Backup

When Trump first appeared on the scene and started the bullshit he was prone to perpetuate, the whole world was shocked. Regardless of how blatant they were, previous politicians had never displayed the kind of appalling behaviour that is characteristic of Trump's brand. Years on, the world is still trying to grapple with the fallout of this new madness. In living memory, there has never been anyone who would broadcast empty and inflammatory statements to the world without the support of any facts. Even when he is caught out by being shown previous recordings of what literally came out of his own mouth, he just shakes those off as 'fake news'. It is a dangerous precedent because this kind of behaviour promotes the idea that facts can be ignored. Without objective facts, anyone could fabricate 'truths' without the onus of ensuring that the truth is in fact the truth. This kind of environment provides unprecedented opportunities for propaganda motivated by self-intere...

I have always considered myself a political progressive but not quite the typical 'lefty'. I have always found myself gravitating towards the right in economic matters but the left in social matters. Meanwhile, I have witnessed good friends of mine who have veered from the left to the right as they get older, which has made me curious about the reasons behind the change and caused me to research those reasons. What I have found is essentially the realisation by some former leftists that as governments and institutions exercise their powers to pursue and empower a progressive ideal, the very act of such empowerment, whether by social or legal means, is seen to be an over-reach that erodes the status quo's freedoms, which is the opposite of the definition of progressiveness. Putting it crudely, being told and compelled to do what is progressive is ironically and inherently not progressive. It is this logic that causes many on the right to accuse the left for being hypocri...

I was reading the 360-degree survey results the business recently conducted in the context of my performance. None of the comments provided by my workmates came as a surprise. They confirmed and coincided with how I think I perform at work. One insight I have gained though explains why work seems to get harder each year and why I can't wait to retire - it is not the underlying work that is difficult; rather, it is the constant judgment and the need to conform based on this judgement that has been slowly sucking the life out of me. While there are many elements in my nature that actually coincides with what is seen as the values of the business, constantly measuring myself against those corporate expectations and requirements brings a continuous and never ending source of stress in my every day life. At the risk of letting my ego express itself - who are you to tell me how I behave and manage my work life is 'good' or 'bad'? How could I respect such a binary va...

22-23 December 2019 We had time to pack for this trip because Sam wasn’t working and I finished up on the Friday before Christmas week. Sam still managed to leave everything till the last minute! At about 10:30 am, the Qantas chauffeur came to pick us up. He was a very social chap and pretty much chattered away all through our trip to the airport. Checking in was easy – holding business class tickets, we were pretty much treated like royalty. We met up with Jake and Ryan in the business lounge. I had trouble connecting my laptop to Wifi, so the universe was telling me to stop working, even though I planned to finish a few pieces of work on our way to London. The Brisbane to Perth trip was unremarkable, other than the fact that as I was settling myself into my seat on the plane, one of my colleagues with his family moving through the aisle to get their seats said hello. I felt rather awkward sitting in business class while he and his family (with 2 children) were mov...