Neither Prime Minister Rudd nor Opposition Leader Abbot sponsor policies that deal adequately with climate change challenges. Inevitably, the politics of funding gets in the way. A Eureka Street article by Peter Hodge points to a possible solution called the “Tobin Tax” – a tax on foreign currency transactions. “Set at a tiny 0.005 perContinue reading “Taxing against Climate Change”
Category Archives: international politics
Movie Review: Frost/Nixon
I was in my early twenties during the Nixon years, and being half a world away, was only vaguely aware of the implications of the Watergate scandal. Thirty years later, having viewed Frost/Nixon, I recognise having gained a certain amount of understanding through hindsight. The film takes some dramatic license as it describes some behind the scenesContinue reading “Movie Review: Frost/Nixon”
A quick lesson on how the Stock Exchange works
I’ve seen this before, but it seems the time is right to put it out there again. Once upon a time, in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest andContinue reading “A quick lesson on how the Stock Exchange works”
Wall Street – bankruptcy over bailout
OK, having owned up to my own sense of economic bewilderment and yet a gut feeling that congress made the right decision when it denied a $700 billion bailout, I’ve found an article that makes sense to me. (Click here). It clearly advocates bankruptcy over bailout. I think it’s right because it’s an honest acknowledgement ofContinue reading “Wall Street – bankruptcy over bailout”
The Visitor – more movie dipping
They told me I should see this one. So I did. The Visitor certainly evoked memories from not so distant times when folk from my church and I sat through tribunals, negotiaited immigration interviews and confronted officialdom on behalf of “illegal immigrants,” otherwise deemed by the international community to be legitimate refugees entitled to protection underContinue reading “The Visitor – more movie dipping”
Book Review: There, Where the Pepper Grows
Bem Le Hunte, There, Where the Pepper Grows, (HarperCollins, 2005) is a compelling read, tracing the story told by protagonist Benjamin, a Polish Jew who, fleeing Nazi occupation with wife and childhood sweetheart (circumstances of wartime survival inform us these are not the same person), ends up in Calcutta. Here, with attendant complications, they make theirContinue reading “Book Review: There, Where the Pepper Grows”
Where The Sea Takes Us
We first met the author of this book, Kim Huynh, when he was two years old. It was at the Canberra domestic air terminal and Kim’s family had just arrived from a refugee camp – tired, somewhat bewildered, but excited and ready to make a go of things. That’s a whole other story than whatContinue reading “Where The Sea Takes Us”
Wondering Pilgrim 