1. Night follows day.
2. Bears sh!t in the woods.
3. Politicians take you for fools.

Experience and logic demand that these axioms are accepted by us all; they are so obvious that evidence of their truth is surely not required.

Just in case though there remain any lingering doubts about the last of the above truisms, you need look no further for cast iron proof than the LNP’s current campaign against Labor’s proposed changes to the so-called ‘refunding’ of franking credits. Continue reading

The other day I had an epiphany. Through a series of bizarre and unlikely personal events I discovered that things which have always seemed obvious, black and white, beyond all reasonable doubt, may in fact not be so clear-cut after all. This was quite a painful and humbling experience.

It was on this said other day that my Facebook status, acting independently and with malice aforethought, updated itself to tell the world that I was visiting Hobart’s premier (ok, only) strip club, the Mens Gallery. Now I know what you are thinking – the Facebook status said you were at the Mens Gallery because you were at the Mens Gallery. That’s certainly what I’d think if I were you and you were the poor schmuck who’s social networking application is seemingly hell bent on trashing your reputation (such as it is). But as Richard Dawkins is my witness, I wasn’t there. Really. Continue reading

Let it not be said that I’m anything other than a committed, devoted supporter of ANZAC Day and all it stands for. Indeed, it is the very depth of that commitment that brings me to writing this piece. On the other hand, it is funny how the number of people who gush and bang on about remembering our heroes on ANZAC Day far exceeds the number that show up to the Dawn Service (impressive though the numbers that do are). Continue reading

I often wonder what sort of person actually supports Bob Katter. You don’t see them in the wine bar or coffee shop that’s for sure. The media generally portray him as a wacky eccentric, a bit of a harmless clown that no one does or should take too seriously. And fair enough, an intellectual giant he is not. I’ve always viewed him as I would a dodgy vindaloo – quite unpalatable and liable to give me a mild dose of the shits, but by and large of no real consequence to anything that actually matters in the world. Continue reading

My old mum always taught me not to be rude to people. ‘Treat others as you would have them treat you’, or something. I’ve always (mostly) tried to live by that golden rule, and don’t get me wrong, being nice to people can bring its own rewards; a warm inner glow, a pleasant smile, or a 10% discount. Sometimes however there are people in this world that take advantage of your better nature, preying upon your inner goodness in order to push their wonky barrow a bit further down the road to complete loopiness.

A few weeks ago my better half had a baby daughter. And what a wonderful experience that was! Hours of pain, stress, anxiety and sleeplessness culminating in the birth of a beautiful little girl (albeit one destined to bring years of further pain, stress, anxiety and sleeplessness). Little wonder then that after all those exertions we were so looking forward to that first precious evening together in the hospital room to allow us to recuperate and refresh our battered and weary bodies (my hand was particularly sore from all that squeezing during the latter stages), and to bond with our new acquisition. And very nicely it started out too … digital inventory was successfully completed, with the appropriate allocation of fingers and toes accounted for, eye colour determined (an uncommon and particularly stunning shade of blue), and a robust yet good natured debate about who had who’s nose and general head-shape. Which makes what happened next all the more s