Musings

…No Hope

2nd November 2023. A quick glance around the globe, interminable wars, a dying planet unable to sustain life, never ending ignorance , greed and stupidity. If it so happens we are the only intelligent life in our galaxy of a billion stars and planets what a crying shame that when we go due to our own stupidity there will only be silence..forever. Armageddon was yesterday – today we have a serious problem

…Mindless Media

13th August 2023. It’s not just the individual stupidities which have become inexcusable, such as platforms repeatedly given to climate deniers. It’s the anti intellectualism, the hostility to new ideas. It’s the absence of moral seriousness. It’s the vacuous gossip about celebrities and consumables which takes over the conversation which takes precedence over the survival of the earth. It’s the obsession with generating noise. It’s the endless promotion of the views of the most selfish and antisocial and the exclusion of those trying to defend us from catastrophe. ‘ The media is the right arm of anarchy’

…Financial fools

9th August 2023. The financial illiteracy of our youth is appalling. An indictment of an education system with priorities in the wrong direction. Any kid leaving high school without a knowledge of basic accounting, investment, tax etc are setting themselves up for failure. ‘ Debt is one person’s liability, but another person’s asset’.

…Flight of fancy

5th August 2023. The world is awash with aircraft as that small percentage of the population who regularly use aircraft hasten the globe to its doom. Total global aircraft emissions are about equal to global power station emissions and let’s not talk about noise and health issues. The penny is dropping. The UK has determined that the nett outflow of wealth due to aviation exceeds the inflow and that the average airport puts out the same emission quantity as four coal fired power stations. ‘ What’s that goat doing in this cloud’

…Nitrogen

My new thriller soon to be released. Tired of boring ‘same old theme, written by 6th graders’ books which currently infect the marketplace. Want some great reading for that rainy weekend where your intellect can have a rest and your mind can roam around my settings. My books are scattered around Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc (Nitrogen coming in the next month)

…Out in the cold

3rd July 2023. Massive distortions in the property market in Australia have left thousands without adequate accommodation. The solutions probably are tied up with reduction in investor tax benefits, reduction in overseas investors in Australian Property, reduction in immigration, tax penalties for vacant properties, tax review of AirBnB, and a cap on rents. ‘Buy land – they are not making it anymore’

…Hot Property

28th April 2003. I see Singapore is levying super taxes in the way of stamp duties to 60% to curb overseas buyers ( mainly Chinese) from distorting its property market. It is about time some politicians in OZ did the same so our young people have a place to live. ‘Landlords grow rich in their sleep’

..The curse of the drinking classes

24th April 2023. Any body with half a brain can see the pattern of knowledge work changing to remote work. The plunging commercial property prices are indicative of this change. The distinct cost savings and advantages of working remotely are too obvious to be ignored save for those trying to prop up cities which have lost their raison d’etre. “Doing nothing is very hard to do… you never know when you’re finished.” 

…Little Interest

8th April 2023. Quite a few years of observing financial markets has indicated to me that you can have either reasonably high interest rates about 6% or you can have inflation. To those living in a fools paradise of low interest rates in recent years and making long term investment decisions based on low rates, I have little sympathy. ‘The only difference between a rich person and a poor person is how they use their time‘

..I have repeated this post every 5 years …nothing much changes

26th March 2023. I sense the same feeling in people as I feel myself in the commencement of this year. A matter of fundamental rights and principles, a backlash to the last 15 years of erosion of human rights in the name of the ‘war on terror’…. to the spending of kazillions on arms, while many starve to death or die of treatable disease….. to the corporatisation of sport and its sell out to big gambling, to the perversion and monopolisation of the traditional media….to the politicians, corrupt and honest,with their self serving obscene pensions and benefits,to Big mining,the Big Pharmas,the Corporate Barons with their tame remuneration companies,arms traders and drug lords; a backlash to greed and corruption in all its forms and guises, disgust and disillusionment on a massive scale.