Olympic Lessons
Like most people, my interest in sports like swimming, high jump, and canoeing, to name but three, increases for the two weeks of the Olympics. There is something that touches us about seeing people who excel at what they do. Regardless of whether it is winning gold...
Questions Not Beliefs
As Led Zeppelin said “you know sometimes words have two meanings” Words do mean different things to different people. The dictionary defines science as “…knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation, experimentation and systematic study”. It...
Keep It Simple
Winter is coming in the southern hemisphere. In fact, it has arrived early in some parts with record cold, rain and even snow in May. It will come as a surprise to experts, bureaucrats, and politicians (but not regular readers here) that in winter there are an...
The Lost And Found
Let’s start by rewinding about a year. Lockdowns were imposed as temporary measures to “flatten the curve”. This was to enable health systems to cope with cases as they arose – not to end up with no cases. Australia had such remarkable success in its quest that the...
Good News – Take Two!
Last month I wrote about good news not getting much airplay. The other issue which gets lost in media hype and political hyperbole is perspective. In 2017 there were 56 million deaths around the world. That number may have been slightly different in 2020 but would be...
“It’s Good News Week”
The media knows that bad news sells. Rolling coverage of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and, of course, more recently Covid 19 makes people more likely to buy newspapers (yes, they still exist) or consume news electronically or online and maybe even pay for some...
Stop Being A Doormat
Do you let your partner, family, friends and work colleagues walk all over you? Are other people taking advantage of your kind giving nature? Is it time you stopped bending over backwards to please others? Tired of being a doormat? How Important Are You? Think...
Ongoing Interesting Times
The old Chinese saying about living in interesting times continues to be apt in 2021. At time of writing different countries and even states or regions within countries have different approaches to Covid 19. There are currently eight vaccines at variable stages of...
What Have We Learned?
As I write this last column for 2020, the words of the late John Lennon come to mind; “So this is Christmas And what have you done? Another year over A new one just begun” Last week marked the 40th anniversary of his tragic death by homicide. Where has that time gone...
Try Not To Doubt Yourself
As a step parent, doubting yourself and feeling sick either just before your stepchildren come over or just after they leave is not uncommon. Most people are driven from a place of goodness and ideals. But such dreams and situations are sometimes shattered by...
The Public Has Spoken On Vaping Laws
In this modern age, petitions which legally require people to sign a piece of paper seem archaic. They are also difficult to organise. Yet on November 26, I was proud to hand over to Aaron Stonehouse MLC a petition to the West Australian parliament calling for the...
7 Dire Relationship Sins (and How to Avoid them)!
Do you wish you could avoid arguments in your relationship? Is your partner pushing your buttons and making you angry, frustrated, jealous or annoyed? Are you guilty of any of these 7 dire relationship sins? With people spending more time at home together, it is...