Newspapers in Denmark have recently reprinted the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad which caused controversy and violent protest in 2005 when they were published in Jyllands-Posten. This came about after the arrest on Tuesday of three people on charges of … Continue reading
In the air and space I’m too far apart Bright like a contrail that drifts in perfection But down inside my sadness it’s dark it’s cool and humid I remember anguish and the hard road My heart swells at your … Continue reading
There’s a natural tendency to idolize those we admire. If you’ve ever watched a child’s attention being drawn by any slightly older child in the vicinity you’ve seen the beginnings of it. Learning by emulation is built in. We quite … Continue reading
People think of the word “Anarchy†as meaning chaotic disorder, or else they confuse it with a sort of extreme libertarianism. The bomb throwing Bakunin or John Galt in a backwoods cabin. Neither view is wrong but I want to … Continue reading
There is a marvelous museum in Paris. So much so that I’m writing this postcard not as an analysis or some attempt at sociological insight, but simply as a fan. It’s the Musée des Arts et Métiers, and it was … Continue reading
Vienna is the most fantastic city for art. Its many museums, housed in magnificent palaces or outrageous and wonderful modern structures (KunstHaus Wien!) have at every turn the famous, the obscure-but-great, and in the end the just overwhelming. There is … Continue reading
Here in Vienna it is bitterly cold. I’m sure it would be worse if it were windy, or snowing more than the occasional icy flake, but it’s enough to be a palpable force – something each inhabitant must push against … Continue reading
Today I passed a hundred mountains; snow covered or with groves of olives and oranges. Some were rock and erosion, some wild, others bearing ancient hill towns or cut through by the tunnels of the autostrade. Each has a history, … Continue reading
This postcard was going to be about the old men of Italy, but it’s turned out to be first about communications and how we’ve come to take good infrastructure and easy access to information for granted. Several things happened at … Continue reading
Naples belongs in Asia rather than Europe. It’s narrow busy streets are exactly like Macau down to the washing hung out each window of the dirty tenements. But if the city is in the wrong continent, via Tribuniale on a … Continue reading
Rome is a beautiful, chaotic, dirty, wonderful, run-down, vibrant, and most of all historic city. You can walk for miles through twisted alleys filled with Vespa scooters, tobacconists, and cobblestones. You can also walk along miles of rather anonymous high … Continue reading
We ate potato pancakes, cabbage rolls, and stew. Drank wine. Tipped the waitress £10. The kids were overjoyed by the icecream. A smiling old lady, mostly blind, was helped to her table by her aged family. Two Polish girls at … Continue reading
Have you ever noticed that some places are teeming with a great variety of life, while others are featureless and boring? Think about a pond, which has 5 sorts of amphibians, countless dragonflies, beetles, snakes, fish, crabs, worms, eels… and … Continue reading
As some viners already know, I’m on holiday just at the moment, far from sunny summery Tasmania in the freezing uncharted wilds of Europe. But being addicted to NV means I can’t just be quiet for 6 weeks so I … Continue reading
Gunns Ltd is Australia’s largest forestry company, and one of the biggest in the world. It is proposing to construct a billion dollar Kraft bleached pulp mill, to process wood chips into the fibre board which is used by paper … Continue reading
In Paolo Coelho’s book The Alchemist, the protagonist is told that there is an emerald on which has been inscribed the meaning of life. Someone pointed out to me that this implies that the secret isn’t all that complicated, but … Continue reading
The wealthy waste our resources, corrupt our institutions, and distort social norms and expectations. From 3 quarks daily.
Turn off your MP3 Player and your phone. Take off your sunglasses. Close your computer. Remove any unnecessary coats and hats – you won’t get cold or sunburnt in the space of a few minutes. Now walk out into the … Continue reading
Cerridwen posted a seed today called Ethics of the in between which forced me to set some order to a whole mess of thinking I’ve been doing over a period of several years, about the difference between what you might … Continue reading
In 2006 the Tasmanian Government invited the Law Reform Institute of Tasmania to investigate how human rights could be best enshrined in law in Tasmania. I wrote about that here, and made a submission to the LRI’s inquiry as detailed … Continue reading