Why even ask? In as much as minority groups have been oppressed (be they based on ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation), advocacy is a healthy thing — for them and the broader society they live in — because any one of those not in the minority group have the potential to become a…

This is a great year to try the Fixed Calendar because the week days are the same, so conversion is easy (this only happens once every 11 years). Feel free to copy and use my conversion calendar. Reduce waste and mistakes caused by our irregular Gregorian Calendar. Originally published at http://equanimity.blog on January 2, 2023.

If we don’t pull our heads in, we’re doomed. If we do, the future is bright. WHEN I WAS TEACHING in Japan 20 years ago, one of my students introduced me to The Three Great Humiliations of Man [sic] in an essay I’d assigned. I was so impressed by her powerful choice of plagiarism, that I passed it with flying colours. Incidentally, I stopped using the…

It is common to refer to the Aboriginal presence on the Australian continent as the ‘oldest civilization’ on Earth. This is well-meaning, but an unnecessary exaggeration. The word ‘civilization’ comes from the word ‘civil’, or ‘civic’, meaning ‘city’. Relations between Aborigines and Anglo Celts have been tumultuous, to say the…

I've been looking into this recently and discussed it with Trevor Birrell (Renew Qld). Community Batteries are a reality in Europe, but only on trial in Perth, according to my information. Do you have any further you can add that might help me start the process of installing a community battery in my neighbourhood, Kevin? This is the only link I've found so far: https://arena.gov.au/knowledge-bank/implementing-community-scale-batteries/

Five days to Election Day, the top issues reveal something about the state of the nation. Polls and Surveys A cross-section of media polling and surveys paint a picture of Australian voters concerned about climate change, cost of living and the economy in that order ( ABC Vote Compass, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald). Integrity and health/aged care are close runner-ups. These results are weighted across party lines and…

Let the impulsive make the first mistakes. The Chinese will learn from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, just as they have from the USSR’s collapse. Vladimir Putin has gotten over-confident and impatient. …

Rationale It might be said that if justice were free, everyone would be in the courts litigating. But in Australia, for example, essential medical attention is free (we call it Medicare) and it hasn’t turned everyone into hypochondriacs. …

A brief history of 20th Century Germany. What was going on in Rudolf Hess’ mind in his final years? Was he haunted? He committed suicide aged 93 in 1987 in Spandau Prison in West Berlin. TV documentaries about the Nazis and their atrocities are peculiarly commonplace and popular even today. These documentaries understandably demonize the inhumanity of…