I alluded in an ealier blog entry to the fact that far too few academics participate in public discourse. One problem is that such activity is either actively discouraged or at best only half-heartedly supported by their institutions and colleagues (I recall an American professor I knew saying that this lack of support for outspoken […]

It’s a pity that our film industry appears to be constructed around our losers rather than our winners, and that it’s so parochial it can’t see that its future lies as part of the larger English language culture, not some provincial creek.

It comes as no surprise that the Coalition have targetted Mark Latham’s past, even comparing him unfavorably with ‘Boozer’ Bartlett. Latham has had an interesting time, and like most of us, he’s made mistakes. The less you experience of life, the fewer mistakes you’ll make. The trick is to learn from your mistakes and move […]

I’ve got a soft spot for the Democrats – I think what they were trying to do was a legitimate experiment in Oz politics. But with all the structural change that has hit them, like the rise of One Nation and the Greens, it seems to be a lack of discipline by their own pollies […]

I’ve just finished a long decade working as an academic. I’ve been very successful in my teaching and research, even being awarded a special university medal a few years back for my efforts. More importantly, personal and professional feedback from my students told me that my efforts have paid dividends for them. But I’m completely […]

Last night’s last Lateline for the year was a funny one. Here was Grahame Morris (ex-Howard staffer) waxing enthusiastic about the new Labor leader and Michael Costello (ex-Beazley staffer) being pretty negative. Is this indicative of the new uncertainties that go with this untried and complex new leader, or was Morris in particular being a […]

One of the more disturbing aspects of the constant development of new technology that underlies our increasingly global civilisation is the tendency it creates in some people to see all problems in technical terms and all solutions in new technology. Hence the ballistic missile defence system that Australia has just signed up to. By the […]

Although we will see how much leadership changes Mark Latham’s views, on the surface of it we now have two political leaders who assume that a new era of market-based social realtions is upon us. As such they both focus on the most salient politcal (or at least electoral) aspect of this condition, the so-called […]

Not that the demise of Southern Pacific means there is no future for the shale oil deposits themselves. This article puts the case that we are rapidly running out of economic stores of liquid fossil fuels, and if it is correct that means that the price of reserves of these fuels, including oil shale, will soar.

Mark Latham’s first job is to disavow all those interesting things he said before the gravitas of leadership transformed him. Like Howard being an arselicker and Bush being flaky. Funny thing, of course, is that his forthrightness – such a change from the usual banal polly-speak – seems to strike a cord with many Australians […]