My mind is unclear on this point. Grift means to obtain money illicitly. Satire is to expose foolishness using irony or humour. PLOS One has published a paper that is one or the other, but I genuinely can’t tell which.
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Laws or legislation?
I was prompted to pen a letter to the editor of the Australian Financial Review by a column in the weekend edition. The editor kindly published it.
Argentinian politics take an oxymoron turn
Oxymoron is a great word, amongst my favourites. As good as ‘transmogrify’ and ‘discombobulate’.
Continue readingBegging the question
Begging the question is one of those idioms in the English language that change meaning in front of our eyes.
Continue readingHP revival
If you are of a certain age with a predisposition to numbers, Hewlett Packard calculators are likely to conjure favourable memories.
The 12c for the actuaries, the 15c for engineers, the 41c for geeks who solved Rubik’s cube one handed behind their backs before breakfast.
In recent times, HP calculators deteriorated in quality to the point of unusability. The business outsourced manufacturing to China and the rest is history. Garbage came back with a bitter taste.
But, HP emulators are available from app stores. You can pay a tiny price and put a 41c on your phone, bypassing the horrendous lack of quality from Chinese hardware. It’s almost like old times.
HG Wells, blockchain and modern warfare
HG Wells, famous author, wrote The War of the Worlds about 125 years ago.
Continue readingExperts say
Scientists must be getting bored.
Continue readingWrong answer
The Australian newspaper online version is running a quiz to help readers determine which way they are leaning to vote in the upcoming Australian Voice referendum. (Ed note: wouldn’t they know that already?) 11 questions later, here is what I was told:
That big box ‘Try again’ suggests that I got the wrong answer.
New covid panic
If I told you that Covid restrictions were about to be re-invigorated, you would reasonably dismiss me as a looney. Right? Stay tuned.
The tectonic plates that drive world politics
Tectonic plates move continents, create mountains and cause earthquakes. They move slowly, generate enormous potential energy, then release that energy in occasional calamitous grinding shudders. The social equivalent of tectonic plates drive international politics and war. To understand the state of current international politics, you must first look at the social tectonic plates below the surface.
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Australian Actuary 