I am a regular Joe. I don't sing in a famous band. I am not a football star. I do not have a million dollar business I built up myself through cunning and determination. I am not a brilliant researcher with multiple publications to my name and a professorship at a reputable institution in my field. I don't even own my own car. Strangers don't know my name unless I tell them. Most of them, come to think of it, don't particularly want to be told eit...

Now that I have lived as an expat for a total of 1 year 8 months in two countries (Cambodia and Kuwait), it's time to reflect on the country I come from. Part 1 of this two part series is about the genocide of Australian Aboriginals. Part 2 will be about alcohol driven violence amongst Australia's youth, the cause of a few deaths during 2013/14 new year celebrations. The main form of research I did for Part 1 was to watch John Pilger's latest document...

Now that I have lived as an expat for a total of 1 year 8 months in two countries (Cambodia and Kuwait), it's time to reflect on the country I come from. Part 1 of this two part series was about the genocide of Australian Aboriginals. Part 2 is about alcohol driven violence among Australia's youth, the cause of a few deaths during 2013/14 new year celebrations. ___________________________________________________The 2013/14 new year celebrations were marr...

My two favorite films are Being There, starring Peter Sellers, and Network starring many including Peter Finch. They are both old, and I like that. Anyway, here is the script of Being There. Now onto what this post is about. What on earth does an expat living in Kuwait, an Australian, think he is doing commenting on the situation in Lebanon? Well, I went there 3 times in October and November 2013. I did part of the beautiful Lebanon Mountain Trail. I met a lot of...

I visited 4 places in Tehran:Carpet Museum A rug merchantNiavaran Palace ComplexDarband valley/river areaIt was a lovely city. There were even bike paths, as you can see in a couple of photos from my 8km walk around the city on the night of the 27th. For me the bike paths, a very simple thing, were one of the biggest signs to me that this is country is not in the Axis of Evil. Bike paths, painted green, delineated by yellow lines either side with the internation...