, somehow, seen as arcane and not worth the effort. Which means that we have a lot of bad writing and poorly constructed sentences adorning the pages of the world wide web. However, despite this, blogging is the new medium for the essay.
If you were asked who sits atop the business/economic pyramid, who would you nominate? If you answered shareholders you would be correct. These investors are the owners of companies and businesses. CEOs and boards do everything in their power to increase the value of their companies. Often enriching themselves in the process, of course, via stock buybacks and such like. Consumers and company employees sit well down on the hierarchical ladder of importance these days. Keeping prices high and wages low are part and parcel of increasing the value of company stock. This economic greed is destroying our lives, as it is completely out of balance.
ON SALE AT APPLE BOOKS &
GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS
AUDIOBOOKS
In contravention of the AFL media’s obsession with star players, the art of coaching demands so much more than a roster of stars. Indeed, the mysteries of coaching AFL are on display for all to see throughout the season. Why is one team so good and another side so bad? The talking heads would like to make it all about the talent of the players in each squad but that is decidedly not the exclusive reason for success. In truth, the athletes playing AFL at this level are all very good, which is why they ended up on a playing list at an AFL club. Most of these young men have been playing footy for much of their short lives. They are remarkably talented with ball skills and have honed their physical endurance in readiness for the big leap to AFL standard.
Culture Fresh Media News Sport In contravention of the AFL media’s obsession with star players, the art of coaching demands so much more than a roster of stars. Indeed, the mysteries of coaching AFL are on display for all to see throughout the season. Why is one team so good and another side so bad? The talking heads would like to make it all about the talent of the players in each squad but that is decidedly not the exclusive reason for success. In truth, the athletes playing AFL at this level are all very good, which is why they ended up on a playing list at an AFL club. Most of these young men have been playing footy for much of their short lives. They are remarkably talented with ball skills and have honed their physical endurance in readiness for the big leap to AFL standard.
Culture Fresh Media News Sport
In contravention of the AFL media’s obsession with star players, the art of coaching demands so much more than a roster of stars. Indeed, the mysteries of coaching AFL are on display for all to see throughout the season. Why is one team so good and another side so bad? The talking heads would like to make it all about the talent of the players in each squad but that is decidedly not the exclusive reason for success. In truth, the athletes playing AFL at this level are all very good, which is why they ended up on a playing list at an AFL club. Most of these young men have been playing footy for much of their short lives. They are remarkably talented with ball skills and have honed their physical endurance in readiness for the big leap to AFL standard.
Culture Fresh Media News Sport
Here is an interesting fact. Support for One Nation is highest in areas where there are relatively few migrants living. Regional areas and outer suburban electorates, where the vast majority of populations are white bread. Why then do they go on about the issue of high levels of immigration in Australia? It is not actual lived experience. Could it be because they watch Sky News Australia and listen to reactionary shock jocks on the radio? Blaming immigrants, refugees and foreigners, more generally, is a right wing populist saw. Combine this with a general underlying racism inherited down through generations and you probably get what is really going on here. Pauline Hanson has been banging on about her white supremacist views for decades and now has Gina Rinehart to bankroll her hate speech infected perspective downunder.
Culture Economics Fresh Government Politics Power
PM Anthony Albanese was never going to stand up to the gas industry downunder. Weak leaders follow the power elite. They are content to see inequity and inequality flourish in this time of zombie neoliberalism. Nero fiddled whilst Rome burned or so the story goes. Governments do little these days but talk and let the markets run the show to the detriment of the working poor. We have a severe housing crisis and it is not getting any better. What is the government doing about it? Talking about it, but talk is cheap. They are not actually getting their hands dirty and getting into the game by building houses themselves. No, they are ineffectually encouraging private interests to do something about the housing crisis. The figures do not stack up in terms of meeting the challenge of new housing stock being built at the required rate.
Democracy Economics Fresh Government News Politics Power
I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
Culture Democracy Fresh Government Politics Power
Have a think back to when you were in a situation when words really mattered. I mean when your words were like life and death to your set of circumstances. The consequences were dire and what you said or communicated by email or text was […]
