How a Battle Invented a Nation Every country chooses a defining moment in the history of their armed forces in representing their soldier’s skill at arms and strength of national character. In the Armed Forces of the United States they have several such battles, all rightfully earned. Their martial traditions go back to the Revolutionary Wars…

Chang Mai at the outset of the Coronavirus We touched down at Chang Mai just before midnight on 17 January 2020. This was a much anticipated trip, and had been several years in the planning. …

Breaking a vow to not mention this place — ever. Every travel writer has a favourite secret little place that they’d rather jump off a cliff than share it with the general public. That’s not exactly true, most writers have a few such places, or at least a couple that…

Things are not what they were. Believe me, there are plenty of negatives after entering into your sixth decade of existence. One is that you often get written-off as a typical baby boomer when you are anything but. For instance, I care a lot about climate change. I grieve for…

The Australian Labor Party is currently dwelling in a deep, deep hole. Labor submergence is not a recent development. The ground was first broken in 1996 with the loss of the Keating government. Ever since that loss the ALP have been furiously digging ever deeper and not understanding the confounding…

A taxi trip through tragedy There was a short toot outside our apartment indicating that the black cab was here to whisk us away into history. We had arrived in Northern Ireland the day before, having spent three days in Dublin. Belfast city was quite different to Dublin, almost English…

You think that marathon running was only a freak Olympic sport? Ever wondered what it would be like to be hunted? It would be a tough gig, huh? Humans do not have tough hides. We do not have sharp claws, massive jaws nor vicious sets of teeth. We are not…