General Interest
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Wingnuts Away!
HECTOR’S DIARY in the Bali Advertiser Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2017 WHEN this diary was written, we were supposed to be in Provence, France. Specifically, we were supposed to be in the lovely lower Rhone Valley, at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. “We,” in this instance, means The Diary and the Distaff. That’s for any quibblers out there. We… Continue reading
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Statuary Declaration
HECTOR’S DIARY His regular diet of worms and other non-religious fare Candi Dasa, Bali Wednesday, Jun. 28, 2017 TEN days in the blissful zephyrs, beside the azure briny you get in the better parts of the archipelago, can do you a power of good. Such a break provides time to read books – or… Continue reading
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A Ridiculous Travesty
Bali, May 9, 2017 THERE are several things that can be said about the two-year jail sentence meted out to Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaya Purnama (Ahok) for his astoundingly correct but politically incautious observation that matters of religion are often subject to varying interpretations. One is that no one sentient would argue with his point.… Continue reading
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Capital Capers
HECTOR’S DIARY His diet of worms and other non-religious experiences The Cage, Bali Apr. 22, 2017 IT’S a shame that Basuki Tjahaya Purnama (Ahok) lost Wednesday’s ballot for mayor of Jakarta. He has shown a commitment to civic service that’s rare anywhere, but rarer still in Indonesia, where winning office is so often a licence… Continue reading
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Finding Refuge
Originally posted on The Global Goddess: ON a balmy Brisbane evening I am slouched under a magnificent tree, savouring a plate of colourful African fare and sipping a Tusker malt lager. There’s but a whisper of a wind on this hot summer evening, just enough to scatter the tree’s tiny white flowers onto the faded… Continue reading
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Hello, January
Originally posted on Lottie Nevin – The Red House Diaries: New Years Eve ? Despite my best intentions, the festive red knickers that I’d ear marked for last night’s celebrations never did make it out of the knicker draw. Neither did I get round to making the lentil stew and, worst of all, the lucky… Continue reading
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Passing Out Parade
He went to open an art show I’m just turning 72. I don’t expect short of an accidental interaction with Fate that I shall die particularly soon; but you’d have to be an incredible optimist to assume at that age that you’ll notch up anything like another seven decades. And you’d have to be… Continue reading
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Book Review: Cove
I shall take your advice and buy ‘Cove’. Tim Hannigan The first echo is there in the physical form of the book itself: a slender pinch of pages, little thicker than a floor tile; a thing to be handled carefully as if it might break, and to be read with a delicate dabbing, like eating… Continue reading
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On Hanson’s claims that women lie about sexual assault
Originally posted on No Place For Sheep: Michaelia Cash, Minister for Women, hugs Senator Pauline Hanson ? My default attitude to Pauline Hanson is that my life is too short to spend much time contemplating her, however, an interview on Sunrise (no, I’m not linking) in which she gloated about the Trump victory and sputteringly… Continue reading
8º of latitude 