This year has seen two big (and plenty of small) spy scandals. At present there is the murder by the Saudi government of a Saudi journalist in their embassy in Turkey by a large number of spies and assassins. Then there was the Russian murder of an ex-Russian spy in England by a much smaller … [Read more…]
Do you sometimes get the feeling that everything is changing? If you think back over the last couple of years, there are all sorts of things that are changing. We are constantly told, and can see, that a Trump presidency in the USA is changing the way diplomacy is conducted. We are seeing it change … [Read more…]
One of the things that consistently annoys me is the absolute focus – to the exclusion of pretty much all else – that some Christians have on what is happening in Israel and the Middle East. There are conventions, speakers, tours, and a seemingly unending focus on this topic on some Christian radio stations. All … [Read more…]
There is a big difference between being something, and doing something. It might be the difference between doing something as a hobby, and actually being someone who is something. For example, I may have farm animals (chickens) in my back yard, and feed them and collect the eggs, maintain their enclosure, but that doesn’t make … [Read more…]
There was a story in the paper this week, about “the High Court being asked to decide whether sperm donors who intend to be involved as fathers, and are known to their biological offspring as dads, should be recognised as legal parents”. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/high-court-test-case-on-sperm-donor-who-helped-raise-child/news-story/98f6ec9e2166827068984e3fe7d21874 Did you get that? We’ve reached the point where it is getting too … [Read more…]
This last week there was another little rumble about Israel Folau. Once again there are people complaining about the ‘homophobic’ links he is posting, about his ‘preaching’, how he does this in defiance of Rugby Australia, and how he should stop it. I went to the trouble of watching the YouTube link to the talk … [Read more…]
It has become pretty fashionable to talk about learning to forgive yourself, or learning to love yourself. I wonder if you have heard that, or maybe even said that yourself. Not to put too find a point on it, I think that these expressions are some of the most self-absorbed non-sense that it is possible … [Read more…]
We’ve just had a cold wet week (about to become a very hot weekend) in the middle of harvest. Which means that harvest stops, the condition of the crops may deteriorate, volumes reduce, and the return for the year’s work diminish. These are the realities of farming, and when these things happen, it produces a … [Read more…]
This is something which our culture is increasingly providing schizophrenic answers to. On the one hand we have organisations like Beyond Blue which help depressed people see that life contains hope, we put huge efforts into suicide prevention (particularly targeting vulnerable groups), and we are constantly being told how wonderful everyone is and how there … [Read more…]
A happy family photo where you can see joy on people’s faces. It often comes about from a special event, or a special holiday. I love seeing joy on the kids faces still, especially so in the every day things we do. Jokes. Funny stories. Looking at something special that crosses our paths in the … [Read more…]