to 2353: Too many
The unclued lights are (too many) TV COOKS, individually at 18, 21 and 28, and paired at 25/13, 27/1A, 30D/10…
Uganda is saving its gorillas – but there’s a human cost
I’m currently in Africa, about to go gorilla trekking in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a large primeval forest located in…
Could an Owl make video conferencing take off?
When I was ten, the two things we all expected to enjoy by 2020 were flying cars and videotelephony. What…
Dear Mary: My new boyfriend is too short. Can I make him wear shoe lifts?
Q. An acquaintance, whom I admire but don’t know well, sent me a ‘begging’ letter to donate to a charity…
Put your trust in Hungarian wine (yes, really)
The wines of Tokaji run like a golden thread through Hungarian history. There are references to their nectar-like quality in…
When is an aubergine not an ‘aubergine’?
In the warm weather, I had an al fresco hit with my mad-apple bruschette. Mad-apple shows the tangle to which…
Australia, a failing state
According to the UN’s definition, ‘failed states’ are political entities that demonstrate little or no ability to provide their citizens…
Australian notes
Bank robbery I am a reformed, recidivist bank robber. I did it the old-fashioned way; by storming into a bank…
Menzies, the banks and Liddell
The appalling behaviour of the banks and insurance companies, exposed in testimony to the banking Royal Commission, is nothing new.…
Kiwi diary
New Zealand has lived up to its reputation as the Land Of The Long White Cloud. Correction. It surpasses that…
Simon Collins
I wonder if Malcolm Turnbull has found time yet to see Armando Innuccio’s new film The Death of Stalin? I…
Whatever happened to conservation?
When I was a pre-schooler my mother enrolled me in the WA Junior Naturalists’ Club. We met in a basement…
Cut!
The Australian screen industry’s recent ‘Make it Australian’ campaign – complete with petition signed by local heavyweights like Cate Blanchett…
Zhe who must be obeyed
In the memorable words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (no, students, you’ll have to Google him, old white guy with a…
Brown study
I know that Dr Tim Soutphommasane, our Race Commissioner, has been maligned in certain quarters, but I want to thank…
The Firebird – choreography by Liam Scarlett
Not every young Artistic Director writes a best-selling memoir that is made into a successful feature film. Mao’s Last Dancer…
Act on rogue bankers, PM
Malcolm Turnbull’s contortions over the banking royal commission highlight the Prime Minister being so right yet so wrong. His government…
What happens when the government decides you should die?
There is currently no greater example of a government that has become too big for its people, than the case…
Their ABC: what a joke
You know that things over at the ABC are getting really desperate when they give people like Tom Ballard—Australia’s most…
NDIS: When will the other shoe drop?
In announcing today that — way hey! — the Turnbull government now has a revenue windfall to fully fund the…
Incel and the perilous politics of terrorism
Incel: if you hadn’t heard of this alarming group before the horrendous Toronto attack, you will surely have heard about…
The tax cuts menu
With the Turnbull government raising expectations of personal income tax cuts in the forthcoming budget, the question is whether it…
Unions, change yourself first
ACTU secretary Sally McManus has launched the national unions’ pre-election Change the Rules campaign with the ambition to be the…
Will whinging identity politics kill the Greens?
Identity politics is a corrosive ideology that will create division and hostility if it’s allowed to take hold – as…
