Well, it’s official I am taking next semester off (without pay) in order to take a break from teaching for a while. Three semesters a year is pretty tough going as there is very little lead in/wind down time in between and teaching the same courses four semesters in a row gets to be repetitive […]

Following hot on the heels of Rich’s advice about this article by Imagethief responding to a question about how far any criticism of China could be taken in his blog is this article from Australian IT which states: A CHINESE government threat to close down unregistered websites has convinced just 430,000 to make themselves known […]

Mate, I do get your e-mails (as per your last one about Giang being in the local media) but I cannot reply to your aol address. For some reason my replies keep getting bounced back at me. I think that maybe aol addresses are blocked from this end as are yahoo ones. Register as a […]

This following link leads to a series of 14 “before & after” satellite images of the effects of the recent tsunami in Asia. Some images are not loading but most are quite breathtaking and it is easy to click back and forth between shots to gauge the damage done. #‘s 13 & 14 are, in […]

It seems as though the Islamic Defender’s Front is afraid of something, but where the fear stems from is not clear . Sad to think that in the midst of an humanitarian effort such as this, differences in religious viewpoints cannot be put to one side. One would hope that drinking of alcohol by Australian […]

Hebrew poem from 13th Century Spain - ‘If fear is a rock I am a hammer. If sorrow is a flame I am a sea. As the night darkens the moon grows brighter. As haters attack me my mind increases.’

Browse Happy is a site devoted to the comparison of Internet browsers, or to put it more bluntly, it is devoted to explaining why we should not be using Internet Explorer as our browser of choice. Until the recent release of Firefox I was using Opera as my main browser. I stress the word “main” […]

Why is it that as children we demand and expect unconditional love from our parents and are hurt and seemingly scarred for life if we perceive that we haven’t received it, and yet often we do not consider that our parents deserve the same sort of love?

Dear Rotarians, Wishing you a new year with beautiful moments, treasured memories, and all the happiness your heart can hold. Happy New Year! Chennai and other districts in our Tamil Nadu State, India had suffered from the Tsunami waves killing thousands in a flash and rendered 100 thousands homeless last week. I take this opportunity […]

This is from Gehan from Sri Lanka whom I met through the International RYLA convention in Brisbane last year. I got it via betseybee Dear RYLArians, As you must all be aware, Sri Lanka was very badly affected with over 5000 people dead (Still rising) and over 1 million people affected by Sunday’s un-expected Tsunami’s […]

...due to a sudden spate of comment spam I have had to resort to the tactic of asking people who wish to leave a comment to first register as a member. A pain in the butt I know and I’m sure that many people who wish to comment will not do so because of the […]

For a minute there the account for this site was suspended. Slight stuff up in the billing and payment area, no harm done.

So, the perpetrator of all of those e-mails from Nigeria asking us to take their millions in cash has been given “at least” four years in jail. That sounds good to me, he no doubt deserves it. But wait one! I’ve just finished reading Helen Garner’s book “Joe Cinque’s Consolation” where the girlfiend of Joe […]

We are spending a quiet Sunday at home recovering from two very late nights in a row and just finished watching the movie “Love Actually Is” on DVD. It reminded me very much of how much I miss giving and receiving hugs to and from those I love who are far away.

The death in Paris of the renowned thinker Jacques Derrida last Friday the 8th brings to an end a generation of French thinkers from the 1960’s and will further serve to exacerbate the points that Riding makes in this timely article. As societies dumb down and reality shows take over, facile pundits now overrule true […]