Club Troppo

A photo titled Observer, of an East Timorese man at a market, taken by Joel Santos ... For a long-time observer of East Timor, last night's Four Corners program made compelling viewing. Liz Jackson presented pretty conclusive evidence that dismissed Interior Minister Rogerio L...

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One of the things that I've always liked about economic journalism is that it was putatively about some reality 'out there'. Political journalists and commentators often disappear into the endlessly self referential whirlpool of spin in which 'the perception is reality'. So it...

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On several occasions during my years in private legal practice, I observed the phenomenon of a company liquidator and his solicitors whose main goal appeared to be transferring the company's assets into their respective office accounts as quickly as possible. Of course, it's o...

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On Saturday I mentioned that our U21s beat NZ (21-17), for the second year running in the last round of pool matches, although unlike last year, NZ progress to the semis anyway, to play South Africa, who beat France (14-10) on Saturday as well. In their turn, the French are no...

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What a weird match! Yet wonderful because Australia were stronger, more creative and more organised and accordingly won , weird because the scrums were an odd battle until, without anyone at the ground understanding, they were no battle at all as England's props succumbed to i...

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I was walking in the Dandenongs with my kids the other day and told them of the extraordinary capacity of the lyrebird for imitating the sounds it hears in the bush (not much in the way of human speech unlike parrots). I don't know if they believed me about its virtuosity, but...

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The lefties over at Larva Rodeo have gone into a Henny Penny "sky is falling" frenzy ( here and here ) over the appointment of Keith Windschuttle to the ABC Board , joining Janet Albrechtsen and Ron Brunton as appointees seen by many on the Labor side as unacceptably partisan...

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It seems that happiness research, which I wrote about recently , has been going on for a very long time. I discovered this while blog browsing late yesterday. At the excellent new arts group blog Sarsaparilla I came across a reference to an anecdote at theatre critic Alison Cr...

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Speaking of equality of opportunity (which I was earlier today), occasional Troppo contributor and legendary economist Fred Argy gave an excellent speech on the subject (or more specifically, on social investment directed at enhancing social mobility, which amounts to the same...

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A bit of an experiment as I'm going to live blog the second State of Origin game. Can Queensland square the series and resurrect origin? Or while the mighty Blues achieve another series win? Settle in with a adult beverage of your choice and enjoy the ride over the fold. Pre g...

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A blog roundup is a type of post traditionally undertaken when you're bored and need a short break from the tedium of the working day, but are too lazy or lacking in inspiration to post anything original. Attention-seeking legal academic James McConvill appears to have done th...

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Australian Squad: I must say I think Connolly's forward picks are a little odd. Start with the front row: clearly (I think) Paul is on the bench because he has booked his flight to the RWC, but then does that mean that Baxter is also booked? I suspect it does. Now what about t...

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Hors d'Oeuvres of Australia have always been a particularly odd accoutrement to our national life. They were introduced as a bit of constitutional minimalism to convert the royal honours system into a more nationalistic system during Whitlam's time. But they still had the crow...

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I would wake up and thank God that I am not only a professional rugby coach but the coach of the potential triple-RWC champions. On that note, I would quickly down my morning nip before my thoughts went any further! As it is I am not he, and so I shall merely speculate as to w...

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'Unbelievable Win for the Socceroos' was how Michael Lynch of the SMH expressed it, and unbelievable was the exact word on my lips too when Tim Cahill's shot crashed off the post and back into the net, making the score 2-1. We couldn't find the game on any of our 35 TV chanels...

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Firstly, my thanks to Ken Parish for the offer to post rugby reviews here. As someone with a more than middling interest in the game, I am delighted to try my hand. In case I might lack any incentive, I have the luck to be starting at a really crucial and fascinating period fo...

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World Cup is of and running, and with the opening games we have already had a taste of some of the teams from around globe, which has sent body-clocks adjusting to a new form of nocturnal existence as thousands of viewers patiently wade through the early hours of mornings hopi...

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Round 14 sees the top eight starting to firm up and makes a good time to give a mid season report card on all clubs and even go out on a limb with the likely grand finalists. If the first 14 rounds are a guide, to make such a prediction this far out is fraught with danger but...

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Some good lines, courtesy of Tim Harkowitz . If there is no self, whose arthritis is this? Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated? There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was th...

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Courtesy of Slashdot, here is a picture of Jupiter with the two most perfect storms in the solar system heading towards one another. This is what is reported on the NASA website. Storm #1 is the Great Red Spot, twice as wide as Earth itself, with winds blowing 350 mph. The beh...

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