Encourage cricket in Indonesia
The demise of the West Indies is rather sad, really. They were the dominant cricket power when I was a boy; today they’re a rabble.
Peter Roebuck has suggested they may be better off forming national sides based on their countries, eg Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, etc.
If they can’t get their act together as a confederation that may be the way to go.
There are only four top-rung nations at the moment: Australia, England, South Africa and India.
The second rung comprises Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies. (more…)
Economic advice from Russia
I thought Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had every right to lecture the west at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
I can imagine what former Soviet leaders might have said about the near collapse of capitalism in the past six months.
In that context, Putin was remarkably restrained. (more…)
Carstensz Pyramid
I learnt something today. Carstensz Pyramid is the highest mountain in Oceania at 16,023 feet.
It’s only four degrees south of the equator in West Papua, but has several glaciers and is the only region of Indonesia where snow falls.
In Australia we don’t think enough beyond our own country when it comes to the continent.
Geographers consider Papua New Guinea and West Papua as part of our continent, but we know so little about them. (more…)
Boycott Beijing
Beijing should never have been chosen to host the 2008 Olympics. China has a repressive society. It’s a one-party state which kills opponents to the government. Catholics are persecuted.
There are many corrupt and despotic regimes in the world today, such as Zimbabwe and North Korea, but China is the biggest.
I don’t envy the Chinese government in holding together such a vast country with so many people and an inequitable distribution of resources. That enormous challenge warrants some leeway in how we respond to internal governance issues.
However, there is no excuse for Chinese expansion into Tibet. The world should send a loud message to China that Tibet is a sovereign nation entitled to self-determination. The influx of Chinese workers is similar to the Soviet influx of Russians to the Baltic states.
Many western countries, including some Australian sports, boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
It’s appropriate we should consider Chinese behavior in Tibet in the same context. To participate in the Beijing Olympics will give legitimacy to an evil regime. Reflect on Berlin 1936.
Charles’ heir record
Prince Charles has set a new record as the longest heir in waiting for a world monarchy, notching up a record 59 years and 74 days in his wait to be King of Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Charles has surpassed the previous record set by Edward VII when he finally succeeded Queen Victoria to the throne in 1901.
That’s a tough gig, enough to make anyone start talking to flowers.
Unlike some others though, I think Charles will make a good King. He’s not afraid to get involved with social issues and he seems to have a genuine sense of compassion.
Critics will point to his failed marriage and quirkiness. I say he’s human, and unlike most other humans, he’s well trained for the role he will inherit.
Restaurant rage
I produced the “world news” page for the Kalgoorlie Miner recently and came across the “Hooters shooter” incident while browsing AAP.
In brief, a disgruntled diner started firing at the building with a handgun and killed a person.
I’ve been unhappy with restaurants before, but never to the point of violence. My biggest grips are slow service and the steak not being cooked right.
It’s like road rage. I get cross sometimes, but can’t imagine I would ever want to thump someone over a motoring incident.
Why do some people react to adverse situations with violence?
And how can a restaurant chain be called Hooters?
The only more ridiculous name I’ve come across is Wimpies in South Africa.
Vale Ian Smith
The world lost a significant man today. I won’t call him a great man, even though I believe him to be one, because there is too much controversy surrounding him, and in terms of greatness, he failed his mission.
Ian Smith was a war veteran who led his country of Rhodesia through what many thought were its most turbulent years.
As the architect of UDI (the unilateral declaration of independence) he gave Southern Rhodesia the sovereignty which had been its constitutional right years earlier.
Many people forget that Rhodesia could have had independence or union with South Africa, except for some intransigence and historical quirks which linked it temporarily in the 1950s with modern Zambia and Malawi instead.
