Historian and poet Robert Conquest was a communist in his early life until he saw the light. Light is the operative word. Communism, leftism more broadly, survives only in the shadow of ignorance. Apropos, Conquest’s first law: “Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.” Or, the version I like: “Everybody is reactionary on subjects he…

Mentioned it previously, busing again on Friday. To forestall infirmity and decrepitude I go to my club’s gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at about four in the afternoon. This means I can feel good about drinking when I come home. How do I manage on the other evenings? Good question. Just don’t feel as…

In September 2017, during the time of the postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage (SSM), I wrote a blog for Quadrant on corporate support for the proposal. Unsurprisingly, Alan Joyce figured prominently. My theme: Corporate entities are artifacts. They have no mind of their own. Yet Joyce reportedly said, “I think it is very important for…

What is the so-called ‘gap’? It’s the gap in wellbeing (across factors such as income, shelter, health, lifestyle) between those Aborigines living in circumstances offering no possibility of employment and everyone else. To present the gap as a difference between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians seriously mischaracterises the problem. And I suspect deliberately so. The Yes…

I am treasurer of my church. Most people now give via online banking but there is still cash and cheque giving on Sundays. I used to bank the offering each week but Westpac closed its local branch earlier this year, as did St George owned by Westpac some months before. Now, because I have to…

I see that the Voice of distraction and misdirection was at it again in the Weekend Australian. Chris Kenny lays bare the No campaigns “Hateful Eight” scare tactics. I can’t cover them all. Here are the first three. I’m sure you can as easily knock down the other five. According to Kenny, it is a…

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Important here to understand the thinking. If the government has an army, then it’s important that people have the power…

My grandmother’s mother was Irish, so I was told. If I’ve got the genealogical sum right, that makes me one-eighth Irish. If further proof is required, I have in my possession a green shirt and a green  jumper. Also, if its relevant, my mum Elsie was referred to by some as Aunty Elsie. Though, on…

Everyone more or less knows what LGBTQ stands for. Anything after Q is a different matter. I put a plus sign generally. Also I don’t quite know what Q adds when you already have L and G. There it is, my insights into the sexual-revolutionary world in which we now live is limited. However, I am…

Nobel Prize winner John Clauser was cancelled by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF is a woke imitation of its former self, as are all international bodies these days. Clauser got his prize for work on quantum entanglement. As I understand it, this is when electrons come together and then forever act as one however…